Board Member Andrew Montelibano said he is looking into reports of illegal quarrying and logging in Negros Occidental.
He received a complaint today, January 19, that a bridge in Manapla was damaged because of illegal quarrying, Montelibano said.
He said next week he will begin the inspection of quarry operations in the third district to determine if non-compliance with environment rules caused the recent flooding.
Violators will be penalized, he said.
There are 1,000 pending quarry applications pending before the Provincial Environment Management Office, which need to be reviewed, he said.
Montelibano said he is also getting reports of illegal logging near the first district of Negros Occidental that he will investigate.
The flood in the third district is a reminder that we need to act on these problems, he said.*