BY JEFFREY DAMICOG
The owner of a gold refining facility and his seven employees were arrested by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after they were found to have illegally storing and disposing hazardous substances.
In a statement, NBI Officer-in-Charge Director Eric Distor identified those arrested as 88 Golden Place Smelting Inc. owner Patrick Edwardson Malibiran and his employees Renato de Pablo, Eddie Ramoso, Josephine Pauso, Julius Villacastin, Federico Cortez, Eliseo Amar, and Aldwin Calano.
Distor said the eight were arrested last Tuesday by agents of the NBI’s Environmental Crimes Division (NBI-EnCD) during the serving of a search warrant at the gold refining facility in Bulacan.
Following their arrest, the eight were presented for inquest before the Meycauayan City Prosecutor’s Office for Republic Act 6969, the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990; and Section 1 of Executive Order 522, which amended Executive Order 60, Series of 1967, Prescribing Rules and Regulations for the Control and Supervision of the Importation, Sale and Possession of Chemicals Used as Ingredients in the Manufacture of Explosives and for Other Purposes.
“Information disclosed that the hazardous waste generated from their daily operation is not properly disposed in accordance with the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) rules and regulation,” the NBI said in a statement. (Jeffrey Damicog)
