In connection with the detention of a barge with a cargo of iron ore
A Coast Guard rear admiral who was suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman in connection with the detention of a barge with a cargo of iron ore has aired his side on the case.
Rear Admiral Edmund C. Tan, the Philippine Coast Guard vice commandant for operations, was suspended for nine months without pay last May 16 by then Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez based on the complaint of Reynaldo S. Chua Jr. of Cebu City that Tan, then a commodore, unlawfully detained the “LCT Kapitan,” which was shipping 3,500 metric tons of iron ore from Zamboanga to Manila sometime in 2007.
Tan said the Ombudsman made the decision without hearing his side. “Upon receipt of said decision, I immediately filed a motion for reconsideration with the Ombudsman last Feb. 21, 2011, but to my quandary, up to this date the same has not yet been acted upon or resolved by the Ombudsman,” he said.
In his motion, Tan stated he had the barge held based on the request of one Benito Aratea, who was disputing ownership of the iron ore with Chua.
Tan applied for a temporary restraining order (TRO) with the Pagadian City Regional Trial Court against Chua’s cargo, and also sought the help of the provincial prosecutor of Zamboanga Sibugay and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) office in Zamboanga City in preserving the shipment as evidence in the dispute between Chua and Aratea.
Tan said the commander of Coast Guard Mindanao Command based in Zamboanga City radioed a message to all Coast Guard units saying that if the LCT Kapitan called on the ports in their area they must hold it and check the authenticity of the shipping documents of its cargo.
When the barge took shelter in Jetape, Bohol, from rough weather, the Coast Guard Visayas Command under Tan held the vessel for verification of its shipment papers.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Region 7 office in Cebu City was immediately informed of the holding of the vessel and its cargo. DENR 7 issued a temporary seizure receipt holding the iron ore and placing it in the custody of Coast Guard Bohol while the papers were being checked.
While in Jetape, the Coast Guard’s Tagbilaran Station conducted a SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) inspection on the barge and found a number of deficiencies, including the lack of port and starboard bow anchors, a violation of the Philippine Merchant Marine Rules and Regulations (PMMRRs).
The barge was issued a maritime violation receipt (MVR) and detained by the Coast Guard.
After a week of hearings in Cebu City, the DENR 7 certified the Ore Transport Permit (OTP) for the iron ore as authentic, and cleared the shipment. The barge, however, was still detained for not having bow anchors.
The barge was allowed to sail for Manila one month after an anchor was installed.
Tan said the Ombudsman ruled that the delay in transporting the cargo caused “undue injury” to Chua and gave unwarranted benefits to Aratea.
“But this ruling was based only on the complaint of Chua, and the investigating officer did not hear my side,” said Tan. “If only my motion for reconsideration be considered by the Ombudsman, there is reason to believe that I did not violate section 3 (e) of Republic Act No. 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, for I was only performing my official duty for the sake of ‘sea safety’ in holding the departure of ‘LCT Kapitan.’
The story on Tan’s suspension was published on the front page of May 29, 2011 issue of the Manila Bulletin.
Source: Manilla Bulletin