Fears mount over Pandan-Ibajay road projects, mining links

By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The construction of a multi-million-peso gravel road in Pandan, Antique has drawn scrutiny after locals flagged the project’s alignment in a pending mining application, fueling fears that the publicly funded project could be intended to support future mineral extraction.

Records from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) show that a 5,913-hectare mining tenement of Calbayog Mining & Development Corporation covers areas within the Pandan–Ibajay corridor.

The company’s mining tenement — an Application for Financial or Technical Assistance (AFTA) — was filed on March 27, 1996, and originally covers parts of Malay, Buruanga, and Nabas in Aklan, as well as Libertad and Pandan in Antique, with target commodities including gold, silver, copper, and lead.

But as of December 2025, the MGB-6 tenement control map already shows that the company’s Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTTA) application is now concentrated in Pandan, Antique, and Ibajay, Aklan.

An AFTA is the initial application process to obtain an FTAA — a contract that allows large-scale mining with up to 100% foreign ownership and is granted for 25 years, renewable upon presidential approval.

With the application still pending, environmental watchdog Amlig Alliance Antique flagged that the road project’s width, alignment, and overall scale resemble an industrial haul road rather than a farm-to-market or tourism road.

Records independently verified by Daily Guardian show that four DPWH contracts worth a total of PHP489 million have been issued for the Pandan–Ibajay Road since 2019.

Three projects were implemented by IBC International Builders Corporation, while one was undertaken in 2019 through a joint venture between A.M. Oreta & Co. Inc. and Allencon Development Corporation. IBC and Allencon are both owned by the Tan family of Iloilo.

 

Amlig said its review of DPWH records, satellite imagery, and field inspections shows that key segments of the largely unpaved road resemble an industrial haul road rather than a farm-to-market or tourism route.

The group noted that some sections reach widths far beyond what local traffic requires, raising fears that public funds are being used to open access to mineral-rich areas in northern Antique.

While the project is officially described as a public access and tourism road, the group furthered that its design appears aligned with the requirements of heavy equipment and mineral transport.

“Such over-design offers little discernible benefit to local farmers and residents. Instead, the scale and specifications resemble those of an industrial haul road, prompting concerns that public infrastructure funds may be indirectly facilitating access to mineral-rich areas within the Pandan–Ibajay corridor rather than serving basic community mobility needs,” it said.

The group noted that the project’s Environmental Compliance Certificate reportedly allowed only a 12-meter road footprint, but actual construction shows widths expanding to around 20 meters, with disturbed areas exceeding 100 meters in some sections.

These dimensions, Amlig argued, are far beyond typical farm-to-market or tourism road standards.

Amlig also questioned why hundreds of millions of pesos were spent on a road that remains largely unpaved. Based on industry benchmarks, the group contended that funding should have completed the full 7.8-kilometer alignment with gravel surfacing, drainage, and slope protection. However, field checks show that only about 2.8 kilometers are passable, mostly consisting of dirt and loose stones.

They also alleged the cost density, reaching up to PHP175,000 per linear meter in one 650-meter segment, is more consistent with concrete highways or industrial roads than rural access routes.

Amlig further accused the DPWH that earlier phases proceeded without a valid Gratuitous Special Use Permit (GSUP) and complete local clearances, despite traversing forestland and an Environmentally Critical Area.

GSUP is a mandatory authorization required for infrastructure projects that traverse protected or forested areas.

The 2023 contract for the project was suspended in mid-January this year, but Amlig claimed that earthmoving activities have continued.

GSUP requested 

On January 28, the local government of Pandan conducted a public consultative meeting with officials from seven remote barangays at Brgy. Sta. Ana Covered Court to hear residents’ concerns regarding the Pandan–Ibajay Road.

A day later, on January 29, the Sangguniang Bayan held a committee hearing on a request from the DPWH for a resolution endorsing the Pandan–Ibajay Road project and granting a GSUP for a proposed road section in Barangay Maadios under the Philippine Rural Development Project. Maadios is one of the remote barangays of Pandan.

Sangguniang Bayan member Raymund Gumboc said the local government was “shocked” and “very disappointed” to learn of an existing mining tenement in the area and the late request for a GSUP.

“We asked why the GSUP was requested just now, considering that the project has started since 2020,” he said in an interview with K5 News FM San Jose Antique.

He explained that Pandan has no direct road access from the town proper to its seven interior barangays and must pass through Ibajay and Nabas in Aklan, underscoring the long-standing need for a road network.

“We recognize the need of the communities to give them access roads,” he said.

However, Gumboc said the local government would look into the matter, citing concerns that road construction may be contributing to unprecedented flooding reported in both the town proper and hinterland barangays in recent years.

The local official reported siltation in the Panakuyan River in Barangay Sta. Ana, adjacent to the road construction site.

“We are very concerned that the roads are supposed to help us, but we see that these things are happening. I think we need to do something,” he said.