SC issues writ of kalikasan vs illegal quarrying at Angat watershed

The Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday issued a writ of kalikasan to stop the illegal quarrying activities at the Angat River-Bustos Dam Forest Reserve in Banaban in Angat, Bulacan.

According to a press briefer, the SC also granted a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) that ordered the respondents to immediately stop quarrying, excavation, earth extraction, or similar activities within the watershed area, as well as any other activity “that may cause additional damage to the environment.”

A writ of kalikasan is a legal remedy available to natural or juridical persons, people’s organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs) or public interest groups whose constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology is violated.

The Angat River-Bustos Dam Forest Reserve was declared protected forest land under Proclamation 573 issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. in 1969.

In issuing the writ, the High Court said it used a precautionary principle and cited technical findings that the respondents’ activities “have significantly increased surface runoff, erosion, and sedimentation within the watershed system.”

“Reports indicated that these activities have destroyed cultivated crops, vegetation, and fruit-bearing trees that serve as wildlife habitats,” the SC said in its press briefer.

It pointed out that changing even just part of a protected forest reserve or its natural landscape “threatens the stability of the Angat River-Bustos Dam watershed” and poses “serious risks to the life, health, and property of inhabitants in several provinces.” — JMA, GMA News