Sandigan sentences ex-govenor to 6-8 years in jail

Joel Reyes

The Sandiganbayan has sentenced former Palawan Gov. Mario Joel Reyes to six to eight years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of anomalously renewing the mining permit of a company that exceeded ore extraction limits.

In a 34-page decision on Aug. 29, the antigraft court’s Third Division also barred Reyes from holding public office following his conviction for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

However, it acquitted Reyes’ codefendant, Andronico Baguyo, the Provincial Mining Regulatory Board (PMRB) technical secretariat head.

Undue injury

Reyes was accused of causing undue injury to the province and giving unwarranted benefits to Olympic Mines and Development Corp. (OMDC) when he renewed its small-scale mining permit for the period covering April 6, 2006, to April 5, 2008.

Prosecutors questioned the renewal because OMDC already exceeded the annual maximum extraction limit of 50,000 dry metric tons (DMT) of ore, and because it used heavy equipment in its operations in violation of small-scale mining laws.

They said OMDC’s permit was renewed seven months ahead of its Nov. 3, 2006 expiration because the firm had exhausted its limit too early.

Sought for comment, Reyes’ legal counsel, Ferdinand Topacio, said the former governor would appeal his conviction.

The Sandiganbayan said Reyes acted with “gross inexcusable negligence,” and belied his defense that he merely approved the permits on the recommendation of the PMRB.

Mandate

According to the antigraft court, Reyes “cannot feign ignorance of the exhaustion of its privilege by OMDC” because as governor, he is mandated to both allow the exploitation and to conserve the natural resources within the province.

“He chose to intentionally and willfully ignore his responsibilities and conveniently relied only on the recommendation of the PMRB,” the decision said.

It said Reyes could have looked beyond the PMRB resolution and easily gathered information regarding OMDC’s violations.

OMDC operated in the southern Palawan towns of Narra and Sofronio Española. Court records showed that Platinum Group transported on behalf of OMDC a total of 203,399.135 DMT from May 30, 2005, to April 3, 2006, and 79,330 DMT from June 2, 2006, to July 31, 2006.

Then Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes canceled the renewed permit on Sept. 25, 2006, on the ground of over-extraction of minerals. This was, however, reversed on appeal by the Office of the President.

Reyes is detained at the Puerto Princesa City Jail pending trial for murder charges over the January 2011 killing of environmentalist and broadcaster, Dr. Gerry Ortega.

The former governor is also facing 36 counts of graft in the Sandiganbayan Second Division in connection with anomalies attending 209 contracts funded by P1.53 billion in royalties from the Malampaya gas field in 2008 and 2009.