THE Apo Land and Quarry Corp. (ALQC) is urging the court to deny proposals made by landslide victims of the City of Naga to extend the Temporary Environmental Protection Order (Tepo) issued against them a week ago.
In an 18-page motion, lawyers of ALQC urged the Regional Trial Court 76 to deny the extension of the Tepo for “utter lack of merit.”
Last week, RTC 76 Assisting Judge Dennis Larrobis approved the issuance of a Tepo against ALQC and to refrain from further operations in all areas in the City of Naga where they have an existing Mining Production and Sharing Agreements (MPSA).
But lawyers representing ALQC argued that on the technical aspect, the Tepo should be declared invalid as it was not validly served by the Court as required in the rules of procedure for environmental cases.
“The Tepo was served without the contemporaneous service of summons and copy of the complaint,” lawyers of ALQC said.
They also argued that even if the Tepo was validly served, the court should no longer discuss any possible extension since it already lapsed the required 72-hour period.
Lawyers of ALQC claimed they received the Tepo on Nov. 9 at 4 p.m., which could have given the court only until Nov. 12, the same day they would conduct a summary hearing on whether it should be extended or not.
Lawyers for the mining company also argued that the Tepo should not be granted as there is no extreme urgency and they could not cause further damage to the affected landslide areas since the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the City Government of Naga has issued separate orders suspending their operations.
“In the instant case, with the activity sought to be enjoined is more imaginary than real, the element of extreme urgency is grossly wanting, thus, a prayer for Tepo should be not be granted and/ or extended,” lawyers for ALQC added.
Meanwhile, an environmental conservation group supporting the landslide victims in the City of Naga urged the ALQC to avoid making a hostage of their employees.
In a statement, members of Pusyon Kinaiyahan said the decision of ALQC to lay off some of their employees is a “tragic development on the lives of the working people.”
The group also clarified that the P4.5 billion suit filed against ALQC was not meant to destroy the lives of those working in the company.
“Our call is not intended to put the ALQC-supported families out from their jobs, but rather to make the Apo Land and Quarry Corp. (the provincial and local governments, and the DENR-MGB) accountable for the greater and oppressive damages they have done to the 78 people who perished, the mountains and the displacement of communities around Naga City due to quarrying operations; and also for the ALQC to strategize and shift to a sustainable and eco-friendly approaches benefiting our environment and our communities towards sustainable economic growth - which we believe is possible,” they added. (JKV)