MGB to seize blacksand in Pangasinan

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in the Ilocos region has reaffirmed the decision that blacksand extraction in four villages here was illegal, saying it would confiscate the stockpile of magnetite sand that a government-contracted firm had removed from 2011 to 2013.

The order was issued on May 15 but the INQUIRER obtained a copy only this week. It was signed by Carlos Tayag, officer in charge of the MGB Ilocos office.

The agency issued the order to deny a motion for reconsideration filed by Xypher Builders regarding a previous MGB order to seize 9,588 cubic meters of magnetite sand in Malimpuec village.

Xypher is the company contracted by the Pangasinan government to develop an ecotourism area in this town.

In an earlier interview, Tayag said the blacksand may be auctioned off, but his office is still awaiting instructions.

Xypher said the extraction was legal because it was covered by a “government gratuitous permit” issued by the provincial government. It said the permit allowed the processing of magnetite sand, so it did not need to secure a mineral processing permit.

But MGB said: “A gratuitous permit only covers quarry, sand and gravel or loose or unconsolidated materials. It does not include magnetite sand for the simple reason that there is still a need to process these sand and gravel and [other] materials to extract the magnetite which is a mineral.”

“The process done by Xypher to separate the magnetite from the unconsolidated materials without a mineral processing permit is therefore illegal,” MGB said.

Xypher said MGB had “favorably endorsed” a mineral ore export permit (MOEP) issued by the provincial government. MGB denied this.

Tayag said a letter to former provincial administrator Rafael Baraan merely explained the scope of local governmentissued MOEP and the requirements which the firm was compelled to fulfill.

“[MGB] neither advised nor recommended that the governor should issue the MOEP to Xypher,” he said.

Xypher also insisted that “the government is hindered from claiming that the magnetite sand is illegally sourced,” because “the excise tax for the removal and recovery of magnetite sand has already been paid.”

The company claimed to have paid an extraction fee of P1 million.

But MGB said the arguments of Xypher were “untenable.”

“Because the extraction of the magnetite was illegal from the start, whatever payment made to the government by Xypher does not make the act legal,” MGB said.

The provincial government contracted Xypher to extract and remove “loose and unconsolidated materials and associated blacksand,” according to documents.

Gov. Amado Espino Jr. on Wednesday said he would not contest the MGB ruling.

He, however, asked MGB that proceeds from the sale of the magnetite be given to the Pangasinan government or the coastal villages of Sabangan, Estanza, Malimpuec and Capandanan from where the minerals were extracted.

He said the extraction took place in different sections of a 38-hectare provincial government property, to clear up the lot for an 18-hole golf course. The golf course is a component of the province’s ecotourism project here.

“If that’s the decision of the national government, we cannot go against it,” said Espino in a telephone interview.

“Not a single grain of black sand went out of the area. Even the original complainants against the golf course project attested to this,” he said.