DAET: “Political
suicide.”
 |
| Governor Edgardo A Tallado |
This was the
reason given by CamNorte Gov Edgardo A Tallado for his and the local police’s
failure to stop small-scale mining in the province.
Tallado, a
first-term governor who ran and won under the Liberal Party (LP) ticket,
expressed his sentiments following the relief of Senior Supt Joselito Esquivel
as provincial police director for failing to stop illegal mining in CamNorte
Norte.
Tallado said
no governor in CamNorte has ever tried to stop small-scale mining in the
gold-rich province because more than 10,000 families depend on it.
Tallado said
he could earn the wrath of small-scale miners if he stopped mining without
offering any alternative.
It would be
political suicide for him to heed an order by the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR) to stop small-scale mining in the province, said
Tallado.
“Who will feed
them (small-scale miners and their families) if they lose their livelihood?”
Tallado asked.
He said he has
not received an official order from Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo or
from the DENR to stop small-scale mining in Camarines Norte.
He said he
does not benefit from illegal mining or from the involvement of police officers
in illegal mining.
Robredo told
reporters in Manila that Esquivel and two other provincial police officers - Supt
Lito Andaya, chief of intelligence division, and Supt Godofredo
Tul-o, chief
of operations division - were relieved for allowing the sale of explosives for
use in small-scale mining operations.
Tallado said
he was saddened by the sudden relief of Esquivel, as “it happened without due
process”.
The governor
said he did not even know of Esquivel’s relief until recently.
Capinpin said
the order to relieve Esquivel came from the PNP main headquarters in Camp Crame
but was unaware of the basis for Esquivel’s relief.
He said
Esquivel, who declined to be interviewed, would be temporarily assigned to the
police regional office in Legazpi City. - Inquirer
No comments:
Post a Comment