NBI files graft charges vs eight personnel found liable in alleged importation of wastes from Canada

January 23, 2020

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has filed graft charges before the Department of Justice against eight government personnel, including an undersecretary of the environment department, who were found liable thru a series of acts leading to the illegal importation of solid wastes from Canada.

Between 2013 to 2014, 103 shipping containers were shipped from Vancouver to Manila. Declared as recyclable plastics, Customs instead found trash, used diapers, newspapers and plastic bottles and bags.

On May 2019 after President Rodrigo Duterte used an ultimatum to Canada to get the containers, sixty nine containers were shipped to Canada.

NBI Director Dante Gierran that upon instruction of Department of Justice Secretary Medardo Guevarra, the NBI conducted an investigation and case build up on the persons responsible for the importation of garbage from Canada.

After almost nine months of investigation, the NBI-Environmental Crime Division filed on January 17 graft charges against Environment Undersecretary Juan Miguel Cuna, Environmental Management Bureau personnel Irvin Cadavona, Geri Geronimo Sanez and Renato Cruz, and Bureau of Customs personnel Benjamin Perez Jr., Eufracio Ednaco, Matilda Bacongan and Jose Saromo.

Gierran said based on the NBI investigation, Chronic Plastics Inc., Canada were issued import clearances for its various importation of scrap plastic materials despite its failure to provide all the necessary information needed for the application of their import clearance.

The EMB personnel in-charge in the processing of the application was remiss in their duties to  examine the application, as to the completeness of the required documents and to the required inspection prior to the approval of its registration as importer.

Without the necessary information, the EMB cannot sufficiently determine that Chronic Plastics, Inc. is capable of recycling the materials to be imported.

However, despite lacking the specific requirement and without inspection being made, the application was still being processed and recommended its approval to the EMB director.

Importation consigned to Chronic Plastics, Inc. were released despite the questionable importation clearances.

The assigned BOC examiner and appraiser re-routed goods declaration from being tagged as “yellow” to “green” and allowed to proceed to the next process despite its clear violation on DENR. In addition, goods declaration tagged as “red” were also re-routed to “green” despite the same violations.

The EMB personnel, charged in the processing and evaluation of the importer’s registration and importation clearance should have required the Chronic Plastics Inc. to provide more information and documents to support its application for importation.

Meanwhile, the BOC personnel assigned at Formal Entry Division of Manila International Container Port as examiner and appraiser should have noticed during the conduct of document examination the questionable importation clearance filed by Chronic Plastics Inc. DMS

Based on the foregoing facts and evidences, the above-mentioned Subjects were recommended for prosecution before the Office of the Prosecutor General, Department of Justice, for violation of RA 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990) and RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act). DMS