Friday, July 11, 2008 SC upholds Smokey Mountain reclamation
THE Supreme Court (SC) has unanimously affirmed its August 15, 2007 decision allowing the implementation of the multibillion-peso contract for the reclamation and development of the Smokey Mountain dumpsite for the government's low-cost housing project.
In a decision, the SC en banc denied with finality the motion for reconsideration (MR) filed by former solicitor general Francisco Chavez when the court ruled that the National Housing Authority (NHA) may validly undertake the reclamation of the dumpsite.
The high court said the issues raised by Chavez in his appeal are substantially the same issues passed upon and extensively discussed by the court when it came out with the assailed decision.
"Thus, further discussion of the point raised in the Motion for Reconsideration would be a mere repetition of the decision already rendered," the court ruled.
All SC magistrates concurred in the ruling, except for Associate Justices Antonio Carpio and Ruben Reyes, who did not participate in the deliberations, and Associate Justice Minita Chico-Nazaro, who was on leave.
The SC likewise dismissed Chavez's allegations that the denial of his petition with the issuance of the August 2007 decision was premature as the court granted his prayer for mandamus to compel respondents to disclose all documents and information relating to the project.
The court said that this last issue raised by Chavez in his MR still does not imbue the motion with any merit as he failed to show that he has a cause of action as basis for filing a petition with the SC anchored on undisputed facts.
"The argument all the more serves to confirm this Court's finding that the petition is without merit. Petitioner is saying that the petition will be supported by the information that will be revealed from the records of the NHA. With the admission that the facts to prop up the petition will still have to be procured from the NHA, then the petition is clearly baseless for want of factual support," it said.
In its August 15 decision penned by Associate Justice Presbiterio Velasco, the SC denied for lack of merit Chavez's petition assailing the 1993 Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between the NHA and construction firm R-II Builders, Inc. (RBI), Harbour Centre Port Terminal, Inc.
Also named respondent in the case was RBI owner, construction magnate Rhegis Romero II.
The SC said the project met all three requirements for a legal and valid reclamation project - approval by the President (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo), favorable endorsement granted by Public Estate Authority (PEA), and the reclamation was undertaken by either by PEA or by National Government agency authorized under its charter to reclaim lands subject to consultation with PEA.
The high court said that while PEA under Presidential Decree (PD) 1084 has the power to reclaim land and under Executive Order (EO) 525 is primarily responsible for integrating, directing, and coordinating reclamation projects, such authority is not exclusive and such power to reclaim may be granted or delegated to another government agency or entity or may even be undertaken by the National Government.
Thus, the NHA "had more than enough authority" to reclaim the lands under existing laws, the court held.
It added that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is deemed to have granted the NHA the authority to reclaim the dumpsite.
The SC, however, granted Chavez's petition for the issuance of a writ of mandamus by allowing him access to all public documents and official records relative to the project.
Among the documents that Chavez sought to scrutinize were the March 19, 1993 Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) between the NHA and RBI, and the subsequent agreements related to the JVA, the revisions over the original plan, and the additional works incurred on, and the transactions made with respect to the project.
On August 27, 2003, the NHA and RBI executed a memorandum of agreement to terminate the JVA and other subsequent agreements.
In his petition for prohibition and mandamus with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order (TRO) and/or writ of preliminary injunction, Chavez contended that that RBI cannot acquire the reclaimed lands because there was no law authorizing their sale.
The lawyer noted that the NHA has no legislative authority to sell and reclaim land since such power belongs to the PEA.
Chavez said R-II Builders, being a private corporation, is prohibited by the Philippine Constitution to acquire lands of the public domain.
He noted that Harbour Centre, being a private corporation whose majority stocks are owned and controlled by Romero's corporations, is disqualified from being a transferee of public land.
The Smokey Mountain dumpsite is bounded on the north by the Estero Marala, on the south by the National Government property, on the east by the property of B and I Realty Co., and on the west by Radial Road (R-10). The land reclamation was completed in August 1996. (ECV/Sunnex)
