As part of the awareness raising on quarrying as a corollary activity for reclamation, the WRCV organized a site visit to Sitio Napo in Barangay Guindarohan, Minglanilla on November 16, 2022. This was participated in by 30 leaders representing the seven women’s organizations.
The women saw that what was once a gigantic mountain is now a barren small hill after quarrying was done by a private company, Jomara Construction in order to get land to be used to make cement for two cement companies in San Fernando. In a talk with Sabiniana Castro, President of the Napo Farmers’ Community Association during the visit, the massive quarrying was done by the Jomara Konstrukt Corporation (JKC) starting in 2021 until it was stopped in May 2022.
Spanning 1.9 hectares, the mountain was literally destroyed. Quarry equipments drilled and blasted the mountain into fragmented rocks and broken stones which were then crushed into smaller pieces. Castro said that the permit granted by government agencies to the JKC was not for quarrying but for motor pool development area and a goat farm which it had applied for.
Castro’s association had initially protested the quarrying in emails sent to the Presidential Complaint Center (PCC) of the Office of the President in February 2021. After a series of protests by the association with government agencies, dialogues were initiated by the Commission on Human Rights – Region 7 on April 6 and 20, 2022 to demand a stop to the quarrying in Napo. They were attended by representatives of the government agencies including the Department of Natural Resources (DENR), Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), Environment and Natural Resources Office of Cebu Province and Minglanilla. Finally, on May 5, 2022, personnel from the DENR went to the area and were shocked to see the land that was once a mountain since the permit that was granted to the JKC was for a motor pool area and goat farm. A cease and desist order was later issued by the DENR for the JKC to stop the quarrying.
The quarrying which lasted for more than a year caused noise pollution from the equipments used in quarrying 24 hours a day, disturbing the residents living in the vicinity and causing loss of sleep. Air pollution from dust was also emitted from the quarry sites.
JKC filed a cyberlibel case against Castro for posting pictures of the quarrying in social media. She was arrested on November 12, 2021 and detained in jail, but the case was later dismissed by the Naga Municipal Court.
Although the land was not used for reclamation, the women realized that the destruction of the mountains will be done for reclamation purposes. On the road way, the women also witnessed portions of mountains that were literally destroyed by quarrying. After going to the mountains, the participants proceeded to the seashore of Sitio Tabay, Calajoan which would be a part of the Minglanilla Reclamation Project. Here they saw three natural springs in the seashore, with each spring bordered by a cement wall to separate it from the sea water, that have been the source of fresh potable water for decades to the population. The participants who were not from Calajoan looked at awe on how a natural spring could exist in the midst of sea water. They lamented how these springs would inevitably be covered by soil with the reclamation project and the population will lose their source of water which is essential especially in times of drought or power failure.
