Candijay Mayor Sergio Amora Jr., Sofronio Simacio, Cecilio Melecio, Nestor Romero, Rommel Santos, Emilio Santos, Ronald Reyes, Rob Langden arwood and Teodoro Casimsiman are now criminally charged for theft of manganese estimated to be worth P1-million illegally extracted within a large-scale mining area in barangay Katipunan, Anda.
The criminal action was filed at the Bohol Provincial Prosecutor’s Office against the aforementioned for conspiring to quarry manganese in an area not covered by its environmental compliance certificate (ECC).
The disputed quarry site, claimed by Hench Mining Services Development Corporation and is the subject of a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) application, was encroached by the mining activity of respondent Simacio who has obtained a permit to quarry an area about 1.5 kilometers away.
It may be recalled that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) regional office has issued a cease and desist order against Simacio to stop manganese extraction last September 26, 2008.
