The Supreme Court (SC) has remanded to the Court of Appeals (CA) for immediate resolution the petition for a Writ of Kalikasan filed by the residents of Sta. Cruz, Zambales to stop all mining operations in the province.
In a decision written by Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, the SC set aside the 2017 ruling of the CA which lifted its own (CA’s) resolution on the continuing mandamus on the Writ of Kalikasan and the SC’s provisional writ issued in 2016.
The CA’s 2017 ruling declared the petition filed by the residents as moot and academic because then Secretary Regina “Gina” Lopez of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had issued closure orders in February 2017 against the five mining companies named in the petition.
These mining companies are the Benguet Corp.’s Nickel Mines, Inc., Eramen Minerals, Inc., LNL Archipelago Minerals, Inc., Zambales Diversified Metals Corporation, and Shangfil Mining and Trading Corporation.
The CA’s decision stated that “with the closure of the mining operations, there can be no unlawful act or omission that may be committed by respondent mining companies that would result in actual or threatened violation of petitioner’s constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology.”
“More importantly, the principal relief sought in this petition has already been accomplished, thereby rendering the controversy moot and academic. There, thus, no more actual controversy between parties and no useful purpose can be served in passing upon the merits of this petition,” the CA also said.
But the SC decision pointed out that the closure orders on the five mining companies have been lifted and the companies have resumed their operations.
“Indeed, with the lifting of the closure orders... and the resumption of the mining operations of respondent companies as manifested by the OSG (Office of the Solicitor General), petitioners’ (the residents) allegations, i.e., that respondent companies conduct unsystematic mining activities and their mining operations violate pertinent environmental and mining laws, which were considered by the DENR in the issuance of said closure orders -- become material and significantly relevant in the subject petition for Writ of Kalikasan,” the SC said.
“Thus, the propriety of the ultimate relief in a petition for Writ of Kalikasan -- that is, to prevent further violations of the constitutionally protected rights to a balanced and healthful ecology -- remains a justiciable controversy. This has not been squarely passed upon or resolved by the CA,” the SC stressed.
It also pointed out that the CA did not make any evaluation of facts on petitioners’ allegations as it merely cited the in-depth audit of respondent mining companies conducted by the audit team from the DENR and representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, and National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
However, it said the audit team’s findings on the various violations of pertinent mining and environmental laws by respondent mining companies merely ended in the closure of the mining operations as directed in the closure orders.
The SC rules: “WHEREFORE, the Resolutions dated May 22, 2017 and December 14, 2017 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 00032 are SET ASIDE. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED to the Court of Appeals for the continuation of proceedings with dispatch. SO ORDERED.”
Complained of by the Sta. Cruz residents were the destruction of the ecosystem in their town and in the neighboring municipalities of Candelaria (also in Zambales) and in Infanta, Pangasinan; pollution on water and air; and heavy laterite siltation of river systems, coasts, farmlands, fishponds, and residential areas.
The residents also said the mining operations cause forest denudation, heavy floods during typhoons, destruction of irrigation system, and decrease in the livelihood of residents.
They asked the owners of the five mining companies to take immediate steps “to stop the contamination of farms, water sources, and villages in Sta. Cruz due to unsystematic mining operations.”
Aside from the officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), also names respondents in their petition were the provincial and town officials who were asked “to immediately enforce environmental laws” to stop the damages wrought by the mining operations.