(Photo courtesy of NBI)
MANILA – Authorities arrested a village chief and four others for illegal quarrying at the Balanac River in Magdalena, Laguna, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said on Wednesday.
NBI officer-in-charge (OIC) director Eric Distor said the suspects, Barangay Balanac chairperson Dennis Olipano, Michael Abad, Randy delos Reyes, Danilo Noriel, and Abner Davac were arrested in a sting operation by the agency's Environmental Crime Division (EnCD) on March 11.
The operation stemmed from information on the alleged quarry operations in the area as operatives were able to transact with Olipano who agreed to sell four truckloads of boulders at PHP17,000 per truck.
A joint team composed of members of the NBI-EnCD, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Philippine Army 1st Infantry Battalion conducted the operation.
Seized from the suspects were four trucks with a total estimated value of PHP6 million and 30 cubic meters of boulders and fabricated screens with an estimated value of PHP43,000.
The suspects will be charged with the violation of Section 103 of Republic Act (RA) 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and Section 3 of RA 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. (PNA)
