LISTENING. Governor Pineda hears concerns of quarry operators in Monday’s dialog at the Capitol.
Photo by Bong Lacson
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – At least 11 quarry workers were terminated as a result of the sustained and relentless campaign for transparency and good governance on the multi-million-peso quarry industry in the province.
Arthur Punzalan, chief of the Environment and Natural Resources Office of the provincial government of Pampanga (ENRO-PG), said nine quarry workers under the Kapampangan A Lulugud At Matapat (Kalam) were terminated after they were found positive for illegal drugs.
He said another two Kalam workers were fired because they were discovered using recycled quarry receipts, a mode of corruption uncovered from previous administrations which greatly undermined the quarry industry.
During a meeting with quarry operators in the province at the Capitol here last Monday, Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda said it is very unfortunate that some quarry workers are still corrupt. She explained that the provincial government has no choice but to terminate the workers in order to protect the quarry industry from corruption.
Meanwhile, quarry operators from Porac and Bacolor complained of the indiscriminate and excessive “passway fees” being imposed by barangay officials as well as private land owners in various quarry sites in their municipalities.
According to a Porac quarry operator, the excessive passway fees is turning away haulers or truckers from their quarry sites, thus affecting their operations. Haulers and truckers instead look for quarry sites which have less passway fees.
Fourth District Board Member Nestor “Bay” Tolentino who heads the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources said the excessive passway problem will be investigated by the SP as he promised to come up with the necessary ordinance to regulate the indiscriminate passway collection.
Meanwhile, Tolentino asked quarry operators for an additional increase of P50 in administrative quarry fees on top of the P380 which is presently being imposed.
He said solid waste management in the province remains one of the most pressing problems and the P50 additional administrative fee will be used for funding the solid waste management program and caring for the environment.
“It is only right that we give something back to the environment after giving us livelihood,” Tolentino reasoned.
Punzalan echoed Tolentino’s argument saying “whatever we get from the environment we give back to the environment.
He added that part of the additional fee will also be used for the maintenance of provincial roads.
In another development, Punzalan said the provincial quarry industry infuses an estimated revenue of P30 million in the province daily. He made the calculation saying some P4,000 in diesel fuel per truck is consumed from the daily quarry operations which can be multiplied with an estimated 2,500 trucks per day.
This can also be true with the other businesses being directly and indirectly affected by the quarry industry on a day-to-day basis like foodstalls, vulcanizing shops and the like, he said.
For her part, Pineda reiterated her administration’s goal of surpassing the P1 billion target collection from the quarry industry after earning P878 million in the last three years.
The governor said revenues from the quarry industry helped finance the construction of 364 school buildings, construct and modernize district hospitals into world class facilities, construction and improvement of barangay halls, and the construction of provincial roads.
She said every municipality in the province is also given an equal share of P5 million each per year from the quarry revenues which has become the most productive revenue generation of the province that is many times bigger than the RPT (Real Property Taxes) collections.
