MANILA - The operations of a quarry company reportedly encroaching into the territory of Masungi Geopark in Baras town in Rizal province are facing closure, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said Tuesday.

Environment Sec. Roy Cimatu vowed to close down and cancel the permit of quarrying firm Rapid City Realty and Development Corp.

DENR said Cimatu personally went to the site to verify reports that the company fenced off a quarter of the 2,000-hectare Masungi Geopark.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) is also looking into the mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA) granted by DENR to Rapid City in 1998.

MGB has likewise been ordered to scrutinize the MPSAs of two other quarrying firms, namely Quarry Rock Group Inc., and Quimson Limestone Inc., which, along with Rapid City, are operating within the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape with MPSAs secured in the late 1990s.

An MPSA has a validity of 25 years from the year it was granted. Rapid City's MPSA will soon expire and is subject to renewal.

According to Cimatu, the fencing off of part of Masungi Geopark is intended for the expansion of Rapid City's property.

He also said he will not allow any extension of Rapid City's MPSA, and may even shut it down.

Cimatu has directed the Rizal Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office to establish a satellite office in Masungi Geopark to strengthen the protection of the nature park and surrounding protected areas.

Masungi Georeserve is an award-winning conservation project that has become a popular eco-tourism site in Baras, Rizal. Alongside eco-tourism efforts, the group behind it continues to reforest areas that were made barren by illegal logging and quarrying.

• LOOK: Quarry operations in Rizal affect reforestation efforts of conservation park