The quarry operations under Governor Lilia G. Pineda earned an income of P23,505,000.00 for the month of July this year.
This was learned from the operations people of KALAM, the Kapampangan A Lulugud At Matapat, the name of quarry operations under the Pineda administration. Filologo Rodriguez, head of operations, described the income as “a great achievement”, especially considering the factors affecting their first month of operations.
He cited several reasons for what he regards as a “feat”. Among these are the very close monitoring of all those involved in the operations from the checkers to the supervisors; the prevention of filching quarry money by the staff; the apprehension of those doing illegal quarrying, stopping their activities and in effect forcing them to secure necessary permits to make their quarrying legal; full support of the provincial leadership; the very good relationship between the provincial government and the mayors.
Rodriguez claimed that these reasons were interconnected, one leading to the other and, thus, partly caused the very good income of the quarry operations. This happened despite the two rainy days in July when there was a typhoon and there were no quarry operations. If there had been no rains, however, he predicted that the July income would have exceeded the P24M mark which was the record set under the administration of former Governor Eddie T. Panlilio in July 2007.
Both Rodriguez and Eduard de Leon, area supervisor, give credit to their consultant, Floriano Rivera, for the smoothness of their operations due to his familiarity with the work and good relations with government agencies involved in quarrying such as the Bureau of Lands, Mines and Geosciences Bureau and the Environment and Natural Resources Department.
They also expressed gratefulness for the full support of the governor which made it easy for them to do their job. The support, according to them, came in the form of vehicles, qualified manpower, communication facilities, supplies and materials.
“Vehicles, communication facilities and the others mentioned were very important because we needed to be mobile in the monitoring of the different quarry sites. Our checkers were mostly college level, if not college graduates, who were properly trained before we started handling the operations,” de Leon elaborated.
But over and above all these, Rodriguez pointed out, “the name of our game is honesty”. He emphasized that they have anchored their work on trust and honesty which is “how the governor wants it done”.
This is where the close monitoring of the staff, particularly checkers, comes in, Rodriguez said.
“We have suspended a few checkers who have succumbed to the temptation of cheating and we mean it when we say we put a premium on honesty.”
They emphasized that while it is their goal to set a new benchmark for the quarry income, they realize that such factors as the weather and the demand for quarry materials will come into play and affect the monthly take of their operations.
“Over and above the big income, we aim for consistently smooth and honest transactions. We are determined to perfect the system and set new standards for the provincial government’s KALAM operations,” Rodriguez vowed.
They also see the need to eventually increase the checkers’ pay to diminish the temptation of collusion with unscrupulous truckers, a practice which cheats the government of its revenues.
With the support that they get from the provincial government, they share a positive view of the months to come as far as the quarry operations in the province are concerned.
“More than satisfied with what we have accomplished in the first month, we take up the challenge of accomplishing more through honest and smooth operations. This way, we keep the promise of the Governor to give back the quarry income benefits by way of genuine services to the people.”
