An Ordinance Declaring Identified Silted Portions of Rivers in the Province of Oriental Mindoro as Additional Quarry Sites, Providing Fifty Percent (50%) Tax Discount to Quarry Operators Hauling Quarry Resources Therein, Amending for the Purpose the Revised Revenue Code of the Province of Oriental Mindoro (2011) by Adding Paragraph under Section 128 Thereof, Appropriating Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes

December 1, 2015 Excerpt from the Journal of the 127th Regular Session of the 8th Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Oriental Mindoro Held at the People's Hall, Batasang Panlalawigan (Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Legislative Building),Brgy. Camilmil, City of Calapan, Oriental Mindoro, on Tuesday, December 01, 2015, in Lieu of Monday, November 30, 2015 ORIENTAL MINDORO PROVINCIAL ORDINANCE NO. 055-15 Author: Hon. Humerlito A. Dolor, MPA, Ph.D. Co-author: Hon. Rafael L. Infantado AN ORDINANCE DECLARING IDENTIFIED SILTED PORTIONS OF RIVERS IN THE PROVINCE OF ORIENTAL MINDORO AS ADDITIONAL QUARRY SITES, PROVIDING FIFTY PERCENT (50%) TAX DISCOUNT TO QUARRY OPERATORS HAULING QUARRY RESOURCES THEREIN, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE THE REVISED REVENUE CODE OF THE PROVINCE OF ORIENTAL MINDORO (2011) BY ADDING PARAGRAPH UNDER SECTION 128 THEREOF, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES WHEREAS , Section 16 of R.A. No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991, mandates every Local Government Units to ensure and support, among other things, the promotion of health and safety, the enhancement of the right of the people to a balanced ecology, and the preservation of the comfort and convenience of their inhabitants; WHEREAS ,devastations caused by flooding becomes a perennial problem in the Province of Oriental Mindoro, which usually put the lives of the people in danger and left their livelihoods in ravage; WHEREAS ,during the conduct of Committee Hearings in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and in various fora on matters pertaining to the finding of solution to flooding, it has been identified that the immediate cause of said problem is the heavy siltation of waterways of major rivers in the province; WHEREAS ,the PG-ENRO submitted to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan list of identified heavily silted portions of major rivers in the province, based on its personnel's conduct of ocular inspections on those rivers; WHEREAS ,it is therefore imperative to instigate direct mechanism providing for the desilting of identified silted portions of waterways of rivers in Oriental Mindoro; WHEREAS ,there is a need to enjoin private sector in the province to ensure the success of all the provincial government's efforts, particularly on flood control and mitigation programs; WHEREAS ,in return to the private sector's active participation and involvement in the undertakings of the provincial government, incentives must be afforded to them; NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED ,as it is hereby ordained by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Oriental Mindoro, that: SECTION I. Title . This ordinance shall be entitled "An ordinance declaring identified silted portions of rivers in the Province of Oriental Mindoro as additional quarry sites, providing fifty percent (50%) tax discount to quarry operators hauling quarry resources therein, amending for the purpose the Revised Revenue Code of the Province of Oriental Mindoro (2011) by adding paragraph under Section 128 thereof, appropriating funds therefor and for other purposes." SECTION II. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the Provincial Government of Oriental Mindoro to promote the general welfare of all its constituents and, for such purpose, to encourage active participation and involvement of private sectors in all its socio-economic undertakings by affording them reasonable incentive. SECTION III. Definition of Terms . For the purpose of this Ordinance, the following terms are hereby defined: 1. Desiltation means the process of removing silted materials on river waterways; 2. Local Government Units (LGUs) include the Provincial, City, Municipal and Barangay levels. 3. PEO refers to the Office of the Provincial Engineer. 4. PG-ENRO refers to Office of the Environment and Natural Resources under the Provincial Government of Oriental Mindoro. 5. PTO refers to the Office of the Provincial Treasurer. 6. PLO refers to the Provincial Legal Office. 7. PMRB refers to the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board. 8. Quarrying means the process of extracting, removing and disposing sand and gravel and other quarry resources causing siltation on river waterways. 9. Quarry permit means a document granted to a qualified person for the extraction and utilization of quarry resources on public or private lands. 10. Quarry resources refer to any common rock or other mineral substances as the Director of Mines and Geosciences Bureau may declare to be quarry resources such as, but not limited to, andesite, basalt, conglomerate, coral sand, diatomaceous earth, diorite, decorative stones, gabbro, granite, limestone, marble, marl, red burning clays for potteries and bricks, rhyolite, rock phosphate, sandstone, serpentine, shale, tuff, volcanic cinders, and volcanic glass: Provided, That such quarry resources do not contain metals or metallic constituents and/or other valuable minerals in economically workable quantities: Provided, further, That non-metallic minerals such as kaolin, feldspar, buli quartz, quartz or silica, sand and pebbles, bentonite, talc, asbestos, barite, gypsum, bauxite, magnesite, dolomite, mica, precious and semi-precious stones, and other non-metallic minerals that may later be discovered and which the: Director declares the same to be of economically workable quantities, shall not be classified under the category of quarry resources. 11. Quarry operator refers to the permittees, natural or juridical, who is legally engaged in quarrying business. 12. Quarry Tax means the tax on sand, gravel and other quarry resources imposed by the province, as provided for under the Revised Revenue Code of Oriental Mindoro (2011) and in accord with Section 138 of R.A. No. 7160. CAIHTE 13. Siltation of river waterways is the gradual accumulation of deposits of materials, such as fine soils, sands, gravels, boulders and other objects resulting to the shallow riverbeds and clogging of waterways. SECTION IV. Purpose and Scope of Application. This ordinance intends to provide mechanism to unclog waterways and deepen riverbeds by removing deposits of silted materials, particularly those quarry resources, in major rivers province wide. It shall be applied to those areas here under identified as heavily silted portions of rivers and declared as sites for quarrying. The tax discount herein provided shall be exclusively granted to quarry operator who hauled quarry resources to the identified and declared additional quarry sites. SECTION V. Identification and Declaration of Additional Sites for Quarrying. (a) Subject to the provisions of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (R.A. No. 7942) and the Small Scale Mining Act of 1991 (R.A. No. 7076), the Provincial Mining and Regulatory Board (PMRB) is hereby empowered to determine and identify silted portions of rivers as additional sites for quarrying. SECTION VI. Exclusive Rights for Local Government's Quarry Operation of Portion within the Declared Quarry Site. Forty percent (40%) of the total area of each of the above declared quarry sites shall be set aside for exclusive use of Local Government Units for the implementation of its infrastructure projects. The adjoining LGUs having jurisdiction over a quarry site herein declared may jointly formulate rules and regulations and over enter into Memorandum of Agreement pertaining to their mutual operation and utilization of the said quarry site, subject to the approval of the Provincial Governor. SECTION VII . Grant of Quarry Tax Discount . Fifty Percent (50%) discount on quarry tax imposed under Section 128 of the Revised Revenue Code of Oriental Mindoro (2011), is hereby granted to quarry operators who extract, remove and dispose of quarry resources, whether for sale to other person or for use in their own project or undertaking, from the silted portions of rivers herein identified and declared as additional quarry sites; Provided, that existing quarrying laws, rules and regulations shall be properly observed and complied with. SECTION VIII. Provision for Implementation. To ensure effective implementation of this Ordinance, the following mechanisms are hereby instituted: (a) The PG-ENRO shall be responsible in the identification of exact location of the additional sites for quarry operations and, if necessary, to secure environmental permit and/or authority from concerned government agency relative to the utilization of those areas as quarry sites; (b) The PEO shall be in-charge for the opening of access roads, with the assistance from interested quarry operators. The PEO is also in-charge for the acquisition of necessary road right-of-way, whether on a temporary or permanent basis, from the owner/administrator of the lands to be affected and traversed by the access road. On the other hand, the PG-ENRO is responsible in the determination of the total area of the additional quarry sites, apportionment, and designation for LGUs' quarry operation and for interested private quarry operator; (c) Only the operator who provides assistance in the opening/construction of access road leading to a particular quarry site is entitled for a quarry permit for the said area; (d) The PG-ENRO shall continue to identify and locate other silted portions of major rivers in the province, and to recommend before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to declare, through an ordinance, those newly identified areas as quarry sites; (e) The Provincial Governor, upon recommendation of the PG-ENRO, may stop the operation of any of the declared additional quarry sites when the ideal depth of a riverbeds has already been achieved or terminate quarry permit of a quarry operator in case of violation of environmental laws, rules and regulations pertinent to quarrying operations; and (f) The PG-ENRO together with the PLO, PEO and PTO, shall, within fifteen (15) days upon approval of this ordinance, formulate rules and regulations for the proper and effective implementation of its provisions, subject to the approval of the Provincial Governor. SECTION IX. Appropriations. Any amount necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this ordinance shall be incorporated in the General Fund Annual Budget of the PGOM, and shall be disbursed in accordance with existing accounting and auditing laws, rules and regulations. SECTION X. Amendatory Provision . Section 128 of the Revised Revenue Code of Oriental Mindoro (2011) is hereby amended by adding paragraph stipulating the provisions under Section VII hereof. SECTION XI. Transitory Provision . Existing quarry permits issued by the PMRB shall not be affected by this ordinance. SECTION XII. Separability Clause . If any provision of this Ordinance is declared invalid or unconstitutional, other provisions not affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect. SECTION XIII. Repealing Clause . All ordinances or other local issuances found to be inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance are hereby repealed or amended accordingly. SECTION XIV. Effectivity Clause . This ordinance shall take effect upon approval. On motion of Hon. Rafael L. Infantado, jointly seconded by Hon. Juan Paolo G. Luna, Hon. Apollo E. Feraren, Hon. Ryan Z. Arago, Hon. Martin S. Buenaventura, Hon. Estela E. Malapitan and Hon. Flor D. Atienza, said ordinance was ...UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED. Certified Correct: (SGD.) DIWATA H. FETIZANAN Secretary to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Attested: (SGD.) HUMERLITO A. DOLOR, M.P.A.,Ph.D. Vice Governor/Presiding Officer Approved: January 12, 2016 (SGD.) ALFONSO V. UMALI, JR. Provincial Governor