MISAMIS Oriental provincial local environment and natural resources officer Geran John Flores said there is no evidence that any equipment owned by the Capitol was used in illegal mining in either Initao and Naawan towns.
During an interview April 20, Flores said this was the conclusion reached by his office upon actually visiting barangay Tagbalogo in Naawan last Friday.
It can be recalled that Sangguniang Panlalawigan member Francis Bliss Acain conducted a two-day investigation under his committee on infrastructure about persistence of illegal mining in the area using equipment belonging to the provincial engineering office.
Flores said even Acain accompanied the Capitol team which conducted an inspection in Tagbalogo where the alleged mining took place along with representatives of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 10 and the Misamis Oriental provincial police office.
Flores admitted that they saw the open pits purportedly used for mining operations in the area but added that there was no backhoe owned by the Capitol parked nearby.
He said the nearest backhoe was parked in faraway barangay Sinalac in Initao town, freshly used in a road widening.
“Tinuod nga naay road widening sa Sinalac. From one meter, na-expand gyud ang dalan into four meters and I saw it with my own eyes,” Flores said.
He also said that they are looking into the possibility that the open pit in Tagbalogo was subject of a small-scale mining permit issued earlier, allegedly in 2009 and these pits weren’t new.
