Court upholds order halting Argao road project
The Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Argao town upheld an order by the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro) to stop a road project in one of the town’s ’mountain barangays.
In an order dated June 9, Judge Maximo Perez of RTC branch 26 said the Cenro was doing its job in enforcing an environmental law.
Argao Cenro chief Flordeliza Geyrozaga issued a cease and desist order last March 21 against Argao Mayor Edsel Galeos after 374 trees were illegally cut down to pave the way for the town’s road project within a timberland area in barangay Jampang.
Galeos earlier denied ordering the cutting of the trees to make way for the road project.
Perez also cited section 10 of a Supreme Court Administrative Matter No. 09-6-8-C that stated that only the Supreme Court can issue a TRO or writ of preliminary injunction against lawful actions of government agencies.
“As indicated in the last paragraph of the Notice to Stop, the said notice was issued in order to forestall further damage to the environment” Perez said in his decision. The timberland area is included in the government’s National Greening Program (NGP) plantations.
The court upheld section 77 of Presidential Decree 705, as cited in the CENRO’s stoppage order.
The provision states that it is illegal to cut timber from alienable or disposable public land or from private land without any authority or legal documents.
The DENR-7 welcomed the court’s decision. “It goes to show that the order to stop issued by Geyrozaga is in conformity to existing forestry laws,” DENR-7 spokesperson Eddie Llamedo said.
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