A former mayor of Cebu was accused of violating Section 103 of R.A. 7942 or Philippine Mining Act of 1995, for extracting minerals without any permits, agreement, or leases.
Ex-Cebu mayor Avelino Gungob Sr. was fined P20, 000 for the said violation while his co-accused have been acquitted due to failure to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt, as reported in a Manila Bulletin article.
At least six job order employees were involved in the violations, namely Glicerio Galo, Leonardo Gabato Capao Jr., Juanito Tubin Gernudio Jr., Beda Inoc Comiso, Nicarter Jemino Yray, and Dionito Cavan Mangilaya.
The accused group used the municipality’s dump trucks, backhoe, bulldozer, and other resources to extract three truckloads of approximately 30 cubic meters of limestones and diorite on November 26, 2009. These minerals belonged to the government and they extracted these without a valid permit.
In his defense, Gungob said the prosecution failed to identify the owner of the land or provide proof that the site was government-owned.
The court, however, ruled that the claims are “uninformed.”
“The fact that accused Gungob himself sent request letters for a permit to be issued in connection with the project further recognizes the ownership of the government of the minerals despite his subsequent contrary claims,” the decision read.
The conspiracy between Gungob his co-accused was not established by the prosecution.
The job order employees acted on the order of the former solon and their former supervisor. No evidence was found whether they know the status of the required Gratuitous Permit.
“Given the nature of their jobs, the accused job order employees were not knowledgeable of the absence or presence of the required permit,” the decision stated.
