By Alex S. Villanueva, Jr.
THE PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) arrested on Wednesday, June 25, a member of the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) who failed to appear before the Sandiganbayan where he is facing a graft case.
Ordered arrested by the PNP-CIDG was Engr. Andronico Baguyo, the technical secretariat of the PMRB, for indirect contempt of court for failing an order to appear before a hearing set by the graft court last May.
The Palawan CIDG, led by its chief, Maj. Danilo Mendoza, will bring Baguyo to Manila to personally present him before the Sandiganbayan.
Baguyo, together with Palawan Gov. Joel T. Reyes, is facing charges for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allowing Platinum Groups Metal Corporation (PGMC), a small mining company operating in the town of Narra in southern Palawan, to haul out mineral ores that is twice the allowed volume for a period of two years. Both are currently out on bail.
In his resolution, acting Ombudsman Orlando Casimiro ruled that there was “probable cause” to indict Reyes and Baguyo for consenting to PGMC’s over extraction of mineral ores during its two-year permit.
Mining laws specifically state that small scale mining operators are only allowed to ship out 50,000 metric tons of mineral ores per year, but records showed that PGMC was able to transport 282,729 metric tons of ores worth more than P500 million out of the province over a two-year period.
Small scale mining companies are also not allowed to use heavy equipment to dig up ores but PGMC was allegedly using payloaders and graders and other heavy equipment in its operation.
