Authorities on Sunday arrested 11 Chinese nationals found to have been working for an illegal mine in Barangay Tugos in Paracale, Camarines Norte, despite having only tourist visas.
Officials of the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the Philippine National Police (PNP) apprehended the Chinese workers after being alerted by the governor of the province.
According to the PAOCC, the company has the necessary environmental compliance certificate (ECC) to operate, but it has expanded beyond the coverage of the license.
“That is already a blatant violation ‘dun sa environmental compliance certificate, and meron din silang pananagutan sa kriminal na aspeto [That is already a blatant violation with the environmental compliance certificate, and they also have liabilities on the criminal aspect],” PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio said in a report by Mav Gonzales on GMA’s “24 Oras Weekend” on Sunday.
“Parang backyard lang pero nakita mo naman gaano kalalaki ‘yung mga equipment na ginagamit nila. Hindi small scale ‘yun kundi open pit large-scale mining talaga,” he added.
(It seems like just a backyard, but you saw how large the equipment they are using is. It is not small scale but open pit large-scale mining.)
Upon inspection of the area, authorities found that some of the workers of the area did not have protective equipment on, while one seemed to be dazed.
“Nakapantulog pa nga eh [He still had sleepwear on], so they are operating as if wala lang [it’s nothing],” Casio said.
The Chinese workers will be brought to the PAOCC on Monday for an inquest on immigration violations. They will also face charges for violating the Philippine Mining Act and the Clean Water Act.
The owner of the land declined to comment on the matter. GMA News is also trying to reach out to the Paracale local government unit for its statement. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/BM, GMA Integrated News
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