Pangasinan execs axed over black sand
LINGAYEN, Pangasinan—Former provincial administrator Rafael Baraan on Monday described as “very harsh and sweeping” the decision of the Office of the Ombudsman dismissing him and another official from service for engaging in black sand mining in the Lingayen Gulf.
Baraan stepped down on Dec. 11 when the Department of the Interior and Local Government enforced the Ombudsman’s decision, which found him and Alvin Bigay, provincial housing and urban development officer, guilty of grave misconduct.
The Ombudsman resolution also stripped Baraan and Bigay of retirement benefits and disqualified them from holding public office.
The two officials are also subjects of a criminal graft case filed by the Ombudsman against several Pangasinan officials, including Gov. Amado Espino Jr., for allowing black sand to be extracted from a government land that was being developed into an ecotourism area.
As of Dec. 22, Baraan had not been replaced at the provincial capitol.
Baraan and Bigay had asked the Ombudsman on Dec. 16 to lift the implementing order until their earlier motion for reconsideration was resolved.
“We believe that the joint resolution handed down overlooked our basic constitutional right to due process,” Baraan said in a press statement.
“This is a very harsh and sweeping indictment of public servants whose only fault is their overeagerness to help improve the lives of their provincemates by way of helping in the overall effort to attract investors, generate livelihood and income opportunities for the people,” he said.
In a statement, Espino said “It is very unfortunate that the provincial government has to suffer [for] actions that are prudent and highly necessary to accelerate economic development for the benefit of our constituents.”
He was referring to an 18-hole golf course inside the provincial government’s 38-hectare ecotourism area that spans the coastal villages of Sabangan, Estanza, Malimpuec and Capandanan here.
The construction involved black sand extraction and segregation to allow turf grass and other vegetation to grow on the golf course.
In an interview in November, Baraan said the provincial government secured an environmental compliance certificate for the project in January 2013, which established that no laws were violated when the project was undertaken.
Baraan said the Ombudsman’s resolution had accused the Pangasinan officials of exporting P10.7 million worth of magnetite sand to China.
