Graft raps vs. Agusan governor dismissed
FOR overlooking an opinion of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the miningrelated graft charges against incumbent Gov. Erlpe John Amante of Agusan del Norte that the Office of the Ombudsman earlier filed are now withdrawn.
Ombudsman Conchita CarpioMorales asked for the dropping of 26 counts of graft charges against Amante after her office found valid grounds on a DOJ opinion which was raised on Amante’s motion for reconsideration.
On June 2011, the Ombudsman, underacting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro, ordered the filing of complaints against Amante, Provincial Engineering Office employees Apolinario Yee and Celso Perez, and SR Metals Inc. ( SRMI) head Jimwell Orpilla.
The accused were charged of giving unwarranted benefit to SRMI and issuing ore transport permits ( OTPS) for the transport of 34,803 metric tons of lateritic nickel ores valued at $ 653,455 “pursuant to Section 1 of Presidential Decree [ PD] 1899.”
PD 1899 established the smallscale mining in the country, and under Sec. 1, mining corporations can only haul ore for not more than 50,000 metric tons in a year.
SRMI were charged for violating the conditions stated in their environmental compliance certificate for over-extracting 770,609 wet metric tons of minerals, above the 50,000- metric ton limit.
However, Morales said that when Amante issued the OTPS, he could not be faulted with bad faith as he based his issuance on DOJ Opinion 74 of 2006 that placed smallmining companies and the volume of minerals that they may extract under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Too, Section 1 of PD 1899 was repealed by Republic Act (RA) 7076 or the People’s Small-scale Mining Act of 1991, resulting in the defeat of the allegation because RA 7076 “did not include among the conditions any quota of production.”
“Simply stated, the basis on which the charge was founded is now inexistent, hence the accusation are lacking in legal basis. This being said, it stands to reason there- fore that probable cause is wanting,” read the resolution signed by Morales on January 24.
The Ombudsman added that the charges against Amante have “no more legs to stand on.”
The anti-graft agency added that SRMI could not have over- extracted ore because the DOJ Opinion defined nickel- cobalt ore “in a way as to include only the ore in its processed form.”
No over-extraction could also be alleged against SRMI because the DOJ Opinion 74 of 2006 and a later DOJ Opinion 49 of 2007, where it reversed the definition as “raw materials” not in processed form, have not yet taken effect when SRMI received the OTPS from Amante in 2006.
“On this score, we found that probable cause for violation of Section 3 (e) and 3 (j) is found wanting inasmuch as the act complained of has no legal basis,” the Ombudsman resolved.
Even if reversing its earlier decision, the Ombudsman though recommended “further fact- finding investigation” because SRMI has hauled 720,609 wet metric tons from August 24, 2006 to March 30, 2007.
“We are not unmindful, and we are concerned, of the far-reaching effect of the massive volume of extraction . . . [I]f there was such infraction, this we could not ignore and shrug off,” the Ombudsman said.