LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Two persons were arrested for transporting mineral ores in Benguet on Monday, March 7.
Col. Reynaldo Pasiwen, Benguet Provincial Police Office director, identified the arrested suspects as Mariel Poyoc Piglay, 34,a resident of La Trinidad, Benguet, and Layson Jay Cabacaba Ligutan, 19, a resident of Capoocan, Leyte.
They are now facing charges for violation of Section 53 (Ore Transport Permit) of Republic Act 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
Pasiwen said engineer Dino Sab-it, of Community Environment and Natural Resources Office of Buguias (CENRO)- Buguias, requested a police assistance from the Atok Municipal Police Station after receiving a tip that a vehicle on standby at Kilometer 21 Caliking, Atok, Benguet was loaded with suspected mineral ores.
Atok MPS operatives and the CENRO-Buguias team proceeded to the reported place and seized a total of 470 sacks of suspected mineral ores inside the truck that came from Barangay Fidilisan, Sagada, Mt.Province. The mineral ores were supposed to be transported to Manila.