Ben Contreras
THE alleged dark secrets at the CLENRO office would not have been discovered had the City Mining Regulatory Board (CMRB) not been convened. The CMRB was totally disregarded or intentionally put into a coma state during the past administration to circumvent certain laws and regulations that would prevent wanton issuance of permit not in accordance to the mandates of the mining laws.
CLENRO then was an office only by name but not functional in the sense that everyone there had practically nothing to do but obey one man only. But, while city officials then were allegedly in one way or another involved in the illegal mining business, some enterprising CLENRO employees may also have found ways of making extra money through modus vivendi, or, in our local language, “buhi-buhi lang”.
When Mayor Oscar S. Moreno took the helm of the city government, we saw hope that the CMRB would soon be convened. Indeed, it was convened and SULOG was given a seat in the Board. Without hesitation, SULOG Chair Orlando Ravanera appointed Ralph Vincent Abragan as representative to the CMRB due to his experience and expertise in the mining industry.
The composition of the Board is MGB RD Rex Monsanto as Chairman, the City Mayor as co-Chairman but represented by Teddy Sabugaa, Atty. Giovanni Catli, representing the association of small scale mining (quarrying included), a seat from the large scale mining but has no representative and Ralph Abragan (NGO). Councilor Zaldy Ocon is an ex officio member.
CMRB meetings were initially held at the CLENRO office, it being the secretariat and for lack of fund, too. My participation was that as member of media and as an alternate of Ralph Abragan. If there is anything wrong with that, nobody ever questioned it.
CMRB meetings are usually attended and participated by MGB experts like Engr. Daniel Belderon and Engr. Roy Felina or their alternates and by CLENRO Edwin Dael and his team members.
Each meeting was like a gathering of a family, familiar faces that were parts and parcels of a raiding team against illegal mining in the hinterlands. The devotion to their mandate was exceptional. But all that were not meant to last for long.
Ralph took his job seriously to heart and became a thorn to the interest of many. He is strict and meticulous but is willing to help for as long as the requirements are met. No wonder then that when recommendation for the issuance of permit is already signed by Ralph, CMRB Chair Rex Monsanto deems it in order and affix his final signature of approval. I was with him in his routines and when he sensed something wrong, he would take pictures, take a few notes and report the same to CLENRO for proper investigation.
Ralph would sometime complain why there’s no formal and written report of any investigation conducted by CLENRO people. And if there would be a report, the finding would always be contrary to what he actually saw. Ralph’s disappointment reached the ears of Edwin Dael and even recommended to Edwin that he replace some of his men suspected of being in cahoots with illegal activities in the quarrying industry.
Ralph suspicion was bolstered by an event when he confiscated a backhoe in Canitoan. CLENRO people were acting in a very uncooperative way. Ralph had no recourse but to do things his way. The rest is history.
An intelligence report would have resulted to another confiscation of a back hoe and a few dump trucks. We were already gathered at the MGB office at around 9:00a.m., but had to wait for the group from CLENRO. The too much delay took the team to set off almost noon time. When the raiding team reached the spot, there was no one to arrest and nothing to confiscate. Somebody had tipped them off, allegedly tipped off by a city councilor. Was the delay part of the drama to give time to remove the heavy equipment and trucks? I can only suspect it is!
How did the documents about Ralph come about and ended at Facebook? (to be continued) (Ben Contreras worked for a mining company but, at the same time, he was actively involved as a volunteer in environmental advocacy work. He and his close associate Ralph Abragan were also involved in the local mining regulatory board and in some actual operations against illegal miners in the city. Their involvement with the regulatory board stopped when the environmental group Sulog replaced Abragan as its representative to the board after finding out that he was engaged in the business of quarrying. Not even a punctuation mark in this opinion piece has been touched so that it can be read as is, and exactly how it was written. The author’s views do not necessarily reflect the position of this paper or any of its staff members who are in no way involved in mining or quarrying. -Editors)
