”
Former T’boli vice mayor Salvador Ramos was the main respondent for the case that has dragged on in the last 19 years. At the time of the disaster, he was the chair of the Lake Maughan Ecotourism and Conservation Council.
In a phone interview on Friday, Ramos told MindaNews he wants closure to the case too, lamenting that it has taken a toll on him personally and professionally.
“Grabe na akong agwanta anang kaso (That case has taken a hard toll on me). It has destroyed my political career,” he said.
Ramos, following the tragedy, eventually ran but lost in the local elections.
The case against him is pending before the sala of Judge Roberto Ayco of the Regional Trial Court Branch 26 in Surallah town, South Cotabato.
Ramos and several others were charged with multiple murder as a result of the tragedy.
Over the course of time, the charge eventually came down to Presidential Decree 1866 or illegal possession of explosives, said Ramos, who is out on a P100,000 bail bond.
A hearing was set last September 4 but was moved to October 9, he said.
Ramos said this would be the last hearing where he would appear in the stand and the case would then be rested for promulgation.
The charge, according to him, was “politically-motivated.”
Lake Maughan is known among the locals as Lake Holon, a T’boli word meaning deep water. Mt. Parker, where it is located, is called Mt.||| |||buy stendra online with |||
Melibingoy by the locals. Mt. Parker was named after American General Frank Parker who supposedly discovered it on a flight in the 1930s.
Hilario de Pedro III, who was governor at the time of the 1995 Lake Maughan disaster, said in a 2012 interview that Lake Maughan was prone to landslides, and the “disaster could not be a man-made disaster.||| |||buy spiriva inhaler online with |||
