Republic of the Philippines

Department of Environment and Natural Resources

COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT & NATURAL RESOURCES OFFICE
Lianga, Surigao del Sur

IN RE: ADMINISTRATIVE CONFISCATION PROCEEDING OF ONE

(1) UNIT RED MITSUBISHI STRADA GLS 2.4D PICK-UP
WITH PLATE NO. NFG5377 APPREHENDED AT DENR
CHECKPOINT, PAYASAN, LIANGA, SURIGAO DEL SUR
ON DECEMBER 22, 2022

DENR Administrative Case No.: ________________________

For: Violation of Sec. 77 of PD 705, as amended by EO 277 and

renumbered by RA 7161
x-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

POSITION PAPER OF THE OWNER OF THE ONE (1) UNIT

RED MITSUBISHI STRADA GLS 2.4D PICK-UP WITH PLATE
NO. NFG5377

Respondent moto vehicle owner, PILMICO FOODS

CORPORATION, with business address at Kiwalan Cove, Dalipuga,
Iligan City, herein represented by ARIEL G. SALDE, PILMICO Technical
Training Specialist, unto this Honorable COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT
& NATURAL RESOURCES OFFICE, most respectfully avers that:

FACTUAL ANTECEDENTS

1. PILMICO FOODS CORPORATION (PILMICO) is a juridical

person registered under Philippine corporation laws, rules and
regulations and primarily involved in business of manufacturing
of animal feeds;

2. PILMICO is the registered owner of the apprehended Red

Mitsubishi Strada GLS 2.4D Pick-up with Plate No. NFG5377
(Mitsubishi Pick-up for brevity). Copy of official receipt and
certificate of registration (OR/CR) hereto attached and marked as
Annexes “1” and “2” respectively;

3. On December 21, 2022 the undersigned as the Technical Training

Specialist instructed/directed the PILMICO-Caraga Territory
Business Manager (TBM) Mr. Joel H. Brangca (the one driving the
motor vehicle) to undertake company related activities such as,
technical farm visit and evaluate layer production performance on

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 December 22, 2022 at the Municipalities of San Miguel and
Tandag, Surigao del Sur. Copy of Memorandum dated December
21, 2022 and Itinerary are hereto attached and marked as Annexes
“3” and “4” respectively;

4. On December 23, 2022 in the morning, TBM Brangca informed the

undersigned that the Mitsubishi Pick-up was apprehended in the
afternoon of December 22, 2022 at the DENR Checkpoint at
Payasan, Lianga, Surigao del Sur for transporting one (1) item
deformed mancono coffee table and one (1) item mancono flower
stand which he bought from one of the display centers/souvenir
stores along the highway at Brgy Gata, San Agustin, Surigao del
Sur;

5. Allegedly, the one (1) item deformed mancono coffee table and
one (1) item mancono flower stand have no proper DENR
transport document;

6. In his Affidavit, hereto attached and marked as Annex 5, TBM

Brangca declared that the one (1) item deformed mancono coffee
table and one (1) item mancono flower stand were bought from
one of the mancono products souvenir stores along the highway
located in Gata, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur to be given as gift to
his wife;

7. TBM Brangca likewise presented an official receipt issued by the

vendor (Mindanao Tribal Tourist Shuttle Multi-Purpose
Cooperative) covering the sale. Copy of Official receipt (OR)
hereto attached mark as Annex 6;

8. Unfortunately, the apprehending officers assigned at the DENR

Checkpoint consider the receipt insufficient, thus, the one (1) item
deformed mancono coffee table, one (1) item mancono flower
stand and the Mitsubishi Pick-up was apprehended.

ISSUE

9. Whether the circumstances presented by the PILMICO and TBM

Brangca warrant the release of the said conveyance.

ARGUMENTS/DISCUSSIONS

10. Governing the issue is Section 7. Outline of Procedures for

Summary Administrative Confiscation particularly 3.
DISPUTABLE PRESUMPTIONS and 4. DECISION of the DENR
Administrative Order No. 97-32 re: 1997 Rules for the

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 Administrative Adjudication of Illegal Forest Products and the
Machinery, Equipment, Tools and Conveyances Used in
Connection Therewith, which states:

“3. DISPUTABLE PRESUMPTIONS - In administrative

proceedings conducted pursuant hereto, the following shall be
considered presumptions of fact and/or law and taken as part of
the evidence unless specifically controverted and successfully
overcome by a preponderance of evidence.

(a) All those apprehended on-site for direct or indirect

participation in the commission of the offense(s) cited had full
knowledge of and willingly participated therein;

(b) The registered owner and/or operator/driver of a conveyance

used in the commission of the offense had full knowledge
and willingly participated therein by providing the
conveyance for the illegal purpose to which said conveyance
was applied. In case the registered owner of the conveyance is
a partnership or corporation, the partners and/or officers
thereof had full knowledge of and granted authorization or
issued instructions for the use or application of the conveyance
in the commission of the offense.

(c) Any forest products included within Section 2(a) hereof were
obtained from an illegal source.

4. DECISION — The Decision shall be rendered by the RED upon

recommendation of Hearing Officer. Substantial evidence shall
suffice to sustain an administrative Decision adverse to
interested Party(ies), failing which, a ruling shall be issued
dismissing the case, and the controversy deemed closed and
ordering that the seized item(s) be returned forthwith. When
the evidence so warrants, a ruling shall be issued declaring the
seized items to be confiscated in favor of the Government,
together with recommendations for further prosecution, if any.
In the absence of compelling reasons, which shall in all cases be
stated on the record, confiscation proceedings shall be
terminated within fifteen (15) regular business days from
commencement thereof. A transcript of stenographic notes or
minutes taken at these proceedings shall form part of the
permanent records of the case together with the Decision issued
thereon citing the evidence adduced and reasons supporting
the ruling. The Decision shall become final and executory upon
the lapse of fifteen (15) regular business days unless a Motion

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 for Reconsideration is filed as provided below.” (emphasis
added)

11. A reading of Section 7.3(b) of the DAO No. 97-32 shows the
presumption that the registered owner or driver of a conveyance
used in the commission of the offense had full knowledge and
willingly participated therein. Such “full knowledge” and
“willingly participated” are conjoined by the word “and”.

Clearly,
a. the knowledge should be interpreted to mean as full,
complete and covering all matters;
b. the participation refers to acts which are intentional,
conscious, voluntary, and designed to achieve a particular
result; and
c. “full knowledge” and “willingly participated” means
relating to one another.

12. In the book of Noli C. Diaz entitled as STATUTORY

CONSTRUCTION, the word “and” was defined as a conjunction
connecting words or phrases expressing the idea that the latter is
to be added to or taken along with the first. Stated differently, the
word “and” is a conjunction pertinently defined as meaning
“together with”, “joined with”, “along or together with”, “added
to or linked to” used to conjoin “word with word”, “phrase with
phrase”, “clause with clause”. The word “and” does not mean
“or”, it is a conjunction used to denote a joinder or union,
“binding together”, relating the one to the other. (G.R. No. 166391,
October 21, 2015)

13. Hence the key to interpret and understand Section 7.3(b) of the
DAO No. 97-32 is the words “full”, “and” and “willingly”. From
the foregoing definitions of the words “full”, “and” and
“willingly,” it is unmistakable that to sustain an administrative
Decision adverse to Mitsubishi Pick-up owner under the said
provision of DAO No. 97-32, any of the registered owner or driver
of Mitsubishi Pick-up used in the transport of the 1 item deformed
mancono center table and 1 item mancono flower stand had full
knowledge and willingly participated therein by providing the
conveyance for the illegal purpose to which said conveyance
was applied must be present and proven. As such, the full
knowledge and willingness to participate should not be
construed as separate or independent from one another.

14. On the other hand, to rebut the presumption, it is sufficient that

the Mitsubishi Pick-up owner and the driver will present and

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 prove that they have NO full knowledge that buying and
transporting one (1) item deformed mancono coffee table and one
(1) item mancono flower stand is unauthorized and illegal.

15. In the case at bar:

a. PILMICO’s Mitsubishi Pick-up was dispatched on December

22, 2022 to ferry TBM Brangca to undertake technical farm
evaluation at the Municipalities of San Miguel and Tandag,
Surigao del Sur;
b. On its way back, upon reaching the vicinity of Davisol, Brgy.
Gata, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur, TBM Brangca slowed down
and stopped the due to a crowd of patron-buyers crisscrossing
the highway;
c. TBM Brangca was approached and offered souvenir items.
Swayed by curiosity, he disembarked and shopped in one of
the display stores and was able to buy a coffee table and a
flower stand;
d. Mancono furnitures and souvenir items are conspicuously
displayed and being offered for sale along the highway of
Purok 4, Gata, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur;
e. The sale to TBM Brangca was covered by an Official Receipt
No. 0775 of the Mindanao Tribal Tourist Shuttle Multi-Purpose
Cooperative;
f. TBM Brangca was not informed by the display center/souvenir
shop that the transport of the purchased coffee table and a
flower stand require a DENR transport document; and
g. TBM Brangca bought, loaded, and transported said items in his
personal volition for value and in good faith.

16. Since the display centers or souvenir shops situated right along
the Gata highway are continuously flourishing and patently
conducting their businesses and correspondingly issued official
receipt, TBM Brangca, by his diligence and prudence,
contemplated that these are LEGAL SOURCES of mancono
furnitures and souvenir items. Considering further the crowd that
patronized their products, by the looks of it, it does not appear
that it was prohibited.
17. THUS, PILMICO AND TBM BRANGCA HAVE NO FULL
KNOWLEDGE THAT THE SALE AND TRANSPORT OF
FINISHED PRODUCTS PARTICULARLY COFFEE TABLE
AND FLOWER STAND WERE ILLEGAL NOR WILLINGLY
PARTICIPATED THEREIN BY PROVIDING THE
MITSUBISHI PICK-UP FOR ILLEGAL PURPOSE.

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 18. As such, PILMICO asserts that it was able to controvert and
successfully overcome by a preponderance of evidence the
disputable presumption that “The registered owner and/or
operator/driver of a conveyance used in the commission of the
offense had full knowledge and willingly participated therein
by providing the conveyance for the illegal purpose to which
said conveyance was applied.”

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, on the basis of all the foregoing, it is RESPECTFULLY

PRAYED that this POSITION PAPER be given due consideration in the
resolution of this administrative case and that a ruling shall be issued
dismissing the case and ordering that the Red Mitsubishi Strada GLS 2.4D
Pick-up with Plate No. NFG5377 be returned to the respondent PILMICO.

Other reliefs just and equitable under the circumstances.

Butuan City for Lianga, Surigao del Sur, Philippines. December 29,
2022.

MOST REPECTFULLY SUBMITTED.

For the PILMICO Foods Corporation:

ARIEL G. SALDE
Technical Training Specialist

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE ME, this 29 th day of

December 2022 at Butuan City, Philippines. Affiant exhibited to me his
competent proof of identity.

Doc. No. _____;

Page No. _____;
Book No. X ;
Series of 2022.

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