NABUNTURAN, Compostela Valley, July 19 (PIA) – – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) XI and the provincial government of Compostela Valley strengthen its partnership on the rehabilitation of the Naboc River through the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement.
Witnessed by DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu, the agreement was signed by Compostela Valley Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy and DENR XI Ruth Tawantawan in Davao City on Tuesday.
Secretary Cimatu said that the signing marks the beginning of another relentless drive of the agency to clean the rivers in the country.
“We will not allow this river to die and we will relentlessly exhaust all means to bring it back to life, just as what we have successfully done in Boracay and now in Manila Bay,” he said.
The agreement states that the DENR has the full supervision over all the activities that will be undertaken under the Rehabilitation Management Plan of the 24-kilometer Naboc River, while the provincial government will implement the program, which includes desilting and quarrying or may partner with a third party contractor on these activities with zero-cost to the government.
For 34 years, irresponsible small mining activities in Mount Diwata caused the gradual degradation of Naboc River.
In the latest water monitoring Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), mercury and cyanide, which are used in small scale mining, were found in the river and have exceeded the standard water quality guideline.
Mercury level in Naboc River reached to as high as 0.045 milligram per liter, in which is the standard is only 0.002 milligram per liter; while cyanide reached 0.2 milligram per liter, which is supposed to be 0.1 milligram per liter only.
EMB also noted that waste water from the households also contaminated the Naboc River. Fecal coliform in the river is reported as high as 160,000 most probable number (mpn) per 100 milliliter of water. The standard number of which is only 200 mpn per 100 milliliter of water.
Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy emphasized that he never knew of the extent of the problem of the river until President Rodrigo Duterte mentioned its status in his State of the Nation Addresses.
President Duterte never fails to mention Diwalwal in his 2017 and 2018 SONA, describing it as filthy with blackish color.
Taking into account the President’s addresses and the situation in Mount Diwalwal, Secretary Cimatu created through a special order the Provincial Task Force Naboc River on July 11, 2018
Series of fora and dialogues with the local leaders, indigenous peoples and the community have been conducted by the task force to emphasize the destruction in the environment, its effects to people’s health and livelihood, and the need to restore the river.
Identified to be the main pollutants in the river, the DENR finally issued cease and desist orders to the mineral processing plants in Mount Diwalwal last March 16-17, 2019.
A total of 1,797 ballmills and 31 carbon-in-pulp tank operators were closed during the CDO issuance and were advised to transfer to the designated processing zone in Sitio Mabatas, Barangay Upper Ulip.
In the records of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office in Compostela Valley, six individuals, and an association of processors have started to relocate in the Mabatas processing zone.
With this development, Governor Uy expressed his gratitude to the DENR in helping change the image of the province from an illegally-mined Diwalwal into a bastion of hope for the rivers in the country affected by mining.
“We are thankful that we have a president that has a political will, and a (DENR) secretary who is always there with us, helping us achieve the initial steps that we need to reach our vision of a clean Naboc River and sustainable livelihood for our constituents in the area,” the governor said.
In the timeline of the DENR, the initial phase of desilting and quarrying will start in October 2019.
The governor believes that when cleaned, the river will bring more opportunities to the communities surrounding it.
“I am pretty sure that what we are doing right now will lead to a safer community to our next generation,” he said. (PIA11, Michael Uy)
Photo caption
Compostela Valley Governor Jayvee Tyron Uy (extreme right) and DENR XI Regional Director Ruth Tawantawan (extreme left) signed the Memorandum of Agreement for the rehabilitation, desilting, and quarrying of Naboc River. Affixing their signatures as witnesses were DPWH XI Regional Director Allan Borromeo, DENR Secertary Roy Cimatu, and DILG Undersecretary Epimaco Densing III. (mlu)
