CONTROVERSIAL Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio is aking the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue an opinion declaring as unconstitutional an ordinance enacted by the provincial board on October 22, giving town mayors the authority to supervise quarrying activities, including the collection of fees and taxes from quarry operators.

Panlilio was referring to Ordinance 176, which, according to him, is illegal, since under the law only it is only the Office of the Governor that has supervisory authority and control over quarrying operations.

The ordinance was earlier vetoed by the governor, but was overridden by a unanimous vote by the members of the provincial board, led by Vice Gov. Joseller “Yeng” Guiao as presiding officer.

Panlilio insisted that the DOJ has the power to repeal the ordinance since under law, the Department of Justice has jurisdiction over matters related to taxation jurisprudence.

“We are asking the DOJ to repeal the ordinance passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan about the quarrying operations in Pampanga, which under the law should be managed by the provincial government. Now the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and the mayors want it to be managed by the mayors,” he added.

“It is a matter of the Mining Act. It is a matter of the regulation of quarrying. Because under the law, it should be the governor’s office that should manage the quarry operations,” Panlilio said.

Section 1 of Ordinance 176 states that pursuant to Section 128 of the Local Government Code of 1991, 30 percent of the fees or taxes collected by the province of Pampanga for the extraction of quarry materials within its territorial jurisdiction will go to the province, 30 percent to the towns and 40 percent for the barangays.

The ordinance also created a Municipal Association of Quarry Operators and a Provincial Federation of Quarry Associations that aims to prevent cutthroat competitions among quarry operators. Under the ordinance, failure to be a member of the Municipal Association of Quarry Operators will be a ground for the revocation of the permit to quarry.

Panlilio said the ordinance also removed the P150 administrative fee being charged per truckload of quarry materials that used to go directly to the coffers of the provincial government.

Panlilio explained that prior to the passage of Ordinance 176, each truck transporting quarry materials of sand or gravel pays P300 to the provincial government.

Of the amount, P150 goes to the provincial government, while the rest is split up among the towns and barangays.

Panlilio said that under the previous provincial government administration, the provincial government of Pampanga managed to collect P29.2 million in quarrying fees from quarry operators every year.

The governor also claimed that the ordinance is illegal since it was passed without prior public hearing.

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