Prosecutor junks mischief raps vs JHMC, secu agency

BAGUIO CITY -- The City Prosecutor’s Office has dismissed malicious mischief and usurpation of authority complaints filed by a Loakan Liwanag couple against John Hay Management Corporation (JHMC) president Jamie Agbayani and members of JHMC’s security team, citing lack of probable cause.

The complaints stemmed from Romeo and Magdalena Pagnas’ claim that JHMC and its security agency, Maximum Security and Services Corporation, illegally demolished the repairs that they had made on their house in Barangay Loakan Liwanag.

But in her findings, Associate Prosecution Attorney II said that “probable cause does not exist to charge the respondents for the crime of Malicious Mischief. The structures built by the complainants in these cases are within the John Hay Reservation Area… The JHMC had the duty to execute duly approved demolition orders and could even demolish structures outright.”

Cacho also said in her resolution that the JHMC and its security agency were only performing its duties in demolishing the structure, and that the Revised Penal Code states that “a person who acts in the fulfillment of a duty or in the lawful exercise of a right or office does not incur criminal liability.”

The prosecutor also belied the Pagnas couple’s claim that they were making repairs to the house, saying that “as could be clearly seen from the photographs… what was demolished was a new structure.” And even if the couple was merely making house repairs, they still bore no house repair permit, thus giving JHMC the right to perform the demolition.

Agbayani hailed the dismissal, saying that “we applaud the Prosecutor’s Office for recognizing the JHMC’s sworn duty to not just protect the Camp John Hay watershed, but also protect its people from illegal as well as unsafe structures.”

The JHMC head and the respondents were also cleared of charges of usurpation of authority, with the prosecutor stating that “respondents never misrepresented themselves as representatives of another department or agency of the Philippine Government.”

The prosecution also stressed that “the complainants cannot pretend that their hands are clean,” adding that they had been asked by JHMC to voluntary take down their structures but refused, and when the structure was demolished, they rebuilt it “in clear defiance [of the JHMC].”

“JHMC remains committed to its duty as the steward of Camp John Hay, and we appeal to the residents to acquire the proper permits before building structures in the area,” Agbayani said.

#