 |
ALVAREZ WINS P10-M PICOP SUIT
November 14, 2003
Former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Heherson
T. Alvarez has won the case filed against him by PICOP Resources, Inc. after the
Court of Appeals (CA) reversed a lower court ruling ordering him to pay the firm
P10 million per month for failure to grant PICOP's Integrated Forest Management
Agreement (IFMA) in April last year.
On Oct. 11, 2002, Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 220 Judge Jose G.
Paneda ordered Alvarez to immediately grant PICOP its IFMA application, and to pay
PICOP monthly damages, beginning in May 2002, until the IFMA was granted.
To date, or for a total of 19 months, the accumulated damages would have amounted to
P190 million.
The CA judgment "annulled and set aside" Judge Paneda's ruling because it "was not
done in accordance with the provided rules" and was "an abuse of its discretion."
Alvarez refused the automatic conversion of PICOP's Timber License Agreement (TLA)
No. 43 into an IFMA when it expired on April 25, 2002. The TLA covers 121,587
hectares of land in the provinces of Surigao, Agusan and Davao.
Alvarez argued that the firm must first pay government P167,592,440 in unpaid forest
charges as of August 2002, as well as comply with other requirements of law.
At that time, PICOP's registration with the Securities and Exchange Comission (SEC)
also expired. The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) likewise validated
that TLA 43 overlapped ancestral lands of the Manobos.
Parts of TLA 43's area were also within an 8,100-hectare mineral reservation set aside
by President Arroyo through Proclamation No. 279 on Nov. 25, 2002.
But insisting that they were entitled to the IFMA, PICOP filed a civil case at the
RTC to compel Alvarez to sign the IFMA. Judge Paneda ruled in favor of PICOP on Oct.
11, 2002. An appeal for reconsideration was filed on Oct. 25, 2002 which Judge Paneda
denied on Feb. 10, 2003.
Assistant Solicitor General Amparo M. Cabotaje-Tang, representing the Office of the
Solicitor General, brought Judge Paneda's decision before the CA which ruled in favor
of Alvarez.
Alvarez's refusal to grant PICOP an IFMA unless it settled its obligations, forest
charges, and SEC registration prompted PICOP owner Teodoro Bernardino to oppose his
confirmation at the Commission on Appointments (CA).
The Commission however confirmed Alvarez unanimously, rejecting Bernardino's opposition.
The judgment now compels Bernardino to comply with: (1) Payment of unpaid forest charges
amounting to P167,592,440 as of August 2002; (2) A 5-year forest protection plan; (3) A
7-year reforestation plan; and (4) Clearances from the NCIP.
"This is a vindication of our long and uncompromised struggle to protect the country's
forest lands. While we recognize the need to create wealth using our natural resources,
this must be done without compromising the environment, public good, and with due respect
for the rule of law," Alvarez stressed.
As DENR secretary, Alvarez collided with powerful and influential forces who felt
threatened by his pro-people, pro-environment enforcement of policies.
"We vigorously enforced environmental laws and prosecuted grafters in the DENR.
We protected the marginalized sectorslike the indigenous peoples from being edged
out of their ancestral lands, and the small fishermen from being pushed out of their
municipal waters by interests of commercial fishers," he said.
The 15-paged decision of the CA's Special 13th Division promulgated on Oct. 30, 2003
was penned by Associate Justice Juan Q. Enriquez, Jr. and concurred by Associate
Justices Roberto A. Barrios and Hakim S. Abdulwahid.
|
|
|
