Soil from two Zambales mountains used for China reclamation project — governor

Soil excavated from two mountains in Zambales province were allegedly used for China's reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea, the governor of the province claimed on Thursday.

Governor Amor Deloso revealed this in joint hearing of Senate Blue Ribbon Committee and Environment and Natural Resources.

Deloso  claimed that soils and rocks from Mt. Pinmagong and Mt. Binabag — both in Barangay Gisgis Sta. Cruz, are allegedly being smuggled to build 3,500 hectares of land reclamation by China in Scarborough Shoal.

When asked by Senator Richard Gordon if Deloso saw the ongoing reclamation himself, the government cited fishermen's eyewitness accounts. 

"They (fishermen) saw it because they are fishing around the area. Many fishermen go over there (Scarborough) and they can see it by naked eye," the governor said. 

"There are 944 trucks hauling there for about two years...gathering soil of Zambales and leveled down the mountains put it to Scarborough," Deloso said during the hearing.

However, Carlo Arcilla, a geologist from University of the Philippines, said that  reclaiming 3,500 hectares of land will require 350 billion tons of soil and seven million ships.

On the other hand, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency Director Rodolfo Arsaga Jr. said he presumes that the governor's claims are correct.

"They (miners) make money out of this operations (about) P19 million in revenue but the damages to farms, livelihood are P7 billion," Deloso said. — VVP, GMA News