Governor Edgardo Tallado says illegal mining charge vs him mudslinging

DAET, Camarines Norte— Gov. Edgardo Tallado said the illegal mining allegations hurled against him by some residents in Labo town, this province,  were “very early political black propaganda” designed to destroy his reputation.

Tallado denied any involvement in the mining facility owned by Bohai Top International Mining Corp. in Barangay Napaod, Labo, that was dismantled by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in February.

He said the allegations of 71-year-old widow Zenaida Gallardo were all lies and encouraged by his political opponents who used the tenant-farmer’s story against him in the elections last year.

Antonio de Jesus, owner of the 10-hectare land that the Gallardo family used to tend, had vehemently denied sending the text messages to Gallardo that led the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the governor.

De Jesus, in a phone interview on Monday, denied having sent text messages to Gallardo, which supposedly linked the governor to mining on his land in July 2011.

“I could not possibly give authorization to the governor to mine on my land because he was not the one I was talking to,” De Jesus said. “I know that it is the governor who grants permits but he is not the owner of the mining facility,” he said.

He said he never dealt with the governor when negotiating with a certain Nonie Besa, who served as a middle person between him and investors of Bohai Top.

De Jesus also accused Gallardo of lying about not receiving any compensation for the conversion of the land by Bohai Top.

He said Gallardo was paid P100,000 by Bohai Top as an incentive before the company started building its facilities and setting up equipment on the land that used to be a hilly area where the Gallardos used to plant coconut trees for copra.

De Jesus said Gallardo’s children received various amounts from Bohai Top in exchange for use of their land.

“She and her children signed documents when they received the money. She also continued to receive around P5,000 to P6,000 monthly ‘salary’ from Bohai Top,” he said.

Aside from these, De Jesus said that the Gallardos received compensation for the coconut trees that were destroyed in the process, which contradicted Gallardo’s claim that they did not receive any payment for the livelihood they lost.

Tallado said the Gallardos were also given a housing fund by Bohai Top for them to relocate to another place prior to the mining operation there.

De Jesus said he lived in Metro Manila and did not know any of the 14 Chinese men who were arrested for illegal mining and theft of minerals there by the NBI in connection with the operations of Bohai Top last Feb. 27.

Tallado said the allegations being investigated by the NBI were all hearsay.

Tallado said that although it was true he had issued temporary permits for small-scale mining to Bohai Top in 2011, he stopped issuing any other permit since July 2013.