CA upholds ruling to deny plea to stop mining in Zambales
- Rhea Pascua | Carlo Canlas
- Jan 24, 2018
- 1 min read
The Court of Appeals justifies its June 2016 decision of denying the petition to stop the mining activities in Zambales for lack of merit which was filed by residents of Sta. Cruz, Zambales.
The closure order is first issued by then DENR Secretary Gina Lopez against the operations of five mining companies in the province where the petition rendered moot and academic.
Petitioners demand CA to issue a Writ of Kalikasan with permanent environmental protection order (PEPO) against all mining activities in the province.
Mining firms closed due to PEPO are Benguet Corp Nickel Mines, Eramen Minerals, LNL Archipelago Minerals, Zambales Diversified Metals Corporation, and Shangfil Mining and Trading Corporation.
The petitioners insisted that it is the duty of the appellate court to ensure that closure orders imposed by Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) are strictly complied by the mining companies.
Petitioners also said that CA should have been ordered a permanent environmental protection order instead of TEPO.
"A perusal of the motion for reconsideration reveals no new and meritorious arguments and yields mere rehashed arguments, which had already been exhaustively discussed and squarely passed upon by this Court in the Resolution sought to be considered," the CA said.
Through Associate Justice Renato Francisco, the CA affirmed its May 22, 2017 decision which also lifted the provisional writ of kalikasan issued by the Supreme Court in June 2016 in favor petitioner Concerned Citizens of Sta. Cruz, Zambales (CCOS).
Residents of Sta. Cruz, Zambales filed a plea to the Supreme Court on 2016 due to violation on the Mining Act of 1995 committed by the five mining companies in their municipality.
