Baguio rep: I’m innocent on destruction of forest

Indicted by Benguet prosecutor 

TUBA, Benguet -- Rep. Nicasio M. Aliping Jr. welcomed resolution of Benguet provincial prosecutor  finding “probable cause” in Presidential Decree 705 case filed against him for allegedly  causing destruction of a forest here at Mt. Sto. Tomas by flattening and bulldozing the area and cutting trees to create a road which led to pollution of a spring among others.

In an interview, Aliping said he was innocent of the charges filed against him because he would gain nothing from road construction being attributed to him. “There is already an existing road leading to my property, so I do not need to make a new one.” 

Aliping said Assistant State Prosecutor Gilmarie Fe S. Pacamarra may have been confused about his property claim at Mt. Cabuyao and the area traversed by the road.

He said he ordered no one to cut any tree within or outside of his property. He said he “only had some earthworks to level a portion of my claim.”

Aliping said he would be filing a motion for reconsideration on the resolution saying this was part of due process of which he was entitled.

In a resolution dated Jan. 30, Pacamarra charged private contractors William Go, Romeo Aquino and Bernard Capuyan for sending heavy equipment to flatten three hectares of forest reserves, the area being claimed by Aliping.

Mt. Sto. Tomas has been declared forest reserve by the government since the 1940s.

The case against Aliping stemmed from a complaint filed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Benguet last year.

Environment groups filed petitions deploring the cutting of at least 300 pine trees and saplings to pave the way for the construction of a road leading to Aliping’s property.

Aliping said the road was a project of the Department of Public Works and Highways, but the DPWH belied his claims.

Pacamarra said they found probable cause to charge Aliping for the destruction of the forest, based on his letter to Tuba Mayor Florencio Benitez assuming responsibility for the damage to the Amaliang spring reserve.

The damage affected the water supply in areas served by the Baguio City Water District.

If found guilty, the lawmaker couldbe sentenced to maximum penalty for forest destruction and banned from holding public office for life.

Aliping's case was referred to the Office of the Environmental Ombudsman, based on an agreement signed by the anti-graft agency and the DOJ. – With a report from Carl Taawan