Mines bureau clarifies pebbles seizure mess

Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau regional director Roger de Dios has clarified that his office did its best to help the Bureau of Customs confiscate the improperly documented pebbles last week.

De Dios reacted to the accusations by BOC district collector Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang that he did not coordinate with her office in the confiscation of the "hot" items.

In an interview with The Freeman yesterday, de Dios said that it was the BOC that did not give his office specific information about the items.

"I just want to correct that we were the ones who actually discovered the shipment. It was the Customs personnel who gave us the runaround," he said, adding that the shipper, who went to his office to clear his business name, led them to locate the pebbles.

De Dios said he told a reporter that the items were missing because when they went to the Cebu International Port to check, the van containing the pebbles was no longer around.

"When we looked for it (pebbles) it was not there. But I'm not blaming the Customs collector," de Dios said.

Earlier, Mangaoang said de Dios was misleading the media for telling a reporter that the van containing the pebbles was missing when in fact it was being held by the BOC in Lagtang, Talisay City.

The Customs official ordered the opening of the 20-footer van last Friday after de Dios went to her office Thursday to inquire about the illegal shipment.

The BOC had seized the van where the pebbles were after it was allegedly discovered that its owner, Millennium Stone Dealer of Lagtang, Talisay City, submitted a falsified certificate of accreditation for export.

The pebbles, placed inside 920 sacks, were worth over $900 or close to P50,000.

De Dios confirmed that the owner submitted a tampered certificate of accreditation for export dated on May 31, 2005. The signatory in the certificate was former MGB chief Eligio Ariate, who already died in September 2004.

With this, de Dios said they would file falsification of public documents against the exporter.