Home 
THINGS are turning ugly between environmental lawyers and Capitol consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda after Sepulveda claimed that Benjamin Cabrido has a business interest in an environment project in Mandaue City.
Cabrido said he is considering filing a libel suit against the Capitol official who claimed that he received a text message that Cabrido was into Mandaue?s solid waste management project as a business venture.
Cabrido denied the allegations, saying he was helping, without pay, the Mandaue City government in its full implementation of Republic Act No. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 to close illegal dump sites.
?This is my advocacy, my intentions are pure. They cannot put up a sanitary landfill because they are near the (Mactan) Channel and this is prohibited by law,? he said.
Cabrido holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of San Jose-Recoletos.
He finished law school in USJR with honors, graduating cum laude in 2003.
He is also accredited by the Supreme Court as lecturer in Mandatory Continuing Legal Education or MCLE.
?If I file a libel suit, I am doing this not for myself but for those who may be cowered or intimidated. I have to protect the network not because I want to clear my name but precisely in order to send a message,? he said.
He was referring to the Global Legal Action on Climate Change, a network of lawyers and advocates seeking the full implementation of environmental laws in the country.
Gloria Estenzo-Ramos threw her support behind her colleague.
?Tony Oposa and I are strongling urging Be Cabrido, a rare brand of lawyer with the purest of heart and unsullied integrity, to sue for libel Gov. Garcia, Sepulveda and Vice Mayor Fortuna for destroying his honor by declaring that Ben has a business interest in MRFs. (material recovery facilities). That is farthest from the truth. Ben does not even own a house and is one of the simplest and honorable persons I have met and am privileged to know.This is the beginning of a demolition job they?ve set out for those bold enough to confront anomalies in government.?
Cabrido said he met Vice Mayor Fortuna to discuss the Clean Development Mechanism or CDM, an arrangement under the Kyoto Protocol, where industrialized countries invest in projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries as an alternative to more expensive emission reductions measures in their own countries.
?He (Fortuna) probably thought I was proposing a business project. I was telling them to consider carbon trading. I was protecting Mandaue City. My discussion was academic, not a business proposal,? said Cabrido.Editorial Assistant Ma. Bernadette Parco
