Posted on July 7, 2025
CALAPAN CITY — Oriental Mindoro 1st District Rep. Arnan Panaligan wants to know the details of the ongoing dredging operation in Gloria and the planned dredging in other major river systems in the province.
Concerned with the residents, who are showing video footages of erosion in coastal areas, Panaligan said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the provincial government of Oriental Mindoro should provide a detailed plan of the project and the proceeds, if ever there is any.
In a press conference, Panaligan said that he was told by the DENR-Mimaropa that the application for the dredging projects in the province involves the extraction of sand near the river mouth of the river systems up to seven kilometers upstream.
“If that is the plan, how can this project address the flooding problem when one of the causes is the heavy siltation of our rivers?” the lawmaker said.
“Take for one example the Bucayao-Silonay River, if they are only going to dredge seven kilometers from the river mouth in Barangay Silonay, it would not reach the silted area that we can see in the Bucayao Bridge,” Panaligan said.
Panaligan said that “if the purpose of the project is to really address the perennial flooding problem of the province, the priority should be the desilting of the river system itself and not the coastal areas even if the purpose is to make a navigational channel.”
“I was informed that in the Balete dredging, 38 million cubic meters is to be extracted but only 1.8 million would come from the river itself,” said Panaligan.
The provincial government of Oriental Mindoro had given the Southern Concrete Industries Inc. a notice to proceed (NTP) in the Belete River in Gloria as well as the Bird’s Nest Resources Corporation to dredge the Alag River in Baco town.
Environmental groups are raising concern on the impact of the project, saying these would affect the lives and livelihood of fisherfolk in the coastal areas.
