THE owner of butane factory FMZ LPG Center in northern Cebu questioned the legality of the Danao City police and the Department of Energy in Central
Read: Butane factory in Danao City raided; 12 workers arrested, P2M equipment seized
Visayas in conducting a raid against her company that allegedly refilled butane canisters illegally.
Shiela May Palay, also known as Ford Zenith and owner of the company, filed a case against Department of Energy in Central Visayas (DOE-7) officer-in-
charge lawyer Russ Mark Gamallo and two other DOE-7 personnel lawyer Barrytone Busi and Christian Kim Po, Danao City Police Station chief Lt. Colonel Fortunato Ecie Jr. and Edgar Armecin and Ronilio Laruya.
In her 12-page complaint forwarded to the Visayas Ombudsman, Shiela May pointed out the technicality of the group in conducting the raid.
"Technical na sila dinha kay dili man Dunggoan ang address sa planta ug didto man sa Barangay Dawis Sur lungsod sa Carmen (There is technicality because the address of the plant is not Dunggoan, but Barangay Dawis Sur, Carmen town)," Palay said.
She also said the group did not also ask her permission or any representative of the company during their inspection inside the butane factory, where the workers were caught for allegedly refilling illegally other brands that are not theirs.
Gamallo earlier said that the company is only authorized to refill Botin and Halcon, but not other brands as stated in their business permit.
According to Palay, the butane refilling equipment were also confiscated by the group.
She also emphasized in her complaint the abuse of authority employed by the respondents during the raid.
Lawyer Russ Mark Gamallo, officer-in-charge of the DOE-7, said he was willing to face the charges hurled against them.
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"I will face Shiela May Palay alias "Ford Zenith" in any court or forum. I'm not afraid of her, I'm not afraid of any death threats and I'm not afraid of anyone who does illegal trading of petroleum products," said Gamallo.
"If mag binuang ka dakpon gyud taka. Trabaho lang ni ako. Kapila na ko gi-offeran ug kwarta ana niya, wa gyuy respeto sa DOE (If they do illegal I will arrest you. This is my job. She offered me money several times, showing no respect to the DOE)," the lawyer added.
"For everyone's information di ni first time iyang mga binoang. Wa gyud ni mo tagam. Pila naman tawn among nadakpan nga mga dealers sa iyang Botin nga iyang gipabaligya bisan walay permit. Nangapriso intawn kay wa sila na aware nga illegal ilang gipangbuhat. Wa gyuy konsensya. Ako na lang maluoy sa mga dinakpan (For everyone's information this is not her first time to do illegal. She did not yet learn a lesson. We have already arrested some dealers who were made to sell Botin products even without a permit. They were arrested because they were not aware that what they did was illegal. You have no conscience. I pitied those arrested)," he said.
"Mao na, niabot na gyud ang panahon ni Ford Zenith nga mismo sa iyang planta nadakpan tungod sa iyang mga (That's why Ford Zenith's time to be arrested
inside his own factory has come because of her) illegal activities. It's about time, truth has prevailed, enough is enough," Gamallo said.
"Bilib ko naka file pa siya ug kaso nako sa kadaghan na niya ug kaso nga iyang gi atubang - all criminal cases including illegal trading of petroleum products
and estafa (Even with several criminal cases filed against her, including illegal trading of petroleum products and estafa, she was still able to file a case against me)," he said.
"Anyway just let her face her cases and I will face mine. As a lawyer, I'm confident that I'm on the right track. With my 26 years in government service, my name remained untarnished. Dili ang usa ka illegalista ang makaguba ana (Not even an illegalist can tarnish my name)," Gamallo added. (BBT, TPT)