Sun.Star: Class suit filed vs EDC, others

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – Gov. Isidro Zayco is unfazed by the filing of a class suit on Thursday with several children of Negros Occidental as signatories. The class suit was aimed at blocking the proposed geothermal exploration within the 12.9 hectares of the Mt. Kanlaon's buffer zone. In a press conference Thursday, Zayco said as soon as the composition of an oversight committee would be completed, he would sign an executive order and a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the Energy Development Corporation (EDC). As of Thursday, only the environmentalists and media groups in Negros have no representations yet to the committee that will do close monitoring as soon as EDC starts the cutting of trees and civil works at the buffer zone. At the Justice Hall, lawyer Andrea Lizares-Si of the Save Mt. Kanlaon Coalition (SMKC) filed the class suit before the Bacolod Regional Trial Court against EDC, the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Protected Area Management Board (Pamb). Daniel Coruna, seven months old, is the youngest petitioner in the class suit. Si, acting as legal counsel for the petitioners and Coruna's grandmother, cited the case of Antonio Oposa vs DENR before the Supreme Court (SC), which states that children and those not yet born have the right to file a case that would affect their future. Zayco, however, said he sees no legal impediment to the entry of EDC to the buffer zone. EDC, on the other hand, is still waiting for the MOA signing before proceeding with their work, but said they're already very much delayed as per their two-year project target. - Sun.Star Bacolod