Republic of the Philippines

Department of Justice
National Prosecution Office
Office of the Provincial Prosecutor
La Trinidad, Benguet

ATTENTION: PROSECUTOR HAZEN BINAY-AN

RE: COMPLAINT FOR ALLEGED

VIOLATION OF P.D 705
NPS NO. 1-05-INV-
10A-0016

RUFINO BAUTISTA ABLAO AND

CLIFF PEL-EY BANGLOY,
Respondents.
x……………………………………….x

COUNTER-AFFIDAVIT
Republic of the Philippines )
Done in the City of Baguio ) S.S.

I, RUFINO BAUTISTA ABLAO, of legal age, married, Filipino

citizen and with residence and postal address at Manama, Conner, Apayao,
Philippines, after having been duly sworn to in accordance with law,
hereby depose and state:

1. That I am one of the Respondents in the above-entitled case;

2. That I ardently deny the allegations against me. The truth of the
matter is that we I am purely innocent of the charge lodged
against us considering that I am a mere employee of PHOEBE
BUSTILLO whom I know is a legal businesswoman;

3. That I had been working as the driver of PHOEBE BUSTILLO for

a long period of time in line with her furniture business;

4. That on December 26, 2009, MS. PHOEBE BUSTILLO called me

to transport a load of raw and finished narra products to Baguio
City using an elf vehicle as the conveyance bearing Plate
Number XSK 291. She then gave me a permit to travel issued
under her name by (CENRO) Conner, Apayao which I knew was a
valid permit as the date of validity indicated therein is up to
December 26, 2009. With the valid permit in my possession, I
then dispatched from Manama, Conner, Apayao in the morning of
December 26, 2009 with the idea that I will reach Baguio by
night of the same date.

5. That unfortunately, while I’m on my way, which was far already

from the point of dispatch, the conveyance encountered a
mechanical defect. When I checked the vehicle, I discovered that
the differential of the car was seriously damaged which need a
 major repair of the vehicle. I then contacted PHOEBE BUSTILLO
and informed her regarding the incident. Phoebe Bustillo then
informed me to have the vehicle be repaired and after which
inform the Police Station and ask for assistance;

6. That I brought the vehicle to a shop and it took them three days
to repair the vehicle, as we have to purchase the necessary car
parts that we used in the repair. After we repaired the vehicle, I
then informed the incident to the Conner Police Station and
asked for assistance if I could still continue to transport our
conveyance. The Conner police station then, issued a
certification extending our permit until January 4, 2010 duly
certified and signed by SPO1 GIBSON CALIMUHAYAN. Relying
on the certification and on honest belief that I dispatched based
on a valid permit, I then continued to transport the conveyance
and the narra contained therein;

7. That when I was at Ambuklao, Bokod, Benguet, I happened to

see CLIFF BANGLOY, a neighbor of mine at Malama, Conner,
Apayao standing beside the road. I stopped the vehicle and asked
him why he is there standing at the road and he answered that he
is waiting for a ride going to Baguio as he went to Ambuklao to
visit a friend;

8. That I then offered him a ride as I am on my way to Baguio. He

then agreed and boarded on the vehicle that I was driving;

9. That when we were at Beckel, La Trinidad, Benguet, we were

surprised when we were flagged down by a group of persons.
We stopped the vehicle and they informed us that they were
police officers. They then ordered us to open the back portion of
our cargo truck accordingly to check the contents therein.
Because of our fear that they might do anything to us if we will
not accede to their demand, considering that there are no other
persons in the vicinity, we opened the canvass covering the back
portion of our vehicle. The police officers then removed the
bananas which were placed on top of the vehicle where we
placed it to avoid being spoiled by the woods.Upon extensively
removing the bananas, the police officers saw the Narra inside
the vehicle. They then asked for the permit to travel of the
narra. I presented to them my permit and the certification issued
by the Conner Police Station. Much to our surprise, the police
officers arrested us;

10.That the police officers immediately brought us to the La

Trinidad, Police Station and impounded our vehicle. We were
then investigated regarding the conveyance and our load.
Subsequently, they filed the above mentioned case against us;

11.That we are innocent of the above entitled case considering that

I traveled from Conner Apayao to Baguio City with a valid permit
and that due to the destruction of my vehicle, I did not reach my
destination on time. At any rate however, I reported the
breakdown of the vehicle to the Police Officer who extended the
travel permit. Based on these facts, I decided to continue to
transport the narra with the idea that I have the legitimate travel
documents. Moreover, I am just a mere employee who drove the
 cargo truck, which was already loaded, bound to Baguio and that
somewhere along the way, I picked up CLIFF BANGLOY for a
ride who does not even know the contents of the vehicle;

12.That when the police officers asked us to open the back portion
of the truck when they flagged us at Beckel, La Trinidad,
Benguet we opened the canvas covering the back portion of our
vehicle in obedience and out of fear to the order of the police
officers.Were it not for our fear and obedience to the authorities,
we shouldn’t have acceded to their demands considering that
they flagged us down without any reason at all;

13.That to support our claims and defenses, the affidavit of

PHOEBE BUSTILLO is hereto attached and marked as ANNEX
“A” and made an integral part hereof;

14.That we are executing this Affidavit to deny the allegations

against us and to attest to the truth of the foregoing and for all
legal intents and purposes it may serve.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hands this 27th

day of January 2010 at Baguio City, Philippines.

RUFINO B. ABLAO CLIFF P. BANGLOY

AFFIANT AFFIANT

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this ______ day of January

2010 at Baguio City, Philippines. This is to certify that I have voluntarily
examined the affiants and I am satisfied that they have read, understood
and voluntarily executed the foregoing affidavit.

______________________________
Officer Administering Oath