KIDAPAWAN CITY — A local environment officer in Makilala town, North Cotabato, has reminded local residents that unauthorized digging is prohibited by law, especially if it endangers life and destroys the environment.
Makilala’s Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO) Engr. Walter Ruizo issued the reminder as he ordered Wednesday a farm owner to “cease and desist” from digging activity in Sitio Malaang, Barangay Poblacion.
Ruizo said residents in the area alerted his office after they were alarmed by the digging activity that has not been permitted by the local government.
Ruizo, together with Chief Insp. Johnny Rick Medel, Makilala town police chief, and Forest Ranger Avelino Banac went to the village and found a 20-meter-deep excavation on a lot owned by 45-year-old Cristina Escoto.
He said the dug area is about 20 meters from the riverbank and had no permits issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the local government of Makilala.
Ruizo said they were tipped about the treasure hunting on the lot owned by Escoto, who denied there was such activity on her property. Escoto admitted the family was responsible for the digging using a backhoe, but only to make a swimming pool.
Ruizo cited Presidential Decree 1067, which prohibits treasure hunting in the so-called “riparian zone,” the interface between land and a river or stream river banks.
“Such digging may trigger soil erosion or landslides,” he said, adding the owner agreed to stop the digging activity and return the dug soil. ( Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
