Quarrying along Mt. Polis road endangering lives

By Andrew Doga-ong

BONTOC, Mountain Province -- Illegal quarrying at Mount Polis along the Bontoc-Banaue national road is posing risk to commuters and destroying fast the environment.

Due to this, the Departments of Public Works and Highways and Environment and Natural Resources were urged to  regulate illegal quarrying  at the area.

National Food Authority provincial manager Antonio Macato brought out the issue of illegal quarrying at road sections at Mount Polis within Ifugao and Mt. Province during Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council

meeting here recently.

Macato said illegal quarrying along the road was subject of complaints from motorists including NFA rice haulers and tourists.

Vehicle owners complained of cuts on car tires after passing the quarry sites,  said PDRRM officer AnacletoTangilag.

Quarrying narrowed the two-lane paved road because of piles of stones left on both sides.

These could trigger landslides  which would  disrupt travel and  disturb the regular flow of the rice supply to  the province, Macato said.

He said NFA was stockpiling about 42,000 sacks of rice as 30-day rice supply for Mt. Province of which 32,000 sacks are being stored in warehouses in Nueva Ecija and in Santiago City.

He said the NFA warehouse in Bontoc could contain only 10,000 sacks.

He said rice supplies are being transported daily to Mt. Province to replenish whatever stocks that are sold to the public.

Daily rice requirements of Mt. Province is about 1,4000 sacks.

Meanwhile, environmentalists said illegal quarrying activities along the scenic Bontoc-Banaue, Mt. Polis national road section will continue to damage the mossy forests in the area.

The PDRRMC will come up with a resolution requesting the provincial offices of the DENR and the DENR of Mt. Province to coordinate with their counterparts in Ifugao to regulate said illegal quarrying activities. -- PIA