Second district Board Member Vicky de Guzman, one of the authors of the then proposed 25-year mining moratorium in
Palawan, has voiced out her disappointment about “not hearing a word” from the agencies who were supportive of the legislation which was already approved December last year.

“Except for the PNNI (Palawan NGO Network Inc.) who came out in the open and thanked us, we have not heard from other sectors who expressed their willingness to partner with us,” de Guzman said during the Provincial Board’s 72^nd regular session Jan. 13.

PNNI threw a victory party for the approval of the mining moratorium last year wherein members of the Provincial Board were invited. However, only de Guzman and first district Board Member Edmundo Balerite were able to attend.

According to de Guzman, it seemed that after the moratorium was finally approved, everyone disappeared and that “nobody had ever said ‘thank you’.”

De Guzman did not mention names because, according to her, “they know who they are.”

“Maybe they were thinking that ‘we have already attained it. We got it, so why say ‘thank you’? I just hope it’s not like that,” she said when asked what might be the reasons for these agencies not to acknowledge the Board’s achievement.

“Time and again we have recognized them. They were invited during public hearings because we know their importance. As a matter of fact, they inspired us to pursue the fight for the moratorium,” she explained.

However, she added that the Board is still happy for having done something for the general welfare.

“We’re waiting even just to be tapped and to address the whole Provincial Board ‘good job’. We all decided for it, not just the authors,” de Guzman told the media.

De Guzman, on the other hand, admitted that the whole thing was “part of the game.” You don’t expect to be thanked being a legislator and in public service since it is a thankless job, she said.