Residents of Santa Cruz, Zambales were denied its plea to ban all mining activities in the province, asking the Court of Appeals (CA) to reconsider the provisional Writ of Kalikasan which is a legal remedy that upholds “the citizen’s right to a healthy environment.”
“Petitioners’ motion for reconsideration is hereby denied for lack of merit,” Associate Justice Renato Francisco said in a five-page resolution.
He also stressed the attempt to reverse the rule “reveals no new and meritorious arguments, which had already been exhaustively discussed and squarely passed upon.”
In 2017, the Appellate Court lifted the closure order implemented by ex-Environment Chief Gina Lopez, which comprises the mining operations of firms such as BenguetCorp Nickel Mines, Eramen Minerals, LNL Archipelago Minerals, Zambales Diversified Metals Corporation, and Shangfil Mining and Trading Corporation, all of which are based in Zambales.
Petitioners said these companies destroy the irrigation and ecology systems with their “unsystematic” mining activities in their area, as well as in neighboring towns of Candelaria, then up north in Infanta, Pangasinan.
A permanent environmental protection order should have been ordered against the miners, the petitioners noted, since they cause water, air, and soil pollution in the area’s rivers, farmlands, fishponds, and residential areas.
Along with the lifting of the mass suspension, the provisional Writ of Kalikasan was also revoked, which the petitioners argue that it is the Court’s duty “to protect the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology.”
