‘Gold mines’ under Ecija army camp discovered

By Mar T. Supnad

Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija — The tens of billions gold deposits inside the grounds of Fort Ramon Magsaysay Military Reservation here should be mined and tapped not only for the benefit of the government but also for the private lot owners, a lot claimant said.

This developed as several top military officials have reportedly approached a family that owned a big portion of land inside FMMR to convince the owners to sell their lot to them, raising suspicion the area has vast gold deposit worth up to P80 billion that can be tapped anytime.

“Pinipilit nila (top army officials) kaming ibenta na sakanila yung malaking lupa namin saloob ng Army camp sa FMMR, para sila nalang ang manguhang kayamanan doon,” said the lot owner who requested his name be withheld. Earlier, Maj. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., commander of the Northern Luzon Command, whose area includes FMMR, said experts, including foreigners, had proven the volume of gold deposits and minerals inside the mountainous parts of FMMR in Nueva Ecija after they personally inspected and made underground testing there.

Catapang said they are now guarding the area to prevent large scale miners from illegally retrieving the gold mines worth billions of pesos that belong to the government.

He said the government can now initiate a move to retrieve the gold deposits by  tapping services of experts.

FMRR, created by Presidential Proclamation No. 237, has a total land area of 44,970 hectares of land.

It is composed of the containment area, training circuit, Kalinga sa Kawal off base housing for military personnel, Jathropa plantation, National Training Center (Balikatan area), and the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

The lot owner told this correspondent, however, the government cannot move into the area since a big part of the FMMR is legitimately owned by their family.

He said the Army has been paying them a monthly rental for quite long time.

“Nangungupahan lang ang army sa lupa namin,” said the lot owner as he sought help of this reporter to tap the rich mineral resources inside their lot.

Catapang said the government can utilize it (rich mining deposit) for the military modernization programs.