Nehemias de la Cruz, husband of Don Salvador Benedicto town mayor Cynthia de la Cruz, yesterday said he does not know why Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra appears to be waging a personal crusade against him and his wife when it has been ruled that the accusations against them for illegal logging have not been corroborated by evidence.

However, "because I am a Christian I forgive him for what he is doing to us," he said. "The bishop should base his charges against us on factual evidence and not just on what some people tell him otherwise he is a gossiper," de la Cruz said.

De la Cruz was reacting to Navarra's call Thursday for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to reinstate the illegal logging case filed against him and his wife, and their eight co-defendants, that was dismissed by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez late last year.

Navarra, in a letter sent to the President, said that together with the priests, the religious, the Catholic faithful and the concerned citizens of Negros Occidental he joins Department of Environment and Natural Resources lawyer Virgilia Dioquino in appealing "to reinstate the case by re-filing of the information which was previously withdrawn."

"Save for the courts, let no one pre-judge the case. Let the government prove the case against the accused in the courts of law of our republic. Let justice reign on the merits of evidences presented by both sides before a court magistrate," he said.

Bacolod Regional Trial Court Judge Rodney Bolunia terminated the illegal logging case against the de la Cruz couple and eight others after the dismissal of the complaint against them for insufficiency of evidence by Gonzalez.

Gonzalez had ruled that the complaint for violation of the Forestry Code of the Philippines had been dismissed because the testimonies of witnesses were never corroborated by evidence.

De la Cruz said the bishop's crusade against him started when he opposed a project he initiated for residents of Pinggot, Ilog to plant Ilang-ilang that had a marketing contract with Yves St. Laurent.

Because the bishop opposed I stopped the project and Pinggot until now has been left undeveloped, de la Cruz said.

He said the bishop is also probably going after him and his wife because he "exposed womanizing, gay and communist priests" for not attending to their flock.

De la Cruz said he has joined a Protestant evangelical church where he has found the light. The bishop could not be reached for comment as of press time.

There are people who have admitted to committing the illegal logging in Don Salvador Benedicto that had been blamed against him and his wife, he also pointed out.

De la Cruz also alleged that some leaders of the non-government organization Broad Initiatives for Negros Development that has been crusading against him and his wife were in fact responsible for cutting rattan in the DSB forests. He also said BIND initiates projects in DSB without even coordinating with the local government.*CPG

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