03. Special People vs. Canda et al, G.R. No. 160932, January 14, 2013
Facts:
Petitioner, a proponent of a water-resource development and utilization project in
Barangay Jimilia-an in the Municipality of Loboc, Bohol that would involve the tapping and
purifying of water from the Loboc River, and the distribution of the purified water to the
residents of Loboc and six other municipalities. They applied for a Certificate of Non-Coverage
(CNC) with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR), Region 7, seeking to be exempt from the requirement of the
Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) under Section 4 of Presidential Decree No. 1586.
However, Canda, the EMB Chief in Bohol, denied their application and requires an Initial
Environmental Examination because the petitioner’s project is located within a critical area.
RD of DENR likewise denied their application.
Issue:
Whether or not the Petitioner’s project should be granted with CNC.
Ruling:
No, the petitioner’s project should not be granted with CNC.
Section 5, PD No. 1586 provides in part that “All other projects, undertakings and areas
not declared by the Presidents as environmentally critical shall be considered as non-critical
and shall not be required to submit an environmental impact statement…”
(A)(III)(B)(6) and (7) of Proclamation No. 2146 provides that (6) areas frequently visited
and/or hard-hit by natural calamities (geologic hazards, floods, typhoons, volcanic activity,
etc.); and (7) Areas with critical slopes; is declared as environmentally critical and within the
scope of the EIS System.”
Here, there is no sufficient showing that the petitioner satisfactorily complied with the
requirement to submit the needed certifications. For one, it submitted no certification to the
effect that the project site was not within a critical slope. Also, the PHIVOLCS’s certification
showed that the project site had experienced an Intensity VII earthquake in 1990, a fact that
sufficed to place the site in the category of "areas frequently visited and/or hard-hit by natural
calamities." Clearly, the petitioner failed to establish that it had the legal right to be issued the
CNC applied for, warranting the denial of its application.