Ex-Napocor officials contest raps

Former National Power Corp. (Napocor) president Cyril del Callar and project manager Romualdo Consigna are asking the Sandiganbayan to reconsider the criminal charges filed against them over the alleged cutting of mangrove trees in Puerto Princesa in 2008.

The former Napocor officials also asked the antigraft court to defer issuing an arrest warrant against them.

Del Callar and Consigna were charged for allegedly allowing the clearing of 12,000 square meters of mangroves in Barangay Lucban, Puerto Princesa, to pave the way for the installation of Napocor transmission lines and towers.

They were charged for violating the Philippine Fisheries Code, which penalizes the conversion of mangroves, in a complaint filed by the Puerto Princesa government and the Office of the Ombudsman.

In their motion for reconsideration or reinvestigation, the former Napocor officials said they could not be held criminally liable because the clearing of the mangroves was done for a government infrastructure project and was clearly for a public purpose.

They said that  Napocor had been granted a right of way, and that it had sought the approval of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) before embarking on the project.

They said that under the terms of a memorandum of agreement, the DENR had given Napocor blanket authority with respect to the Puerto Princesa-Roxas transmission line, and a permit to cut any vegetation or trees inside or adjacent to the transmission line right of way, where and when necessary. This was to ensure that there would be no tripping or outages because of the trees.