MARIKINA City Mayor Marcy Teodoro has appealed to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to immediately revoke permits of quarry operators and not just suspend quarrying operations.
Teodoro said the suspension order of the DENR on quarrying operations is a welcome development, as he asked government to take it a notch higher and cancel the permits of irresponsible businessmen who are making money at the expense of Mother Nature and their city.
“It should be suspended, but permits should also be revoked. We asked that of Special Assistant to the President Bong Go when we talked to him. We in Marikina City are paying for the mismanagement ng upstream communities,” Teodoro said.
Teodoro said his city has been suffering from devastating floods in recent years.
“This is a backlash of the failure to take care of the environment,” he said.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu has directed the Mines and Geosciences Bureau for a stoppage of all quarry operations pending investigation on the claim that flooding is caused by quarrying, DENR Undersecretary Jonas Leones said Monday.
Rafa Dinglasan, a resident of Provident Village in Marikina City, lashed out at the government for its failure to curb illegal quarrying operations.
Dinglasan was among the thousands of Marikina City residents affected by the floods, as his two-story house was submerged in floodwaters.
“We are pitiful, while illegal quarrying operators eat well and sleep well, without regard to the dangers they cause to us ordinary citizens, as long as they keep earning,” an emotional Dinglasan said.
Both Marikina City and Taytay town in Rizal serve as catch basins for flood or rainwater coming from Rodriguez and San Mateo in the province of Rizal.
Aged-old quarrying operations has been noted to have been ongoing in Rodriguez, Rizal.
Teodoro said the Marikina River is always affected by activities near the upstream river communities.
“It would be good if the Marikina watershed in the upstream communities could be protected. It would hasten the reduction of floodwaters from above us,” he added.
Of the 16 barangays in Marikina City, 14 of them are located near the river system, Teodoro said.
Leones said some residents and local government units have raised concerns on quarrying in the Rizal municipalities of San Mateo and Rodriguez.
The order comes after nearby Marikina City was submerged in floods following torrential monsoon rains enhanced by Tropical Storm “Karding.”