Sandigan finds Gungob guilty of theft of minerals

CEBU, Philippines —  Former Consolacion, Cebu mayor Avelino Gungob Sr. was fined P20,000 by the Sandiganbayan after he was found guilty of stealing truckloads of limestones hauled from the site of a road construction project in 2009.

The court’s Seventh Division specifically found Gungob guilty of theft of minerals as defined and penalized under Section 103 of Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. Violation of Section 103 of RA 7942 carries a penalty of six months up to six years of imprisonment or a fine of P10,000 to P20,000, or both, depending upon the discretion of the court.

The Seventh Division, however, only sentenced Gungob to a fine noting that the total fair market value of the seized limestones only amounted to P6,000.

The court, on the other hand, dismissed the case against Gungob’s co-accused job order employees Glicerio Galo, Leonardo Capao Jr., Juanito Gerundio Jr., Beda Comiso, Nicarter Yray and Dionito Mangilaya.

The Seventh Division said the prosecution failed to prove their conspiracy with Gungob or to establish that they had prior knowledge that the then mayor had no permit from the provincial government when he directed them to haul the minerals.

Meanwhile, the case against another job order employee, Joeboy Dayon was ordered temporarily archived as he remains at-large. The decision was promulgated last August 16 but was obtained by reporters only yesterday.

The case stemmed from the hauling of three truckloads or approximately 30 cubic meters of limestones and/or diorite from Barangay Garing in Consolacion town on November 26, 2009.

The Office of the Ombudsman said the minerals, which were seized by a team from the National Bureau of Investigation, were hauled from the site without any extraction permit from the provincial government of Cebu, in violation of RA 7942.

In convicting Gungob, the Seventh Division said the documentary evidence offered by the ombudsman’s prosecution team contradicted the then mayor’s claim that what were hauled were just earth materials.

The court noted that Gungob, in his letter-request for extraction permit, addressed to the provincial government of Cebu, categorically stated that the items to be extracted from the area were limestones.

The court said the previous gratuitous permit that the provincial government issued to Gungob also identified the items as limestones.

“During his cross-examination, accused Gungob also confirmed at the witness stand that the Gratuitous Permit - initially granted but soon revoked and subsequently requested for but denied – would be for the extraction and hauling of limestones,” the court said.

The Seventh Division also found no merit on Gungob’s argument that the prosecution failed to prove that the quarry site is under a mining claim of a third person or that the site belonged to the government.

The court said that Sections 2 and 4 of RA 7942 are “crystal clear” in stating that “all mineral resources in public and private lands within the territory and exclusive economic zone of the Republic of the Philippines are owned by the State.”

Lastly, the court said it was sufficiently established that the extraction of the minerals had no approval of the provincial government. The court noted that Gungob’s numerous letter-requests to then Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia for the issuance of extraction permit, following the revocation of the gratuitous permit, were not acted upon.

Gungob had earlier claimed that the hauled minerals were excavated from the then ongoing “Road Opening Project” which would supposedly interconnect the different barangays of the municipality. Gungob said the hauled minerals were to supposed to be delivered as filling materials for the municipality’s two other projects – a transport terminal and a government center.

The court, however, noted that even the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) as well as the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) both certified that their respective offices issued no clearance or permit to Gungob or to the municipal government of Consolacion, which would allow the extraction of the minerals from the quarry or project site in Barangay Garing.

“He (Gungob) had repeatedly requested for a permit to extract and haul to be issued to him to no avail,” the court said.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Zaldy Trespeses with the concurrence of Associate Justices Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta and Georgina Hidalgo. Philstar News Service, FPL (FREEMAN)