TACLOBAN CITY- Nanindugan hi Palompon Mayor Ramon Oñate nga waray basehan an gin-implementar nga search warrant kontra ha DSBN Farm Agriventures Corporation nga namumutang ha Brgy. San Joaquin, Palompon, Leyte.
Una hini, dida han Enero 19, pinmakadto ha farm nga gintatag-iyahan ni Oñate an Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-8) Enforcement Division kaupod an Leyte Police Provincial Office agud igserbi an search warrant nga gin issue ni Judge Georgina Perez han Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 45 han Tacloban City.
Base ha search warrant, gintalapas daw han DBSN Farm iton Republic Act 11038 o kon an Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 2018 tungod kay an tuna kon diin gintindog an mao nga poultry farm in aada ha sakob han Palompon Watershed Forest Reserve, usa nga protected area.
Ginhahapilan ngan ginlulubngan daw gihapon han DSBN hin mga ”hazardous waste” an mao nga lugar.
Nanindugan naman hi Mayor Oñate nga an tuna kon diin namumutang iton DBSN Farm in diri aada ha sulod ha protected area sanglit diri hini matatalapas iton R.A. 11038.
” There is no such thing as protected area in Palompon. Maybe there will be a protected area if somebody will file a bill in Congress. But to be able to be considered a protected area, it must pass the Protected Area Suitability Assessment (PASA). Two years ago the DENR conducted a PASA and the result said that it will not qualify to be declared as protected area”, pamahayag ni Oñate ha usa nga interview.
Sumala naman han abugado ni Oñate nga hi Atty. Jerestain Banzon, han nakarawat nira an search warrant in dayon hira nga nagsalawad hin mosyon para kontrahon an mga ginpapatamakan nga rason han warrant.
“The Palompon Watershed Forest Reserve although initially enrolled as part of E- NIPAS, but during the Protected Area Suitability Assessment (PASA) it did not pass. Naturally, if it did not pass, it will no longer be included as one of the protected area under E- NIPAS. So, the violation they cited in the search warrant is not applicable in this case because this area is not a protected area. That is one of the reasons why we filed a motion to quash the search warrant and motion to suppress any evidence obtained thereby”, pahayag ni Banzon.
Gin-kwestyon gihapon han kampo ni Oñate an kredibilidad han duha nga testigo nga ginpresentar kumo witness ha pag-apply han search warrant.
“There is also no probable cause on the issuance of search warrant. We based our motion on the misrepresentation of the application of the search warrant. The two witnesses they have presented during the application of the search wrrant are not even residents of San Joaquin nor employees of DBSN. So how can you have personal knowledge of the facts that you alleged if you are not a resident here?” kadugangan nga pamahayag ni Atty. Banzon.
Dugang pa hini nga kinahanglan daw igsurat ha search warrant iton particular nga lugar kon diin pagdudumaraon iton “search”.
“When we read the search warrant, it orders eight thousand square meters to be excavated. We believe that under the law the search warrant must be on a specific area”, kadugangan nga pamahayag han abugado ni Oñate.
Samtang ginsusurat ini nga balita waray pa nagpagawas hin pamahayag an DENR-8 Enforcement Division.
