DENR counters Argao mayor’s court request

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 filed yesterday a petition against Argao Mayor Edsel Galeos’ request for the court to issue a temporary restraining order against agency.

The eight-page document, intended to convince the court to deny the mayor’s request, was filed yesterday before the Regional Trial Court Branch 26 in Argao.

“DENR does not aim to take from them (Argao local government unit) its police power. We just want compliance to environmental laws,” said lawyer Celeste Belciña from DENR-7’s Legal Division.

The DENR’s comment to the petition for TRO stressed that the court does not have jurisdiction to grant Galeos’ request.

“With all due respect to the Honorable Court, it does not have the jurisdiction to issue the prayed temporary restraining order as it is expressly proscribed by three (3) relevant laws, as follows: Section 10, Rule 2 of the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, Section 1 of P.D. No. 605 and Section 1 P.D. No. 1818,” read the DENR petition.

It objected to the town’s claim that the issuance of a Notice to Stop to an upland road opening project stripped the town off of its police power.

The road project resulted to the uprooting of hundreds of naturally grown and planted trees.

The “Notice to Stop” was issued March 21by Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Officer-in-Charge Flordeliza Gonzaga.

“Invoking its right to police power is, in this case, misplaced, since it runs in direct contravention to environmental laws, specifically Section 77 of the Revised Forestry Code, and Executive Order No. 23,” read DENR’s petition.

“The petitioner cloaked itself under the guise and pretext of its constitutional power in order to evade responsibility from its blatant errors,” the DENR petition continued,” it added.—(FREEMAN)