By Sunday Post
The Bureau of Customs and the Mines and Geo-Sciences (MGB), both based in Cebu, were said to have expressed interest to take possession thru seizure proceedings involving 32 vans of manganese ore where one of the mining concessionaires claimed that they were extracted illegally from his mining site in barangay Katipunan Anda, Bohol. The shipment's value is placed at P6 million.
This developed after the raid on the Anda mine site by the National Bureau of Investigation last August 8 reportedly upon the behest of Domingo Chua, one of the mining claimants.
A certain Sofronio Simacio, believed to be the dummy of Anda Mayor Paul Amper was acknowledged as legal permit holder of the contested mine site by Task Force Kabukiran, an agency tasked to regulate the operations of quarry resources in Bohol. The task force was formed with Gov. Erico Aumentado as chair to check the alleged rampant extraction of mineral deposits in Bohol without the necessary mining permits from the provincial government.
The Anda raid triggered a bitter exchange of harsh rhetoric between Gov. Aumentado who sided with the legitimate permittee of the Anda manganese mine and the other mining claimant-- Chua.
Chua accused Simacio whom he claimed to be protected by Task Force Kabukiran while the governor called the Cebuano names like-"illegal miner."
Chua fought back by accusing Simacio of theft of minerals.
Even before the raid was carried out, Simacio already shipped out sacks of manganese through the Clarin and Tubigon piers enroute to Cebu.
The 32 vans of manganese now at the Cebu International Container Port are awaiting shipment for China.
But with the alleged representation of Chua, the shipment was withheld by the Bureau of Customs while the MGB is set to take control of the cargo vans by issuing a seize and desist order possibly on Tuesday.
It was the MGB which issued Chua the mining permit to extract manganese in Anda.
But in a check with Rene Villaber, chief of the Bohol Environment and Management Office (BEMO), a custom official named Andre de la Cruz who was with an inspection team following the NBI raid on the Anda mine site, denied knowing about a hold order issued by the Bureau of Customs-Cebu.
What he knew according to Villaber was that the shipment was held in Cebu because it failed to pass the standard specification from their Chinese buyers. It was learned that the manganese was low in quality. It was Villaber's office that issued the transport order of Simacio to export manganese to China via the Cebu port.
Meanwhile, the Anda raid fiasco has reached the upper echelon of the government when a certain Custodio Ebora of Guindulman, Bohol reported to Pres.Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of a "rampant smuggling of manganese minerals in Bohol for shipment to China and Korea".
According to the report, the mineral smugglers are waiting for the arrival of a 3,000 tonner barge to anchor at Candabong Beach in Anda to load 3,000 tons of manganese to China. The report said the cargo is valued at $ 360,000
At $130 per ton FOB barge Bohol.
Al letter detailing the alleged smuggling of manganese deposits was obtained by the Post from the BEMO. It also identified a certain Rommel and Ronald Santos of Lunwarren Corp. as handling the financing of the extraction of manganese.
Fully mechanized using back hoes and bulldozers, the Anda operations have employed more than 100 mine workers. With the NBI raid, the mine extraction in Anda was halted.
As for Chua, it was said that he blanketed the Anda-Guindulman area with mining claims covering 4,000 hectares. In neighboring Candijay, Chua has also mining claims totaling 200 hectares.
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Topic: Manganese Raid in Anda (Read 3042 times)