House Bill No. 4799 declaring Cagayan de Oro City as mining-free zone has just passed the House committee panel on natural resources.

Authored by Cagayan de Oro City 2nd Dist. Rep. Maximo B. Rodriguez Jr., the measure was approved with an amendment which excludes gravel, sand and other non-metallic minerals from the coverage of the proposed law.

Rodriguez’s law stemmed from the illegal mining operations in the city’s hinterland barangays such as Dansolihon, Mambuaya, Taglimao, Tapangi, Tuburan and Tumpagon which have been blamed for the flashfloods in the downstream area of the city.000