Sandigan acquits ex-Cebu mayor

The former municipal mayor of Malabuyoc, Cebu has been acquitted by the Sandiganbayan recently of two graft charges in connection with issuing a permit to a private construction company despite the absence of legal requirements pertaining to the environment and failure to pay taxes for the dredging activities.

In their 19-page page Decision, the Sandiganbayan Fourth Division acquitted in both graft charges former Malabuyoc Municipal Mayor Lito Narciso Creus.

Creus was charged earlier for violations of Section 3 (e) and (g) of RA No. 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

In Criminal Case No. 27843, for violation of Sec. 3 (e) of RA 3019, records showed that on Feb. 2001, Creus, being the municipal mayor of Mala­buyoc, issued a permit to PLD Construction for the dredg­ing or rechanneling of the Saliring River, located at Mala­buyoc, Cebu, despite the absence of legal requirements such as – Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the memorandum of agreement or clearance from the Department of Public Works and Highways pursuant to the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of RA No. 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, thereby giving unwarranted  benefits to PLD Construction  to the damage and prejudice of the government.

In Criminal Case No. 27844, for violation of Sec. 3 (g) of RA 3019, records showed that in February 2001, Creus unlawfully and criminally entered into a contract on behalf of the government with PLD Construction, which is manifestly and grossly disadvantageous to the Municipality of Mala­buyoc.

Creus allowed and authorized said construction firm to dredge and quarry at the Saliring River situated in Malabuyoc, Cebu, without paying taxes for the dredging or quarrying, resulting to the loss of revenue taxes to the municipality of Malabuyoc, in the amount of P1,368, 406.20.

Creus, during his arraignment in August 2004, entered a plea of not guilty.

The prosecution cited in the complaint provisions on quarry operations and permits.

The Sandiganbayan Associate Justices Jose Hernandez, who wrote the decision, Gregory Ong, division chairman, and Rodolfo Ponferrada, cited that the mayor’s permit in question is one expressly for “Dredging and Rechanneling.”

The application of the cited provisions regarding quarry permits for “dredging and rechanneling” would presuppose that the terms mean the same or can be used as alternatives, the Sandiganbayan said.

However, the anti-graft court said the prosecution failed to establish that quarrying is equivalent to dredging and rechanneling, or vice versa.

In fact, a distinction was drawn between terms quarrying and dredging/rechan­neling, the court also said, as cited in the testimonies of witnesses.

The defense also cited that certain conditions were made when the mayor had issued the permit, including practices on environmental concerns that must be made during the firm’s operations, such as “sanitation in the area of operations, minimization of disturbance to the ecosystem, adherence to the environmental protection laws, and other practices consistent in the orderly execution of the project.”

The permit also specifically stated that all works to be undertaken by PLD Construction relative to the dredging and rechanneling of the river “shall be at no cost to the municipality government of Malabuyoc.”

The permit also cited that “PLD Construction shall limit its dredging and rechanneling operations to the program and area of work to be provided by the Office of the Mayor.”

On the other hand, the Sandiganbayan said that on Criminal Case No. 27844, regarding the alleged contract made by the local government with PLD, the justices said “the prosecution, however, failed to establish that such a contract exists.  Consequently, it was not able to prove the existence of that alleged contractual provision where the accused allowed or authorized PLD Construction to dredge and quarry the Saliring River without paying taxes.”

“Nowhere in the text of that document (mayor’s permit) was it provided that accused authorized or allowed PLD to dredge and quarry the Saliring River without paying taxes,” said the Sandiganbayan.

To begin with, the mayor’s permit was for dredging and rechanneling which prosecution witnesses often distinguished from quarrying, the justices said.

Secondly, they Sandiganbayan said, the mayor’s permit expressly subjected the grant to the condition that the “practices consistent in the orderly execution of the project shall at all times be observed.”

“That PLD eventually did not pay taxes cannot be taken as proof that the accused has, by contract, allowed or authorized it to dredge and quarry without paying taxes. Given the findings of this Court on the non-existence of the alleged contractual provision, there is no basis for the issue as to whether or not the contract is manifestly disadvantageous to the government,” the justices also said.