Ship captain detained due to dredging

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 May 2010

The Region 7 office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ordered the arrest of ship captain Ramon Trazo of MV Hamako 2 last Saturday for failing to comply with a cease and desist (CDO) order in connection with a dredging activity it has conducted in the port area of the municipality of Sta. Fe in this island.
DENR 7 Regional Executive Director Leonardo Sibbaluca, in an interview, bared that despite the issuance of a CDO against the operation of MV Hamako 2 last week, Trazo and his men continued to do dredging work.
The same order was also issued by DENR to the Cebu Port Authority (CPA) against dredging activities being conducted near the port area.
“A CDO was already issued against the operation of MV Hamako 2 and the CPA through its General Manager last May 25,” Sibbaluca said, “however, both their dredging operations, which I personally witnessed when I visited the place, continue.”
Earlier, town mayor Jennifer Illustrisimo, already complained about the dredging activity on the island, to the DENR.
Sibbaluca pointed out that “white sand is being dug up in the guise of dredging, which is a clear violation of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 other wise known as Republic Act 7942.”
RA 7942 under Section 103 states that such action constitutes “theft of minerals” pursuant to the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act 7586 and Presidential Decree No.576 on such an Operation within a Protected Area without the required permit.
In shipping sand and other minerals, the ship captain or vehicle driver should secure permits from the local government unit (LGU) for small-scale extraction or from the DENR for big-scale extraction.
“They could not present the necessary permits,” Sibbaluca said, “and neither did they have any Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) resolution.”
Sibbaluca was in the island during the weekend to personally lead the removal of illegal beach structures here where he personally met with Trazo who he asked for an explanation why their operations continued despite the issuance of a CDO against their activity.
Sibbaluca ordered Trazo to stop the operations. Trazo initially complied but after the DENR7 official went back to the main land, the operation continued prompting Sibbaluca to call the police and coastguard and order the arrest of Trazo. The latter is now detained in the town’s police station.
The DENR7 legal office is also set to file charges against Trazo for the said violations.
Bantayan Island is covered by both Presidential Proclamation No. 2151 of 1981 which classifies it as a protected area, and Presidential Proclamation No. 1234 declaring Tanon Strait protected marine area.

Source: Mb.com