A TEACHER assigned to the Lipata Night High School in Minglanilla town fell in an entrapment operation yesterday for allegedly selling fake diplomas.
Alfredo Tinga was arrested by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 operatives after he was caught selling a diploma to an undercover asset.
“We were able to obtain numerous blank diplomas from a few universities.
We were also able to recover blank forms corresponding to official transcripts of records,” said NBI 7 Executive Officer and Head Agent Ernesto Macabare.
The NBI, however, released Tinga from custody yesterday afternoon after failing to get a certification from the Department of Education to prove his status as a government official.
“Without it, we could go to the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to charge him under inquest investigation. But we will still file a complaint against him under regular preliminary investigation as soon as we obtain the certification,” said lawyer Bernard dela Cruz, the agent assigned to the case.
Tinga was arrested along P. Lopez St., Cebu City, in front of the University of San Jose Recoletos.
He drew the NBI’s interest after an anonymous complaint.
An NBI employee, who was used as an undercover asset, went to Tinga last Nov. 10 for the printing of a diploma needed for a job application.
According to the affidavit of the undercover asset, Tinga charged him P800 for the document.
The asset narrated that he asked Tinga for an affidavit of loss and a diploma from the Bulasa National High School in Argao town, Cebu.
He also quoted Tinga as saying that it would be faster if he fabricated a diploma from a school in Mandaue City instead.
Tinga supposedly asked for a down payment of P200, covering the affidavit of loss. The P800 for the diploma was to be given the following day, Tuesday, when the diploma was ready.
Dela Cruz said the asset reported back to him with the details. Planning for the actual arrest, including the preparation of marked money to be used in the bust, then followed.
NBI operatives went to P. Lopez St. last Tuesday and positioned themselves near Tinga’s stall.
The asset followed moments later and immediately approached Tinga.
Upon seeing the asset, dela Cruz narrated, Tinga then produced a brown envelope that contained the diploma.
The asset, in turn, produced the marked money and paid him.
Tinga was then taken down and the marked bills, retrieved.
At the NBI office, agents inspected the diploma and the affidavit of loss, which bore the signature of a lawyer. (Sun.Star Cebu is withholding the name of the lawyer,
pending his comment.)
Tinga tested positive for traces of the ultra-violet powder used to mark the bills. (KNR)
NO ENVIRONMENTAL Compliance Certificate (ECC) was issued to NorAsian Corp. for the oil exploration in the seawaters off Sibonga and Argao, Cebu, the
Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) confirmed yesterday.
This is because the projects is considered “exemptable,” an official said.
William Cuñado, who represented EMB-DENR during the Argao-Sibonga Stakeholders’ Dialogue, said that under their screening checklist, the oil exploration project under the supervision of the Department of Energy (DOE) is defined as “exemptable.”
The basis for the exemption is Department Administrative Order (DAO) No. 30 of 2006.
Cuñado disclosed the information after a Nor-Asian representative and lawyer Dante Ramos of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) got into a heated debate on the legality of the seismic survey.
The Nor-Asian representative accused those who opposed the seismic survey and oil exploration of grandstanding and publicity-seeking without presenting documents or data as proof.
Lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos said the data Nor-Asian is talking about are supposedly with the DOE, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Local Government Units concerned.
“The government agencies should implement the mandate given them. Why is the burden passed on to those who oppose the project?” Estenzo-Ramos said.
She said there is a conflict on the oil exploration project because their perception is that government agencies are using its powers at the expense of the country’s laws and the rights of fisherfolk.
Estenzo-Ramos said there would have been no conflict had DOE and DENR followed the process. The DENR, she said, should not allow a project that will destroy the environment.
Estenzo-Ramos urged the DOE to stop the project and wait for the decision of the Supreme Court on the case they filed against the oil exploration.
In yesterday’s dialogue, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) 7 Director Alejandro Alonso said that even if the oil exploration is a government project, it must consider the plight of poor fisherfolk who are affected.
Alonso said the rights of marginalized fisherfolk are not only limited to basic human rights but also include social, economic and cultural rights.
He said fisherfolk and farmers are marginalized and vulnerable sector who are sometimes subjected to harassment by either private and government groups.
Alonso reminded government officials, especially those from the police and the military, that the Philippines is a member of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.
“Sagpa sa atong nawong nga (it’s a slap on our face if) as member of this international organization, the Philippine Government is not complying with its obligation”, Alonso said. (EOB)
