"I commend the energy and effort of Councilor Cocamas for bringing the issue to the august hall of the Sangguniang Bayan," Evangelista-Lapiña said in a statement Tuesday (Nov. 23).
She said this will be an opportunity for her to expose the rampant corruption and reveal several irregularities in quarry operations that were left unchecked in the past administrations.
"I will also brief the Sangguniang Bayan as to the reforms made under the Evangelista administration regarding the quarry operations, which resulted in the apprehension of some violators and the strict enforcement of the provincial ordinances and permit to all concessioners," she said.
Evangelista-Lapiña said the reforms made under the Evangelista administration have ensured that the town’s coffers will truly get the proper taxes and shares from quarrying operations, unlike before.
She said contrary to Cocamas’ claim, the Evangelista administration collected P278, 724.75 from January to December 2019; P425, 375.25 from January to December 2020 and P487 775.00 from January to October 2021.
"I do hope that Wednesday’s committee hearing would result in the Issuance of an Ordinance that would, for one, strengthen the regulation and control of quarry operations based on the Monitoring Team's actual experiences from the ground criminalize those are involved in the irregularities in quarry operations, " she said.
" The Mayor is clear on this: We don’t condone corruption on quarry operations!" Evangelista-Lapiña stressed. (Armando Fenequito)
Image from Santo Tomas MIO