CA junks cease order vs operator of Poro Point

The Court of Appeals’ Special Former Ninth Division has junked the cease and desist order issued by the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) stopping the Poro Point Industrial Corp. (PPIC) from operating the Poro Point Special Economic and Free­port Zone in San Fernando, La Union for alleged violations of environmental laws.

In an 18-page ruling, the appellate court also invalidated the Philippine Ports Authority’s authority to take over operations of Poro Point.

The CA agreed with PPIC’s argument that the cease and desist order issued by the DENR was baseless and highly irregular.

“Indeed, the issuance of the cease and desist order stumbled and fell every step of the way. Not only were the grounds for the issuance therefore patently baseless, (they) also violated the basic tenets of due process. Worse, the haste, nay the lightning speed by which the said order was issued, is highly questionable,” it said.

The CA said there was neither a formal complaint nor concrete proof to back up the alleged environmental violations of the PPIC.

While respondent Joel Salvador, regional director of DENR-Environmental Management Bureau, based his order on two inspections in June 1996, the CA said there was nothing in the inspection reports, however, which attributed any environmental violations to the PPIC.

The CA also junked the DENR’s claim that the PPIC operated without an environmental compliance certificate, saying that an ECC had already been issued for the ecozone and freeport when it was still being managed by John Hay Poro Point Development Corp., now the Poro Point Management Corp.