SEN. Miriam Defensor Santiago yesterday sought an investigation of what she said was the use for extortion of environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) by officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the wake of a takeover by the government of port operations at Poro Point. Santiago, in a resolution seeking the investigation, said the takeover was an “arbitrary act” of the DENR Environmental Management Bureau which suddenly demanded an ECC from the Poro Point Industrial Corp. (PPIC), the port’s private operator. But Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA) president Narciso Abaya, who went to the Inquirer office yesterday, said the environmental issue cropped up when an investigating team formed by Mayor Maryjane Ortega, of San Fernando City, La Union, discovered that the PPIC, the port operator, had no ECC. “For a long time, I have heard unsubstantiated reports that DENR officials in the field are using the ECC requirement as a means of extortion, either by delaying the release of the ECC until the private firm pays a bribe or by granting ECCs despite the disqualification of the applicants in exchange for bribes by private firms,” Santiago said. Santiago has asked the Senate environment committee to summon top officials of the DENR, the Philippine National Police, BCDA and other officials who were involved in what she described as the “military style” takeover of the seaport at Poro Point. Santiago, in an interview, said she wants the officials to explain the alleged use of violence by armed police and Coast Guard personnel in shutting down and taking over the operations of a private firm which had a 25-year contract to operate the port in San Fernando, La Union. Abaya said the armed men during the takeover were members of the PNP. Santiago, who filed a resolution seeking the inquiry, asked Sen. Pia Cayetano, chair of the Senate environment committee, to start the hearing early next month. She said that in a Malacañang meeting last January, President Macapagal-Arroyo was exasperated when DENR and BCDA officials insisted that no violence attended the takeover despite photos and video footage showing there was a military-style takeover. Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson, a close ally of Ms Arroyo, has been implicated in the controversy but he denied a hand in the takeover. He welcomed the Senate inquiry as an opportunity to clear up the mess and his name. The port continues to suffer as the BCDA asked the Court of Appeals to stop a judge from further acting on at least two civil cases involving the takeover. The BCDA was joined by its subsidiary, the Poro Point Management Corp. (PPMC), and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), in the filing of a petition to stop Judge Robert Cawed, of the San Fernando City Regional Trial Court, from acting on the cases. The petition also covered RTC Executive Judge Victor Viloria, Bulk Handlers Inc. (BHI), Poro Point Integrated Services Inc. and PPIC. Speaking on behalf of the petitioners, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel said in a statement that Cawed has “no jurisdiction” on the cases since these were about an “intra-corporate dispute” between the BCDA and PPIC. With a report from Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon Desk | 
