[PHNO-ht] ANTIPOLO DISASTER: 20 GOVT OFFICIALS SUSPENDED, OWNER PROBED
PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
Manila, Aug. 18, 1999 - Twenty government officials and employees were
suspended for six months without pay yesterday and ordered investigated for
administrative and criminal liabilities in connection with the Cherry Hills
Subdivision tragedy in Antipolo City that resulted in the death of at least
58 persons.
Six officials of the subdivision developer Philippine Japan Solidarity
(Philjas) will also be investigated criminally on charges of reckless
imprudence resulting in multiple homicide.
Antipolo City Mayor Angelito Gatlabayan was not suspended because the
evidence against him was not strong. But his administrative case will
proceed and he is included in the investigation for possible criminal
liability.
The orders for suspension and investigation were issued by Ombudsman Aniano
A. Desierto after receiving the report of a panel he created to investigate
the disaster that hit the subdivision at the height of the floods that
submerged Metro Manila and nearby provinces two weeks ago.
Ordered suspended were:
1.Wilfredo S. Pollisco, regional executive director of Region 4, Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
2.Alberto G. Jasareno, regional technical director, Region 4, DENR
3.Antonio G. Principe, regional executive director, Region 4, Manila, DENR
4.Carlos J. Magno, officer-in-charge (OIC), regional technical director,
Region 4 , DENR
5.Sixto E. Tolentino, OIC regional technical director, Region 4, DENR
6.Ignacio A. Balicas, of the Rizal environment office, Region 4, DENR
7.Armando P. Rutaquio, provincial officer, Region 4, DENR
8.Luciano Hornilla, chief, environmental auditing division, DENR
9.Ignacio E. Asuncion, chief, Antipolo City planning and development council
10.Edgardo T. Cruz, Antipolo City planning officer III
11.German L. Ramos, antipolo City project evaluation assistant
12.Alfredo Tan, Region 4 director, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board
(HLURB),
13.Luis T. Tungpalan, HLURB commissioner
14.Amado B. Desloria, HLURB commissioner
15.Edmundo D. Aquino, HLURB inspector
16.Fernando Soriano, HLURB inspector
17.Gloria Verdon, member monitoring unit, HLURB
18.Octavio Canta, head, technical services, HLURB, National Capital Region
19.Wilfredo I. Imperial, regional director, HLURB
20.Ernesto C. Mendiola, HLURB commissioner and chief executive officer.
The owners and officers of Philjas ordered investigated for possible
criminal liabilities are:
1.Hiroshi Ogawa, general manager
2.Timoteo Santillan, president
3.Eliezer I. Rodriguez, assistant general manager
4.Sixto N. Caday, representative
5.Timoteo E. Layor, civil engineer.
Former Antipolo City Mayor Daniel S. Garcia is also included in the
investigation for possible criminal liability. He was the city executive
from 1991 to 1996, at the time the Cherry Hills Subdivision was under
development and the houses were under construction.
According to Desierto, the government officials implicated in the Cherry
Hills tragedy "issued permits to Philjas even with the absence of an
environmental clearance certificate (ECC). The rules were relaxed and they
all gave unwarranted benefits to Philjas by setting aside the law."
Quoting a report from the five-member investigating panel, the Ombudsman
said that the owners of Philjas were allowed both by the local and national
government "to put up the subdivision despite the fact that it sat on an
environmentally critical area having more than 40 percent slope."
"The Cherry Hills project is situated in an environmentally critical area to
start with. The location also requires excessive site work and therefore not
suitable for housing. The immediate eastern side of the area which collapsed
is part of the rolling terrain of the hill," he said.
He pointed out that DENR officials involved in the granting of the permit to
the project "had been aware since 1993 that the real estate firm violated
the law for not securing an ECC for the project."
Desierto said that HLURB, DENR, and Antipolo City officials, in conspiracy
with Philjas owners, can be held criminal liable for approving and granting
development permit and locational clearance despite knowledge that Philjas
was not qualified or not legally entitled to such permits because of failure
to comply with requirements.
The five-member panel also recommended that the Office of the Ombudsman
take action on the apprehension aired by residents of the nearby Peace
Village Subdivision on the danger of landslide threatening them.
The panel is composed of James Viernes, Edward Estrella, Stephen David,
Virgilio Paatan, and Mateo Altarejos. Its recommendations were endorsed by
Desierto to Overall Deputy Ombudsman Margario Gervacio Jr.
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