Albay governor appeals quarrying suspension

Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara on Tuesday appealed against the suspension of quarrying operations in the province, saying they would run out of aggregates for reconstruction and rehabilitation if it happens.

According to Sandra Aguinaldo’s report on “24 Oras” on Tuesday, Bichara urged the national government to first investigate the matter before suspending quarrying operations in the province.

“If they will stop the quarrying, we will run out of aggregates for reconstruction, rehabilitation of our province. Not only that of the region because most of the aggregates come from Albay,” Bichara said.

Earlier, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu had suspended quarrying operations in Guinobatan following the damage brought by Super Typhoon Rolly. He said floodwaters traveled down the slope of Mayon Volcano and reached three rivers where 11 quarrying operations were ongoing.

Cimatu said the destructive floods could be due to operators leaving their stockpiles in the middle of these rivers.

However, the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office said even without quarrying, lahar from Mayon would still have likely overwhelmed several barangays.

“Ito kasing lahar deposit sa Mayon, actually the whole body of Mayon Volcano is a deposit dahil product siya ng emission ng pyroclastic material coming from volcanic eruption. Ang trigger ng mudflow sa Mayon ay amount of rainfall,” Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office chief Cedric Daep said.

Bichara also previously said no operator would leave their stockpiles in the middle of a river during the rainy season.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said an investigation must be conducted regarding quarry operations in the province following the destruction brought by Rolly. — Ma. Angelica Garcia/DVM, GMA News