Courtesy: vismin.ph
HOUSE of Representatives Minority Leader Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan has announced the launch of a multisectoral effort to save the historic Homonhon Island in Eastern Samar from further environmental degradation due to commercial nickel and chromite mining activities.
“We are pleased to report that following a meeting that we initiated among stakeholders, Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga has activated Task Force Homonhon,” Libanan said.
“As discussed during our meeting, the task force will visit Homonhon, inspect all mining operations there, and then adopt a comprehensive action plan to save the island,” Libanan said.
Libanan said the task force will ensure that mining entities in Homonhon are complying fully with all environmental and community health protection laws, and that they are restoring and improving all the areas that they have disturbed, including the island’s coastal ecosystem.
“We are also counting on the mining firms to spend for Homonhon’s electrification and the installation of a water system that will provide round-the-clock running water supply to households there,” Libanan said.
Libanan was Eastern Samar province’s lone congressional district representative before he was elected 4Ps partylist representative.
With a land area of 105 square kilometers, Homonhon is one of the historical places of the world.
When Ferdinand Magellan first circumnavigated the globe, his three surviving vessels landed on Homonhon where his crew rested and resupplied for a week before heading out to Limawasa, Butuan and finally to Cebu, where the Portuguese explorer was slain in the Battle of Mactan.
Homonhon currently has a population of 5,073 grouped into eight barangays, and forms part of the Municipality of Guiuan.
Yulo-Loyzaga designated Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Carlos Primo David as head of Task Force Homonhon.
Besides Yulo-Loyzaga and David, those present during the meeting with Libanan were: Tingog partylist Rep. Jude Acidre, Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Gonzales-Kwan, DENR Undersecretaries Ignatius Rodriguez and Juan Cuna, DENR Eastern Visayas regional director Lormelyn Claudio, Mines and Geosciences Bureau regional director Glenn Noble, Carmi Macapagao of the Homonhon Environmental Advocates and Rights Defenders (HEARD), and Fr. James Abella, Chancellor of the Diocese of Borongan.
The meeting was also attended by representatives of the private entities that have mineral production sharing agreements (MPSAs) with the national government in Homonhon.
The mining firms will also be required to designate representatives to the task force to facilitate coordination and implementation of remedial measures to restore Homonhon’s environment, including the island’s coastal ecosystem.
At present, the MPSA holders in Homonhon are: Global Min-met Resources Inc., Emir Mineral Resources Corp., Verrum Terra Geoscience Inc., Techiron Resources Inc., Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration & Development Corp., Chromiteking Inc., and Nickelace Inc.
Meanwhile, Libanan said he intends to find out why Guiuan has not been receiving its rightful share of the revenues collected by the national government from the mining activities in Homonhon.
Under the law, Libanan said local governments are supposed to receive 40 percent of the national treasury’s earnings from mining taxes and royalties from mineral reservations collected from their areas.
