Whoever was at fault must be held accountable

NAGA CLASS SUIT

Those who had some part in the massive landslide that totally destroyed two sitios in Barangay Tinaan, Naga City, should be made to answer.

Vice Governor Agnes Magpale had this to say upon learning about the P4.5-billion class suit that the families of the victims of the landslide planned to file against the entities they deemed “responsible” for the tragedy that claimed at least 78 lives.

“In fairness, taas-taas gyod tong listahan didto. Katong naay sala, angayan lang pod tingali kay alangan pod tawn. Pila pod baya to ka kinabuhi ang nawala,” Magpale told reporters on Monday.

(The list of the defendants in the complaint is quite long. Those who are at fault should really be made to answer, so many lives were lost.)

The victims plan to sue Apo Land and Quarry Corp.(ALQC), Apo Cement, Cemex Holdings Phils., Inc., Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB-7), the City Government of Naga and the Cebu Provincial government.

The class suit was prepared by veteran environmental lawyer Benjamin Cabrido and a group of volunteer lawyers.

In their complaint, the lawyers argued that the landslide was the result of the “reckless” quarry operations of ALQC, in connection with the operation of Apo Cement. They also blamed the MGB-7 and the Naga City LGU for the extent of the damage, particularly the loss of lives.

Cebu province was impleaded only to have a “comprehensive determination of the carrying capacity of Cebu island, it having the power and authority over small-scale mining and quarry operations…” the complaint read.

The complaint was filed principally to ask the court to issue an environment protection order against all quarry operations in Cebu with a prayer for the issuance of a temporary protection order (Tepo), writ of continuing mandamus on determining the carrying capacity of Cebu island and the rehabilitation and restoration of the damaged ecological communities.

“Ang hustisya modagan man. Kung walay tulubagon ang province, mahibaw-an man na (The wheels of justice will grind. If the province has no accountability, we will find out along the way.) I think it’s a wake-up call,” Magpale said.

Meanwhile, the respondents of the case chose to reserve their comment until after the complaint is officially filed.

“If the court will tell us to answer, we will give our answers. Paabuton lang nato ang complaint,” said Gov. Hilario Davide III.

Chito Maniago, representative of ALQC, also said that it is still premature to issue a statement as the complainants plan to file the case on Thursday.
Maniago said they will wait to be furnished a copy of the complaint.