SC denies issuing writ of kalikasan over Tubbataha grounding

The Supreme Court on Thursday denied reports that a writ of kalikasan has been issued in connection with the grounding of a US Navy minesweeper in Tubbataha Reef last January. "The SC has not issued a writ of kalikasan, nor has it issued a temporary environmental protection order in GR 206510 (Argo vs Swift)," the Supreme Court's Public Information Office said on its official Twitter account. The court was belying reports that it issued the writ requested by a group of petitioners who want all activities in connection with the grounding stopped as they are allegedly causing "trauma" to the world famous reef. Quoting court sources, the  reports said the respondents in the case, which included President Benigno Aquino III, were directed to file their comment within 10 days before the Court of Appeals. Majority of the 15 justices reportedly voted in favor of issuing a writ of kalikasan. However, on Thursday, the SC PIO said: "SC did not give due course to Arigo petition, neither did SC justices meet. Petition filed April 16, last en banc April 16." The Supreme Court is currently in a month-long "Decision writing break," and would resume en banc sessions in June. The petition was filed Wednesday last week by a group of environmentalists, Catholic bishops, activists, and lawyers led by Bishop Pedro Arigo of Puerto Princesa in Palawan and Bishop-Emeritus Deogracia Iñiquez Jr. of Caloocan. Joining them in the petition were Kalikasan, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Bayan Muna party-list, Pamalakaya, Kabataan party-list, Junk Visiting Forces Agreement Movement, Agham, Kilusang Mayo Uno, Gabriela, among others. In their petition, the petitioners asked the Supreme Court to direct the government to file administrative, civil, and criminal cases against the individuals responsible for the grounding of the USS Guardian in the reef last January 17. In addition, they asked the court to provide Philippine authorities with "primary and exclusive jurisdiction" over US officials named as respondents in the petition, and also declare as unconstitutional Article V ("Criminal Jurisdiction") and Article VI of the Visiting Forces Agreement, which extends immunity to US servicemen. Also named as respondents in the petition were US Navy officials Scott Swift, Commander of the US 7th Fleet; and Mark Rice, Commanding Officer of the USS Guardian. The petitioners said the Philippine government's $1.4 million estimate of the compensation that the US government owes the Philippines for the incident was "too small." They demanded a fine for the US that is 12 times the Philippine government's estimate. Comparing valuations in the 2009 grounding of the USS Port Royal in Hawaii, the petitioners said the US should pay the Philippines between $16.8 million and $27 million. Other respondents in the petition were Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje, and several officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. The USS Guardian ran aground on Tubbataha Reef on January 17. The ship was finally removed from the reef in late March. A recent assessment of the incident shows that more than 2,000 square meters of the reef have been damaged. Environmentalists claim that it takes a year for a millimeter of mostly hard corals in Tubbataha’s South Section to go back to its sound condition, and 250 years for a meter of coral to mature. — Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News