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Environmental lawyers yesterday filed their complaint against Capitol officials for their failure to provide them documents on the Balili property purchase yesterday.
Lawyers Gloria Estenzo-Ramos and Benjamin Cabrido lodged the complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas against Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and the Provincial Board members except Board Member Agnes Magpale.
The lawyers, who belong to the environment group Global Legal Action Against Climate Change (GLACC), said Magpale was not covered after she sent her response to them.
The officials were accused of violating the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007 and the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
The lawyers sent two letters to the governor and the board asking copies of the Balili documents.
These include copies of the deed of sale of the Balili property, the Memorandum of Agreement between the Capitol and the Balili family and the Statements of Income and Expenditures of the Province for the past three years.
Tawyers said the Capitol officials failed to provide them these documents.
They added that Garcia even maligned them before media, labeling them as ?hypocrites? and ?publicity seekers.?
Estenzo-Ramos chided Capitol Consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda who asked them to pick up the documents at the Office of the Governor.
?If you send someone a letter, you have to call up the sender's office or send a fax or an email. It's plain and simple arrogance. We don?t have a monarchs or queens here. Don?t do that to your colleague,? Estenzo-Ramos said in a statement addressed to Sepulveda.
The Balili Beach Property in Naga, Cebu was picked as the site for the planned coal ash dumping project.
The purchase of the 25-hectare beach property was questioned after survey showed that 9.4 hectares of the property were submerged in seawater and planted to mangroves.
In the meantime, the Provincial Board yesterday passed a resolution by Board Member Victor Maambong for a public hearing on a plan to dump coal ash into the Balili beach lot in Tinaan, Naga.
Maambong, chairperson of the committee on environment, said he wanted to know the position of the Environment Management Bureau of Department of the Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
He said he wanted environmental lawyers who oppose the plan and representatives of Kepco SPC and Global Powers who operate power plants in Cebu province to be present during the public hearing.
