Sandiganbayan dismisses graft raps vs Agusan del Sur governor

The Sandiganbayan has dismissed graft charges against Agusan del Sur Governor Erlpe John Amante and three others for allegedly allowing the overextraction of ore in the province.

The antigraft court dismissed the charges after the Ombudsman reversed its initial findings and withdrew the cases, citing that the law on mining quotas had been repealed.

Cleared with Amante were Provincial Engineering Office employees Apolinario Yee and Celso Perez, and SR Metals Inc. chief executive Jimwell Orpilla.

The Agusan del Sur officials were accused of violating the antigraft law when they issued ore transport permits to SR Metals in 2006 and 2007, allowing the company to extract nickel ore above the 50,000-metric ton annual limit.

The Office of the Ombudsman said the graft charges, which were based on Presidential Decree No. 1899 that prescribes an annual production quota of 50,000 MT of ore per mining corporation, no longer had a leg to stand on. This was because the decree had been repealed by the Small Scale Mining Act of 1991.

No more quota

The new act did not impose any annual production limit or quota on a corporation and a Department of Justice opinion issued in 2006 echoed the change in policy.

When the accused issued the ore transport permits in 2006 and 2007, the Small Scale Mining law was already in effect, the Ombudsman said.

With the stand taken by the prosecution, the Sandiganbayan’s First Division saw it fit to dismiss the charges.

“This reversal by the prosecution of its previous stand on these cases is well-taken, in view of the new evidence that has come to light during the reinvestigation,” it said. The charges were deemed withdrawn and the cases dismissed.