Cebu City gov’t to file Writ of Kalikasan to restore seven major rivers

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government is set to file a Writ of Kalikasan before the Supreme Court next week to penalize violators of the city’s three-meter easement rule, and to enjoin concerned government agencies to take action in saving the city’s seven major rivers and tributaries.

Lawyer Gerry Carillo, chairman of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said the decision to file a petition for the Supreme Court to issue a Writ of Kalikasan with prayer of issuance of temporary environmental protection order is also backed by various interest groups, such as the Environmental Legal Assistance Center.

Carillo and lawyer Jerone Castillo, Mayor Michael Rama’s assistant on special projects, have been tasked to draft the petition.

Carillo said nominal parties to the petition that the City is set to file are the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Cebu Port Authority (CPA), and all private companies and residents whose properties have violated the three-meter easement.

The Supreme Court defines Writ of Kalikasan as a special civil action “aimed to provide a stronger protection of environmental rights in order to accord an effective and speedy remedy where the constitutional right to a healthful and balance ecology is violated and address any possible large-scale ecological threats.”

Carillo said that the national agencies are nominal parties because their presence is required on the record; for instance the DENR as this is an environmental issue. The agency is mandated by law to make action in preserving the environment.

“DPWH because it is the national government’s concern to fund, to restore our rivers and to establish the three-meter easement and to construct mitigating measure, flood control, and restore our rivers,” he said.

“And kaning mga private companies nga causing pollution to our rivers no and companies nga ilang gibabagan ang rivers…ang sapa, gihimong dan, unya ang CPA nga ang bukana sa river gihimong Port Area,” he added.

Carillo said the main purpose of the petition is to mandate all government agencies concerned to revive the city’s rivers, which, he said, are practically dead already based on the report of the Environmental Management Bureau in the region.

He said the city aimed for sustainability by restoring rivers as a source of water and area for biodiversity. Cebu City has seven major rivers, including Guadalupe, Kinalumsan, Mahiga, Lahug, Estero de Parian, Bulacao, and Butuanon.

“They should be mandated by Law and by our courts to maintain our rivers…This is our way of showing nga national government, not just the LGU, not just the barangay, but it is everybody’s concern. Our river has to be respected. Anybody who throws trash into the river has to be penalized and has to face the consequences of their action,” he said.

Carillo said that as of now, about 14,000 to 18,000 structures have been tagged as situated within the three-meter easement of the city’s seven major rivers.

/bmjo

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