Pichay on Barbers countersuit threat: Be my guest

Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay on Thursday said he welcomes the threat of Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert “Ace” Barbers to file his own case against him before the House Committee on Ethics, in reply to the ethics case that Pichay had earlier filed against Barbers for disorderly conduct during a congressional hearing.

Pichay said Barbers has long had an axe to grind against him because he had thrown his support behind Barbers’ opponents in previous elections.

“By all means, I urge him to file his case so his allegations against me can be exposed for the false, malicious and politically motivated lies that they are,” Pichay said in a statement.

Pichay belied the claim of Barbers that he had used his political clout to secure ore shipment permits for the Claver Mineral and Development Corp.  (CMDC). He said the permits were granted during the previous administration when he was not yet in Congress, to expedite the CMDC mine site’s environmental cleanup ordered by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

He said CDMC, which his group took over in October last year, had been rehabilitating its mine site to reverse the environmental degradation caused by the previous owners’ failure to follow sustainable mining operations.

Pichay said the takeover of CMDC was a legitimate business undertaking with the new owners investing substantial amounts to clean up the waste ores polluting the area, re-contour the denuded mountain side, put up a new siltation pond complex,  and embark on massive tree planting operations so that they can seek the resumption of mining operations.

“The company takeover and the granting of waste ore shipment permits occurred during the previous administration when we were not in office. So I don’t know what he is talking about,” Pichay said.

Pichay and Barbers nearly came to blows in a recent hearing at the House, prompting Pichay to file a case against Barbers at the House ethics committee.