MGB’s Central Visayas regional director retires
By Madelaine B. Miraflor
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) announced the retirement of its Regional Director in Central Visayas, Loreto Alburo, the same official who issued an ore transport permit back in August for the shipment of dolomite rocks from Alcoy town in southern Cebu for the government’s Manila Bay beach nourishment project.
In a statement, MGB, the government agency tasked to regulate and develop the country’s extractive industries, said that MGB Director Wilfredo G. Moncano recently appointed Engr. Armando Malicse as the new Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of MGB Regional Office in Region 7.
The designation of Malicse came after the official retirement of Alburo.
Malicse previously held the position of Chief Science Research Specialist at MGB and was the Chief of the Mine Safety, Environment and Social Development Division in MGB Regional Office 7.
To recall, it was Alburo himself who confirmed earlier this month that it was MGB that issued the transport permit for the controversial dolomite shipment from Cebu to Manila Bay.
This was after the Cebu Provincial Board questioned how the shipment happened without the knowledge of the local government.
“This dolomite shipment is the reported white sand which had been spread along the shorelines of Manila Bay to enhance the aesthetic beauty of the bayfront,” Alburo said in an earlier report, adding that it was the Dolomite Mining Corp. (DMC) who conducted the quarrying for this shipment.
The raw dolomite quarried by DMC was then delivered to its sole buyer, the Philippine Mining Service Corp. (PMSC), for processing.
Source: Manila Bulletin