INQUIRER Global Nation

Consolacion municipal Mayor Avelino Gungob Sr. said both private and public trucks are allowed to collect limestone in barangay Nangka, Consolacion town where a new road is being opened.

In a phone interview, Gungob said he is giving away the rocks and boulders “for free” to anyone with equipment in order to hasten the road project.

The mayor denied accusations by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Central Visayas (MGB-7) that the project is a cover for commercial quarrying operations.

The agency said they received a complaint that the mayor sells the limestone at P400 to P600 per truckload.

Gungob said he welcomes the inquiry by the Ombudsman-Visayas and the MGB-7 on the road project to prove that he is not profitting from any illegal transactions.

He said government trucks dump the limestone at the site of their Government Service Center Project.

Gungob said he doesn't know where the private trucks take the limestone they get from Nangka.

The mayor said he allows them to collect the limestone and dump it elsewhere to avoid a landslide because the Government Service Center site in barangay Nangka cannot accommodate all the materials taken from the mountain highway project.

Instead of wasting the material, locally called anapog he said he gives it away for free to anyone who would ask for it.

He said political enemies are behind the allegations against him but he didn’t name names.

The mayor said he was insulted when the Cebu provincial government sent the military to seize the dump trucks.

Gungob said there would have been no problem if the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (Penro) issued the gratuitous permit he sought for the Government Service Center Project.

The Penro said the project lacks an Environmental Compliance Certificate from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7).

Gungob said he has yet to receive any communication from Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.

The mayor said he was willing to talk with the governor about the situation if he is called for a meeting.