Wednesday, November 05, 2008 Daughter of Palace aide says holidays hampered processing of shipment papers
THE daughter-in-law of Presidential Assistant Felix Guanzon yesterday denied they are smuggling used oil and said their company has complied with all requirements set by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Christianne Sebastian-Guanzon, also a goddaughter of President Arroyo, said in a faxed press statement that it was unfair that the presidential assistant was dragged into the matter.
“In fact, the Bureau of Customs has given us clearance to discharge the sludge from the foreign vessel that is now contained in the truck that we leased,” Sebastian-Guanzon said. Customs and Coast Guard personnel monitored to make sure none of the material would be spilled, she said.
“The papers for the release of the truck were ready last Friday, but could not immediately be processed due to the holidays. It came to us as a surprise that the matter was suddenly blown out of proportion, and worse, there were a lot of false information given in the report,” the press statement added.
No permit
However, officer-in-charge Rolando Luego of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB-DENR) told Sun.Star Cebu there is no permit for the tanker, with its 16,000 liters of used oil, which has been held by the Bureau of Customs (BOC) Port of Cebu since Oct. 31.
Luego said he only issued a certification dated Nov. 4, stating that Genetron International Marketing, which the Guanzon family owns, has filed its application for a permit to transport the oil.
Aside from Genetron, the BOC also held a tanker of Gallego’s Merchandising, which was found loading 20,000 liters of recyclable oil from mv Chana Baum, an ocean-going vessel.
Luego explained that under the law, the foreign vessels that transported the used oil should be registered with DENR as “waste generators.”
However, Luego said there is a unique situation at the port area, because the vessels only stay in Cebu for two to three days, yet the processing of the registration takes weeks.
Meeting
Luego plans to meet with officials of the Cebu Port Authority and Bureau of Customs on how to remedy the situation—that is, allowing the unloading of used oil without violating Republic Act 6969 or the Toxic Substances, Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990.
Luego said that the EMB will only issue a permit to companies to transport used oil if they comply with all the requirements, including the plan on how to dispose of the oil.
Pending an investigation, the BOC will allow the transport of the used oil from the Cebu International Port (CIP) to Genetron’s drumming area.
Lawyer Julito Doria, deputy district collector for operations, allowed the temporary release of the two tankers of used oil after Genetron and Gallego’s Merchandising paid more than P20,000 each in duties and taxes.
As a condition, Genetron cannot remove the used oil from the drumming area without clearance from his office, Doria said.
Lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-National Environmental Action Team (IBP-NEAT) said that the Guanzons must account for where they disposed of the used oil.
Ramos said that if the customs police is telling the truth, the Guanzons withdrew used oil from the CIP last Sept. 3 without proper documentation.
“These businessmen must not only think of profit because pollution from used oil can affect the people,” Ramos said. The DENR, she added, “should stop the unloading of this used oil if it will do harm to the environment.”
Dr. Belle Quijano of the Corruption Prevention Unit of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas said they are documenting the incident upon the request of the Association of Former Regional Executives of National Agencies (Afrena).
Afrena president David Odilao Jr. called on Guanzon to take a leave of absence while the used oil controversy is still under investigation.
Meanwhile, Clint Ecleo, the customs policeman whom Guanzon wanted transferred for allegedly harassing Christianne, said that Genetron withdrew a tanker of used oil from the CIP last Sept. 3 without any documents.
Guanzon’s opinion of Ecleo came out when his letter to President Arroyo was leaked to the press by another Malacañang official who sympathized with the customs policeman. (EOB)
