Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño yesterday expressed his full support for all efforts of Negrenses to stop the illicit offshore magnetite mining incursions across the coastline of Negros Island.

Casino, who was in Bacolod City, also commended the Bangay Margaha, the alliance of farmers, peasants and fishermen that is waging the campaign against magnetite mining in Negros.

“We do not want the coastal areas from Pontevedra to Manapla and the whole province to be ravaged by mining operations that will not benefit the country and the local communities in the long term,” Casiño said.

Local government units that have resolutions and ordinances against extracting magnetite from the sands of Negros coastlines and seabeds should be followed by other sanggunians to protect the coastal areas of the province, he said.

He also said that the government should not allow magnetite sand mining since it hasno inventory of magnetite resources in the country.

Granting small-scale mining permits and industrial sand mining permits is illegal since there is Batas Pambansa 265 or an Act Prohibiting the Extraction of Gravel and Sand from the Beaches.

Meanwhile, Casiño also thanked representatives Jeffrey Ferrer(Neg. Occ., 4thDistrict) and Alfredo Marañon III (Neg. Occ. 2ndDistrict) for co-authoring House Bill 4365, which he co-authored with Neri Colmenares seeking to increase monthly pensions of Social Security System pensioners to a minimum of P7,000.

The lawmaker also slammed the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas in its move to loan the $1 billion to the International Monetary Fund calling it a “public relations spin,” to project the country’ economic status.*LTG

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