Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) expressed deep concern over the US-Marcos regime’s continued permission for quarrying and mining operations in Rizal province.

“While the Marcos Jr administration is stirring investigations into anomalous flood control projects, data from the DENR reveals that Pres. Marcos Jr has actually renewed 10 mining and quarrying permits in Rizal province since he assumed office in 2022,” GWP national vice chairperson Sara Elago said.

Province residents said quarrying has reduced the forest areas, raising fears about their safety because of its long-term effects of flooding and landslides.

A total area of up to 658.5 hectares is being mined and quarried in the province. The largest companies are Concrete Aggregate Corp., which mines 211 hectares of land in Angono, Rizal, and Republic Cement and Building Materials, which covers 190 hectares in Teresa, Rizal. Mining and quarrying have destroyed about 10,000 hectares of forest in the province. According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Region IV-A, 82% of the total minerals extracted in the region come from Rizal, followed by Batangas with 15% and Quezon with 3%.

“If the Marcos Jr administration is serious about resolving floods and disasters, it must stop issuing permits to these destructive businesses. We need long-term solutions to disasters, not policies that focus on profit and the interests of a few,” Elago said.

The GWP is calling on the community of Rizal and neighboring provinces to resist destructive quarrying and mining projects.

“The public must stand in solidarity with women and families whose lives are most at risk from environmental destruction,” she said.