There is between P10 trillion and P15 trillion worth of tea rose marble
in the Sierra Madre mountains in the eastern part of Bulacan and both
the provincial government and the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) have been protecting it from being mined and exported.
But lately, environmentalists are asking: “If Bulacan is the only
place on Earth where tea rose marble can be sourced, how is it so that
the pinkish slabs of stone can be found in the great halls of the gaming
and entertainment oasis of Las Vegas and Macau?”
Sagip Sierra Madre Environment Society (SSMES) told the Manila
Bulletin that the rare tea rose marble in the gambling meccas of the
world have, indeed, been extracted from the Biak-na-Bato National Park
in Norzagaray, Bulacan.
“I think it’s cursed because many people have already died over its
mining. Perhaps, the deities and the unseen guardians in the rain forest
and mountains of Biak-na-Bato were angered because the whole mountains
together with its forest cover have already vanished creating an
environmental malady that is now also being felt in the low lands
because of severe floods,” said an officer of the SSMES.
Aside from the violent deaths and fierce court battles, the tea rose
marble had enticed some politicians to embark into its illegal mining,
the SSMES said.
It was learned that the protection of the tea rose marble as one of
Bulacan’s natural treasure was only realized when Governor Wilhelmino M.
Sy-Alvarado started his first term in 2010 and banned the illegal
extraction of all mineral deposits in the mountains of eastern Bulacan.
In the years that followed, the Bulacan Environment and Natural
Resources Office (BENRO) had hauled marbles reaching up to 257,
including wire-sawed tea rose marble blocks.
With no claimants to the tea rose marble due to the illegal nature of
their extraction, the Office of the President granted the request of
the governor that the 257 blocks be turned over to the provincial
government of Bulacan subject to the terms of the (DENR).
When the DENR and the provincial government announced that it will be
auctioned, a new controversy once again stirs the mystery surrounding
the red marble has cropped up.
Sources in Congress said that a lawmaker from Central Luzon is
reportedly trying to coax DENR officials into including him as member of
the Bids and Awards Committee.
The lawmaker had earlier questioned the Malacañang over its decision
to give the province of Bulacan authority to dispose the marble.
The source added that the lawmaker is hell bent on chasing the tea
rose marble that he has even tried to blackmail certain DENR officials.
