I CAME across the decision of the Court of Appeals on the controversial water permit application of Lide Management Corp. (LMC) which the National Water Resources Board having granted the same allows LMC to extract groundwater from the aquifers in Brgys. Salvacion and Sto. Niño, both situated within the domain of the City of Ormoc.
I always thought something was wrong with the NWRB’s decision to grant the application. More than enough was submitted to challenge the WPA by the City. An excerpt of the opposition passed by the Sangguniang Panglungsod unveils the destructive outcome, viz:
First, over-pumping of the groundwater from the aquifer will adversely affect the level of aquifer in the area and the runaway of Ormoc Airport.
Secondly, if new WPA is accepted, chances are the groundwater of Ormoc will be seriously depleted, endangering the lives of the inhabitants.
Thirdly, to draw another 262 liters per second (lps) would bring the total extraction to about 516 lps, even more than the total demand of the service areas of the City’s Waterworks System for the next 15 years.
The NWRB in its earlier decision on the protest stressed that it was filed out of time since two years had elapsed since the filing of the application way back March 12, 2003 and no formal opposition was filed on the subject WPA. As disclosed by the records of NWRB, it advised the City to file a verified complaint within 10 days from receipt of the order or until Feb. 24, 2005.
Notwithstanding, instead, a series of requests for extension of time to file the complaint was submitted stating its valid and justifiable grounds until an order of NWRB denying the City’s request for extension was issued and consequently gave due course to the WPA of LMC. The board also vehemently denied the motion for reconsideration as stated in its order dated Oct. 10, 2005. Hence, the petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and Mandamus, and the appellate court ruled in favor of the City of Ormoc.
It is noteworthy to say and as evidenced by the intent of the City to contest the extraction that the Court was correct in its finding that there was indeed a grave abuse of discretion committed by NWRB when it denied the City of its right to oppose solely on technicalities.
The former, as pointed out by the appellate court, should have instead evaluated the merits of the protest rather than dismissing on mere procedural lapses. As further stressed out by the court, the City has actually filed an initiatory protest as contained in resolution 2003-111 of the Sangguniang Panglungsod and the denial of it is a blatant violation to due process of law.
Be it noted that when the City filed its motion for reconsideration, it further requested that the city be furnished pertinent documents indispensable for the construction of its intelligent protest which NWRB failed to grant the same. Consequently, the court finds it in violation of the right to access of public records as mandated by the Constitution itself. Upon considering the facts and the law, the court had proclaimed to annul and set aside the assailed order of NWRB.
With this recent development, it bears stressing that I was correct in observing that something was wrong with the order of the Board. The latest update of the case has given away the triumph of the City of regulating the use of water resources in pursuit of preventing any detrimental effect not only to the affected area but to the community as well.
As I understand, this controversy predicated Tax Ordinance No. 96-01 which imposed a specific tax on the extraction of subterranean water within the territorial jurisdiction of Ormoc for commercial and/or industrial purposes, prompting Leyte Industrial Development Estate to question the validity of the same.
This, however was declared invalid, ineffective and unconstitutional by the Department of justice. In a separate occasion, the City enacted Ordinance No. 149, this time imposing a regulatory fee on the extraction of water in Ormoc City. A portion of such ordinance as herein provided requires persons who intend to extract or mine from the City of Ormoc to register with the City Waterworks office for monitoring purposes subject to the payment of fees pursuant to the provisions in section 8b of Tax Ordinance no. 96-01. With that, LMC continuously questioned the same.
A perusal on the pronouncement of the honorable court of appeals reveals that NWRB acted misguidedly on the mandates of the law when it denied the City’s right to due process of law, or may have been ignorant of the law so to speak, by standing its decision on procedural law rather than considering the merits of the complaint of the City.
Jurisprudence dictates that due process consists of substantial due process and procedural due process. Denial of any of the two renders a decision a patent nullity. Furthermore, there is no complete disposition of a case absent a discussion of factual and legal issues.
Upon order of the Court of Appeals contained in the dispositive portion of the decision enjoining the NWRB from issuing the Water Permit Application of LMC, the City of Ormoc has its chances of continuing its battle of protesting the WPA be it on environmental and other reasonable justifications. The clash between the two parties is not yet over and definitely the bout will start all over again and this time, a new set of intelligent protests and defenses will be opened for argument.
(West Leyte Weekly Express; Jan. 10-16, 2011)
No comments:
Post a Comment