The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has successfully won a case against illegal miners apprehended in Batangas province in 2019.
In a two-page decision penned by Judge Librado Chavez, the 5th Municipal Circuit Trial Court in Talisay-Laurel, Batangas province has found Elmer Portugal, Lindley Miranda, Jeremy Caramoan, Gualberto Eser, Calisto Quimio, and Geron Yambing guilty of illegal quarrying and extraction of 14,430 cubic meters of palanas minerals.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu welcomed the decision, saying that the prosecution of the illegal miners is “very timely to inspire the enforcement team to train well and continue this success”.
“This development serves as a benchmark for making sure that the laws are strictly and properly promulgated.”
“After the launch of our special course on enforcement at our Environment and Natural Resources Academy (ENRA), this development serves as a benchmark for making sure that the laws are strictly and properly promulgated,” Cimatu said.
The palanas minerals, with an estimated value of P2.46 million, were extracted in a quarry operation at Barangay Banga in Talisay, Batangas without the necessary permits from the local Provincial Mining Regulatory Board and the DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Region IV-A.
The suspects were arrested on Dec. 16, 2019, after being caught in the act of extracting and disposing soil and minerals from an area that is a part of the Taal Volcano Protected Area Landscape and classified as timberland.
They were charged in violation of Section 103 of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 or Republic Act 7942 and Section 20 of the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992 or Republic Act No. 7586.
In the court decision, the suspects were ordered to pay a fine of P10,000 each with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.
“The recent accomplishment can be taken into new heights once the Environment Protection and Enforcement Bill or EPEB is passed.”
DENR Undersecretary for Enforcement Benito Antonio De Leon said the recent accomplishment “can be taken into new heights once the Environment Protection and Enforcement Bill or EPEB is passed”.
“We are seeing promising developments in the area of environmental law enforcement. Hopefully, these developments may inspire our legislators to mark this bill as urgent,” De Leon concluded.
