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Didipio officer gets top pollution control award

By LEANDER C. DOMINGO, TMT
June 01, 2019

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THE Pollution Control Association of the Philippines Inc. (Pcapi) bestowed the Outstanding Pollution Control Officer (Topco) award on a resident of a mineral-rich upland village in Nueva Vizcaya.
Oliver Donato, a Didipio village resident, was the first Nueva Vizcaya native to receive the prestigious award during Pcapi’s 39th National Annual Convention and General Assembly held in Cebu City on May 8 to 9, which was attended by delegates from different regions of the Philippines.
Jeremiah Dwight Sebastian, Pcapi president, said this year’s theme, “PCOs: Our Environmental Heroes,” reiterated the significance of the private sector, particularly its pollution control officers (PCOs).
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“As pollution control officers and environment managers, we are burdened with the glorious task of finding and implementing solutions and more importantly to inspire others to join our efforts to save our environment,” he said.
Donato is OceanaGold’s Didipio Mine environment supervisor and an Environment Science graduate of Nueva Vizcaya State University in Bayombong town. The mine is located in the upland village of Didipio in Kasibu town, Nueva Vizcaya.

Donato is part of an environment team that mitigates the impact of large-scale mining in Nueva Vizcaya on water quality improvement, reforestation and progressive mine rehabilitation, energy efficiency, and biodiversity conservation, among others.
“As Didipio residents, we have a responsibility to ensure all activities that happen within our community are compliant with existing laws to protect and enhance our environment,” he said.
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Donato and his team have been implementing science-based programs to lower the total suspended solid (TSS) of river water surrounding the mine site, and guarantee that OceanaGold continues to discharge clean water to the downstream rivers.
With this, the Didipio Mine was also recognized as third-runner up in the Success Story Category for Donato’s project on the “Successful Protection and Enhancement of Dinauyan River: Improving Water Quality for Future Generations.”
Pcapi said the participating pollution control officers underwent a thorough deliberation and presented an environment enhancement project before a selection panel.
It said the criteria in selecting the Topcp were nonviolation of any environmental laws from the PCO’s organization for the past three years, and successful implementation of an excellent environmental and pollution control system in his/her company, among others.