CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — Following a memorandum from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Governor Lilia Pineda ordered the suspension of all quarry operations in Pampanga.
This after Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu over the week suspended quarry operations in 8 regions including Pampanga pending their safety assessment, shortly after a landslide near a quarry site in Naga City, Cebu killed at least 29 people.
With this, Pineda called for an emergency meeting to concerned local government units and quarry operators as she directed them to adhere with the DENR order.
Pineda, pending the DENR order, will appeal to Secretary Cimatu not to include Pampanga in the suspension quarry as she cited that infrastructure projects under the Build Build Build program of President Duterte will be affected as Pampanga is the only source for sand.
The governor also said that quarry sites in the province are far from landslide prone areas.
Meantime, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office Head Art Punsalan said the quarry suspension would mean a loss of P1.5 million per day on the economic side of its operation.
Included in the quarry operations suspension are Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Central Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Davao, and Caraga “until such time that the review and assessment of quarry operations are completed,” said Cimatu.
Cimatu added that this will include “surrounding communities as far as their safety from the impact of the quarry operations and geohazards is concerned.”