SC: Petrochem plants not only for Bataan

The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition of Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia to declare his province as the exclusive site for petrochemical plants in the country.

In a 19-page decision, the SC, through Associate Justice Conchita Carpio Morales of the Court’s Second Division, denied the petition and affirmed the ruling of the Court of Appeals 10 years ago which had dismissed Garcia’s petition suit against the establishment of a petrochemical plant by J.G. Summit Petrochemical Corp. in Barangay Simlong, Batangas City.

In dismissing Garcia’s petition, the high court saw no merit in his contention that the court is bound by an earlier ruling in Garcia vs. Board of Investments that the petrochemical industry must be located at the Bataan petrochemical zone.

In the said case, the SC nullified the approval by the Board of Investments of the amended certificate of registration of the Luzon Petrochemical Corporation (LPC) and maintained its original certificate of registration with Bataan as the plant site.

"What this court declared in that case was that the plant site of the LPC should be in Bataan, given the peculiar factual circumstances and issues related to the proposed transfer," the SC said, noting that the decision was applicable only to LPC. 

The SC also belied Garcia’s claim that Presidential Decrees 949 and 1803, which created the petrochemical complex in Limay, Bataan, prohibit the establishment of a petrochemical facility outside the complex.

According to the SC, PD 949, which was implemented on June 17, 1976, transferred from the National Development Corp. the administration, management, and ownership of the 418 hectare-property in Limay, Batan to the Philippine National Oil Co. (PNOC) for operation and development into a petrochemical industrial zone.

The SC said the law only reserved an area for a petrochemical industrial zone but did not indicate Bataan as the exclusive petrochemical zone. 

Meanwhile, PD 1803, only amended PD 949 by declaring 188 hectares as the area reserved for the petrochemical industrial zone.