Coast Guard district commander asks Ombudsman to junk charges

The district commander of the Philippine Coast Guard who was earlier charged with graft and corruption for issuing special permits to dangerous cargoes has asked the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to dismiss the charges against him for lack of merit.

In asking the anti-graft’s office to dismiss the charges against him, Commander Elpidio Gunio blamed the government’s inability to provide efficient maritime laws that would orderly regulate the maritime industry.

Gunio said there has been no maritime code that provides uniform regulation. Although he admitted having issued special permits to Mandaue Compressed Gases Corporation and Cebu Premier Industrial Gases for the shipment of oxygen tanks, he said it was done in good faith.

Gunio claimed that he was not aware of his violations because his participation is only limited to the issuance of the special permits. According to him, the permit issuance was stipulated in the memorandum of agreement that they have entered into with the Maritime Industry Authority.

“The issue that surfaced in this incident could ultimately be traced to the problematic and topsy-turvy maritime laws that we have,” said Gunio, who added that he was also a victim in the situation because he did his best under the existing regulations.

The National Bureau of Investigation charged Gunio with violations of the Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices following the seizure of several oxygen tanks loaded in a passenger vessel in the Cebu port.

The shipment allegedly violated the Presidential Decree 601, otherwise known as the Revised Coast Guard Law; Coast Guard Memorandum Circular 101; Fire Code of the Philippines; and Safety of Life at Sea.

Aside from Gunio, the directors of the board of Mandaue Compressed Gases Corporation, including the officials of the shipping lines where the dangerous cargo was loaded, were also included in the charges.

The case stemmed from the complaints separately filed by Msgr. Achilles Dakay, in his capacity as chairman of the Metro Cebu Consumers Association and Choy Torralba of radio station dyLA. — Fred P. Languido/LPM