Saturday, September 13, 2008 Legal office readies suit vs quarry firm By Grace L. Plata
THE City Legal Office is set to file charges of theft of minerals against operator of Dims Quarry for operating without permit on August 4, resulting to a landslide that killed two laborers and a child.
The City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro), which investigated the incident, recommended the lawsuit.
The cooperative's application for renewal will also be denied.
According to information, the owner of the land is Letty Uy. Maunlad Cooperative of Davao operated the quarry.
No charges, however, have been filed by the child's parents or the kin of the laborers.
Lawyer Joseph Dominic Felizarta of the City Legal Office, based on talks with Engineer Girlie Ann Japitana of Cenro, said the child was nephew of the property owner, thus the parties have somehow reached the settlement. It was also the same case with the laborers' families.
"Since dili interesado mag-file ang ginikanan sa bata ug pamilya sa mga trabahante (Since the child's parents and the relatives of the workers are not interested to file charges), the city cannot do that on their behalf. Walay complaint, walay witnesses. All the city can do is file the charges regarding their illegal operation and not to allow renewal," Felizarta said.
The cooperative was holding an expired permit to quarry from Cenro and an application for renewal was still pending at Cenro before the landslide, which took place around 1:45 p.m. of August 4.
Section 103 of Republic Act (RA) 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act define "Theft of Minerals" as "extraction of minerals and disposing the same without a mining agreement, lease, permit, license, or steals minerals or ores or the products thereof from mines or mills or processing plants."
Any person convicted on the charges will be imprisoned from six months to six years or pay a fine of between P10,000 to P20,000, or both, at the discretion of the court.
Should the accused be convicted, they will also "be liable to pay damages and compensation for the minerals removed, extracted and disposed. In the case of associations, partnerships, or corporations, the president and each of the directors thereof shall be responsible for the acts committed by such association, corporation, or partnership."
