SC to hear arguments on constitutionality of mining law
March 26, 2013 at 19:06
THE constitutionality of Republic Act (RA) 7942, or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, will be scrutinized by the Supreme Court (SC), which is set to hear oral arguments for and against the law.
The High Court has ordered both the government and petitioners to argue their case on April 16, when it will tackle a temporary restraining order sought by two lawmakers against implementation of the controversial law.
The lawmakers have been joined in their petitions by several residents of Davao Oriental province in southern Mindanao supposedly affected by mining activities of Hallmark Mining Corp. and Austral-Asia Link Mining Corp. They and the residents also named as respondent the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
In January this year, the petitioners asked the SC to stop the DENR from acting on any application for Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) that cover 17,215.4474 hectares of land in the municipalities of Mati, San Isidro and Governor Generoso in Davao Oriental.
They also asked that the High Court nullify the seven MPSAs that it had re-assigned to the respondent Hallmark and Austral-Asia Link.
In a guideline that was released on Friday, the Court said the oral arguments should tackle the legal standing of the petitioners, including whether the legal questions they raised can be subjected to judicial review.
The Supreme Court also directed both parties to argue on whether it can still rule on the case since it had done so on the case of La Bugal-B’laan Tribal Association v. Ramos administration in December 2004.
Also, the Court wanted the parties to argue, too, on the “alleged adverse effects of mining to the environment, health of the community and human dignity.”
“Each of the parties, through their respective counsel, shall have 30 minutes to present their arguments. The time allotted for counsels to argue and counter-argue shall be exclusive of the interpellation by the members of the court,” read an advisory signed by SC Clerk of Court Enriqueta Vidal.
In asking the SC to nullify RA 7942, the petitioners claimed that the mining law is unconstitutional since it violates Article XII, Section 2, of the 1987 Constitution.
The provision states, “All lands of public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests, timber, wildlife, flora and fauna and other natural resources are owned by the State.”
The petitioners also claimed that the fiscal arrangement between the DENR and the mining firms was contradictory to the constitutional provision that the development of the national patrimony “should be based on an equitable distribution of wealth.”
