De Lima seeks Senate probe on mining in Zambales allegedly linked to China’s construction in WPS

Senator Leila de Lima has filed a resolution seeking a Senate investigation into the mining activities in Zambales which was allegedly linked in China’s reclamation projects in the West Philippine Sea.

The detained lawmaker filed Senate Resolution 720 to look into the alleged illegal mining operations in Candelaria, Zambales as well as the systemic review of pending and on-going large-scale mining projects in the country.

De Lima highlighted the need to check these mining operations’ compliance with environmental laws, regulations, guidelines, and procedures.

She said there is an urgent need to conduct a systematic review of existing policies and legislation pertaining to mining and determine a policy direction that will not only protect human rights and preserve the environment but also protect Philippine sovereignty as well.

“There is also a need to verify the serious allegations that the materials being extracted in various mining and dredging projects are indeed being used to construct and fortify illegal Chinese infrastructure projects in the WPS,” she added.

In her statement, she cited a petition paper initiated by non-government organization Save Candelaria Zambales Movement Inc., which claimed that a certain Yinglong Steel Corporation has been doing mining operations in the said municipality.

The petition claimed that Yinglong has been cutting trees, constructing access roads, building facilities such as bunkhouses, and using heavy equipment without necessary permits, as observed by local officials in Candelaria after several ocular inspections on the site.

The petitioners also surmised that the materials are illegally mined and are used for the reclamation activities of China in WPS.

This claim was raised by other environmental groups in several dredging and mining activities across the country, De Lima said.

Moreover, the senator said the utilization of the natural resources and the implementation of public projects should be in compliance with existing laws and in pursuit of national interests.

"The exigency of raising funds for the government’s budget deficit and response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic should never be an excuse to open the ‘floodgates’ of unregulated and illegal mining that destructs the environment and the future of our younger generations,” she said.

“The enforcement of existing mining laws and policies should be ensured and the full extent of these laws must be upheld, including penalizing violators of these laws considering the irreparable destruction of illegal mining activities brings to our environment, culture and society,” she added.

The lawmaker recalled President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent lifting of the nine-year ban on granting new mining agreements to maximize government revenues and stir economic growth which was stipulated under Executive Order 130.

Last March, De Lima also filed a resolution which seeks a Senate inquiry on the Cagayan Offshore Magnetite Mining Project  due to the alleged negative environmental impacts to local communities.

De Lima, during her time as Justice secretary, has created a task force headed by the National Bureau of Investigation, which seeks to cut the illegal black sand mining operations in Cagayan and Ilocos Sur.—AOL, GMA News