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ALVAREZ HAILS SC DECISION ON PICOP
The Manila Times
January 01, 2007
The recent Supreme Court (SC) decision against the country’s largest logging concession is a triumph for environmentalists and a timely act that could prevent disasters in a big swathe of Mindanao, a former environment secretary said Sunday.
Heherson T. Alvarez also said the high court’s decision against the Paper Industries Corp. of the Philippines (Picop) was very timely, considering the recent events of disastrous floods and the super typhoons.
The 58-page ruling, he said, “confirms the need to uphold the rules for environment conservation and security as mandated by the Constitution.”
The decision penned by Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, dated November 29, 2006, but only recently released, reversed the earlier decisions of the Court of Appeals (CA) and the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QC-RTC) for the automatic conversion of Picop’s 75,545 hectares of Timber License Agreement (TLA) No. 43 in Mindanao into an Integrated Forest Management Agreement (IFMA).
Reacting to Picop’s warning of an impending loss of more than 200,000 jobs, Alvarez said, “Jobs need not be sacrificed if there is sustainable forest management.”
“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,” he added.
Legal battle
As DENR Secretary, Alvarez refused the automatic conversion of TLA No. 43 into an IFMA when it expired on April 25, 2002, arguing that the firm must first pay government P167.5 million 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 Commission (SEC) had expired. The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) likewise validated that TLA No. 43 overlapped ancestral lands of the Manobos and refused to grant Picop the necessary clearances.
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 November 25, 2002, Alvarez pointed out.
Picop insisted it was entitled to the automatic IFMA conversion, citing a Presidential Warranty, dated July 29, 1969, issued by then President Ferdinand E. Marcos when the firm was still part of Andres Soriano group of companies.
Picop filed a civil case at the RTC to compel Alvarez to sign the IFMA.
Judge Jose G. Paneda of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals both ruled in favor of Picop on October 11, 2002, and on December 16, 2004, respectively.
Paneda also ordered Alvarez to pay Picop accumulated damages of P10 million for every month of its nonoperation, or a total of P190 million for all of 19 months.
Alvarez brought the case before the Court of Appeals, and later on, to the Supreme Court, which sided with Alvarez that Picop could not get its IFMA unless it settled its legal obligations, forest charges and SEC registration.
Requirements
The SC ordered Picop to pay unpaid forest charges, amounting to P167.5 million, present a five-year forest protection plan and a seven-year reforestation plan; and clearances from the NCIP.
The SC also junked the lower court’s order for Alvarez to pay P190 million in damages.
The High Court noted that Picop failed to comply with the basic requirement of the Local Government Code when it submitted a resolution of approval only from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Surigao del Sur, but failed to get resolutions from the three other provinces covered by TLA No. 43, namely, Agusan del Sur, Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.
The SC decision stated that those who are “fortunate to have been awarded an enormous concession area and thus, a huge chunk of the benefits of this country’s natural resources “have the responsibility to comply with the laws and regulations implementing the stated legislative policies of environmental preservation and benefit distribution. These laws and regulations should not be ignored.”
“The courts should not condone such blatant disregard by those who believe they are above the law because of their sizable investments and significant number of workers employed,” the ruling noted. “Picop has only itself to blame for the withholding of the conversion of its TLA. The judicial policy of nurturing prosperity would be better served by granting such concessions to someone who will abide by the law.”
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