Case Digest (G.R. No. 101083)
Facts:
Petitioners, minors represented by their parents and the Philippine Ecological Network, Inc., filed Civil Case No. 90-777 as a class suit in Branch 66, Regional Trial Court, Makati, against Fulgencio S. Factoran, Jr., then Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, seeking cancellation of existing timber license agreements (TLAs) and injunctive relief to prevent further logging; the RTC granted the Secretary’s motion to dismiss on 18 July 1991. Petitioners filed a petition for certiorari under Rule 65, Rules of Court; the Supreme Court gave due course on 14 May 1992 and, in an en banc decision promulgated 30 July 1993, addressed standing, justiciability, cause of action, and the applicability of the non-impairment clause.Issues:
- Do the petitioners, including minors asserting representational rights for succeeding generations, have locus standi to sue to protect the right to a balanced and healthful ecology?
- Does the complaint state a cause of action a
Case Digest (G.R. No. 101083)
Facts:
- Parties, capacities and nature of action
- Petitioners consisted principally of numerous minors represented by their parents and the Philippine Ecological Network, Inc. (PENI), a domestic non-stock non-profit corporation.
- Respondents were the Honorable Fulgencio S. Factoran, Jr., then Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Honorable Eriberto U. Rosario, Presiding Judge, RTC, Makati, Branch 66.
- The complaint in Civil Case No. 90-777 was instituted as a class suit and framed as a taxpayers’ action to protect the public interest in the country’s rainforests.
- Substance of the complaint and reliefs sought
- Petitioners alleged the constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology and asserted *inter-generational responsibility* on behalf of present and yet unborn generations.
- Petitioners prayed, inter alia, for:
- Cancellation of all existing timber license agreements (TLAs) in the country; and
- A decree enjoining the DENR from receiving, accepting, processing, renewing or approving new TLAs.
- The complaint alleged alarming deforestation statistics and catalogued environmental harms including aquifer depletion, salinization, massive erosion, species extinction, siltation of rivers and dams, droughts, and contributions to global warming.
- The complaint pleaded that defendant DENR officials, by allowing TLAs, committed acts or omissions violating petitioners’ claimed right to a balanced and healthful ecology and that administrative remedies were exhausted.
- Procedural history in the trial court
- On 22 June 1990, Secretary Factoran filed a Motion to Dismiss alleging lack of cause of action and that the subject raised a *political question*.
- On 18 July 1991, the RTC, Branch 66, granted the Motion to Dismiss, ruling that:
- Plaintiffs failed to allege with sufficient definiteness a specific legal right or specific legal wrong; and
- The subject matter involved political questions and granting relief would impair contracts.
- Petitioners filed a petition for certiorari under ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Justiciability and standing
- Whether the petitioners had legal standing and whether the action could properly be maintained as a class suit, including minors suing for succeeding generations.
- Whether the complaint alleged a specific legal right and a justiciable legal wrong sufficient to constitute a cause of action.
- Political question and judicial review
- Whether the subject matter presented a *political question* precluding judicial inquiry.
- Whether the judiciary had authority to review alleged abuses of discretion by executive agencies under Article VIII, Section 1, second paragraph.
- Substance of reliefs and constitutional limitations
- Whether the requested cancellation of existing TLAs and enjoinment of new TLAs would impermissibly violate the non-impairment of contracts clause of the Constitution.
- Whether timber l...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)