POLICE seized a truckload of sand and gravel reportedly hauled from the Mananga watershed in Cebu City.
The confiscation was made by the Cebu City Public Safety Company (CCPSC) in a checkpoint in Transcentral Highway in barangay Busay, Cebu City at 3:30 a.m. last Wednesday.
Police said Mario Callino, the truck driver, failed to present the needed documents to prove that the hauling was legal.
PO2 Julito Elarcosa, investigator of CCPSC, Callino admitted that the sand and gravel were hauled from Mananga Watershed.
Elarcosa said hauling of sand and gravel from a watershed is prohibited and it is only done in Toledo City.
The Cebu City government considers Mananga Watershed as one of the protected areas.
The protected areas cover the Central Cebu National Park extending from Sudlon down to Manipis-Mananga area.
Elarcosa said the checkpoint was part of the police’s preparations for next year’s election.
The dump truck was turned over to the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Central Visayas.
Police said the operator of the hauling firm faces a fine of P20,000 under the environmental laws./Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao