Republic of the Philippines

Department of Justice
PROVINCIAL PROSECUTION OFFICE
Province of Zamboanga del Sur
Pagadian City

PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, I.S. CASE NO. 1X-09-INV-18J-00503

Plaintiff,

-versus- -for-

RODOLFO D. NOYNA VIOLATION OF SEC. 77 P.D. 705

Respondent, as amend

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COUNTER-AFFIDAVIT

I, RODOLFO D. NOYNA, of legal age, Filipino citizen, married with postal

address at Barangay Abong-abong, Tabina, Zamboanga del Sur, after having duly
sworn to in accordance with law do hereby depose and say:

1. That I am the respondent in the above-entitled case;

2. That I specifically deny the charge against me for alleged violation of Sec.
77 of PD 705 filed by the complainant Vitaliano Q. Valdez, CENRO OFFICER-
in-charge for being baseless, malicious, perjurious, and lacking legal and
factual basic, as to the truth of the matter are as follows, to wit:

a) That I am a carpenter with a small home-base furniture shop in my

residence of the said address and my carpentry skilled more on cabinet
making and window wooden grills (gelosi);

b) That sometime in July 2018 last week, a customer approached and

offered to me that he wanted to make numerous cabinets out of his lumbers
and I accepted the offer for fee;

c) That I knew and identified the lumbers as TUGAS, a hardwood Timer

forest product and I don’t have any personal knowledge that kind of lumber
(Tugas) is protected by the Government (DENR) and prohibited by law to be
used since no forest reservation in our place;

d) That at around 11:15 o’clock in the morning of August 10, 2018, a

composite individuals from Brgy. Officials, PNP, and DENR officials surprisingly
appeared to my residence and presented the search warrant further asked if I
have a wood/timber cutter machine and permits, I replied that I don’t have
any machines considering my furniture shop is too small only portable wood
saw, hammer, and other tools use for carpentry, my permit as far as I knew,
I secured it from LGU Tabina Zamboanga del Sur and the pictures are hereto
attached as Annex “‘1”;
 e) That after asking the same, they evidently noticed the woods filed at
the side of my said shop and they commented that those woods are
prohibited to be used for furniture making and after manifested those
prohibitions, they seized those woods and confiscated the same and deposited
at CENRO Office at Guips, Zamboanga del Sur;

f) That on Oct 23, 2018, I received a notice to appear at CENRO Guipos,

Zamboanga del Sur on 26, October 2018 and I was at CENRO Office I had
been told by the DENR Official about requirement on having wood/timber
cutter machine in my shop but I told him that I could not afford to put up the
machine since my shop is too small and the income is not regular;

g) That on Nov. 1, 2018 I received a subpoena from the Provincial

Prosecution Office that I violated the Presidential Decree 705 known as THE
FORESTRY REFORM CODE OF THE PHILIPPINE particularly Section 77 and
compelled to submitted a counter-affidavit within 10 days from receipt;

h) That I am not covered the said provision since I am not the owner to
those cut-woods/timbers and I am only the custodian and a contractor of a
piece of work, and the cutting, gathering and/or collecting timber is lodge
exclusively to the owner of the lumber;

i) That during the time of seizure, lumbers in my shop are not within
the contemplation of gathering and collection as mentioned of the said law,
the ownership is not presumed to me and I am only a custodian of those
items;

j) Lastly, the recommendation and findings of Vitaliano Q. Valdez was

arrived after evaluation of evidence through his Judicial Affidavit of Complaint.
The case against me is only confiscation of forest product lumber, not the
above case.

3. That I am executing this Counter-Affidavit to attest the truth of the

foregoing statements, and move for the dismissal of the above case for lack
of legal and factual basis.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature this ___

day of October 2018, in Pagadian City.

RODOLFO D NOYNA
Affiant

SUBCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me this ____ day of ________ in

Pagadian City, Philippines, affiant exhibiting to me his competent evidence of identity by
way of Voter’s ID with ID No.: 7327-000B-E2165RDN10000 issued at COMELEC, Tabina,
Zambo. Sur.

NOTARY PUBLIC
Doc. No. _____;
Page No. _____;
Book No. _____;
Series of 2018.