By Manila Standard | July 21, 2025

(PHOTO: MANILA STANDARD)

A PARTY-list member of the House of Representatives has filed a bill banning black sand mining, including dredging as a front for disastrous activities.

Mamamayang Liberal (ML) party-list Rep. Leila de Lima filed House Bill 1843, also known as the Anti-Black Sand Mining Act, citing environmental concerns and potential disaster scenarios.

“Studies by environmental groups in areas with black sand mining showed that black sand mining operations contributed to the depletion of fisheries, erosion of land and severe flooding in coastal and riverside communities,” De Lima said in her explanatory note.

The former senator cited in particular the case of Cagayan province where “residents have expressed alarm at the effects of black sand mining activities.”

“In a press conference in September 2013, Ofelia Fuentes of Samahan ng Kababaihan sa Buguey at Sta. Teresita said that due to black sand mining in Cagayan River and coastlines, houses are crumbling because the sand underneath it are getting eroded, rice fields are shrinking and harvests are becoming less as the fields are inundated by saltwater, and fisherfolk are reporting reduced catch,” HB No.1843 stated.

De Lima said she filed the bill with an eye on pushing the cause of fisherfolk organizations like PAMALAKAYA which oppose dredging operations in Cagayan River. These groups resist what they denounced as Chinese-led dredging, allegedly a mere front for black sand extraction and not genuine river rehabilitation.

Source: Manila Standard