DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga (left), 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan (Facebook)

House Minority Leader 4Ps Party-list Rep. Marcelino “Nonoy” Libanan believes that the newly-launched Task Force Homonhon will go a long way in preserving the historic namesake island in his native of Eastern Samar. 

Launched by the Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR), the task force is a multisectoral effort aimed at protecting Homonhon Island from further environmental degradation due to commercial nickel and chromite mining activities. 

Libanan, in a statement Sunday, May 5, said he took part in a meeting with DENR Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga about the  endeavor. 

“As discussed during our meeting, the task force will visit Homonhon, inspect all mining operations there, and then adopt a comprehensive action plan to save the island,” Libanan said. 

He said the task force will ensure that mining entities in Homonhon are complying fully with all environmental and community health protection laws, and that they are restoring and improving all the areas that they have disturbed, including the island’s coastal ecosystem. 

“We are also counting on the mining firms to spend for Homonhon’s electrification and the installation of a water system that will provide round-the-clock running water supply to households there,” Libanan said. 

Libanan was Eastern Samar province’s lone congressional district representative before he was elected 4Ps party-list representative in May 2022. 

With a land area of 105 square kilometers, Homonhon is among the historic places in the world when it comes to navigation. 

When Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan first circumnavigated the globe, his three surviving vessels landed on Homonhon where his crew rested and resupplied for a week before heading out to Limawasa, Butuan and finally to Cebu, where the Portuguese explorer was slain in the Battle of Mactan. 

Homonhon currently has a population of 5,073 grouped into eight barangays, and forms part of the Municipality of Guiuan. 

Yulo-Loyzaga designated DENR Undersecretary Carlos Primo David as head of Task Force Homonhon. 

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the private entities that have mineral production sharing agreements (MPSAs) with the national government in Homonhon. 
 

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The mining firms will also be required to designate representatives to the task force to facilitate coordination and implementation of remedial measures to restore Homonhon’s environment, including the island’s coastal ecosystem. 

At present, the MPSA holders in Homonhon are: Global Min-met Resources Inc., Emir Mineral Resources Corp., Verrum Terra Geoscience Inc., Techiron Resources Inc., Mt. Sinai Mining Exploration & Development Corp., Chromiteking Inc., and Nickelace Inc. 

Meanwhile, Libanan said he intends to find out why Guiuan has not been receiving its rightful share of the revenues collected by the national government from the mining activities in Homonhon. 

Under the law, Libanan said local governments are supposed to receive 40 percent of the national treasury’s earnings from mining taxes and royalties from mineral reservations collected from their areas.