Title
Republic vs. Marcopper Mining Corporation
Case
G.R. No. 137174
Decision Date
Jul 10, 2000
Marcopper Mining Corp. contested PAB's cease-and-desist order and daily ₱30,000 payment obligation for tailings discharge. SC upheld PAB's jurisdiction but ruled no arrears after discharge cessation.
arrears
cessation of activities
tailings sea disposal system

Case Summary (G.R. No. 137174)

Factual Background

The respondent operated a tailings sea disposal system under successive temporary permits, the last of which, TPO No. POW-86-454-EJ, expired on February 10, 1987. The National Pollution Control Commission directed respondent to cease tailings discharge into Calancan Bay in September 1986 but suspended immediate enforcement pending study of alternatives. After the NPCC was abolished by EO 192, the DENR Secretary acting as PAB Chairman issued on April 11, 1988 an order directing respondent to cease discharging tailings into Calancan Bay, and the DENR Undersecretary issued a telegraphic enforcement order on April 15, 1988. The Office of the President intervened and, by Order dated May 13, 1988, enjoined enforcement of the PAB order and required respondent to undertake rehabilitation measures and pay PHP 30,000.00 per day to an Ecology Trust Fund (ETF) for the Calancan Bay Rehabilitation Project (CBRP) during the efficacy of the restraining order. Respondent made payments totaling PHP 32,975,000.00 from May 13, 1988 until it stopped tailings discharge and payments on July 1, 1991.

Procedural History

Mayor Wilfredo A. Red of Sta. Cruz, Marinduque filed a letter-complaint docketed as DENR-PAB Case No. 04-00597-96 alleging respondent’s violation of PD 984 and its rules by ceasing payment to the ETF. In an Order dated April 23, 1997 the PAB found that respondent’s obligation to pay PHP 30,000.00 per day subsisted from May 13, 1988 until the lifting of the Office of the President Order on February 5, 1993, and directed payment of arrears calculated from July 1, 1991 to February 5, 1993. Respondent filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with application for injunctive relief in the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 44656). The Court of Appeals issued a writ of preliminary injunction on September 19, 1997 and, on January 7, 1998, set aside the PAB Order dated April 23, 1997. The CA denied reconsideration on January 13, 1999. The petitioner brought the matter to the Supreme Court by petition for review on certiorari.

The Parties' Contentions

The petitioner argued that the Court of Appeals erred in holding that RA 7942 repealed or displaced the PAB’s jurisdiction over pollution matters connected with mining; that respondent remained bound to pay PHP 30,000.00 per day from May 13, 1988 until February 5, 1993; and that PAB did not deprive respondent of due process in issuing the April 23, 1997 Order. The respondent and the Court of Appeals argued that RA 7942 vested regulatory and remedial authority over mining-related pollution in the mines regional director and that such special law therefore divested the PAB of jurisdiction in mining-related pollution cases; that respondent’s obligation to contribute to the ETF ceased when it stopped dumping tailings on July 1, 1991; and that continued imposition of daily payments where dumping had ceased imposed an oppressive burden and raised due process concerns.

Court of Appeals Ruling

The Court of Appeals set aside the PAB Order on two principal grounds. First, it held that RA 7942 and its Section 67 vested enforcement authority over mining pollution matters in the mines regional director, either expressly or by necessary implication, and thus ousted the PAB’s jurisdiction over pollution connected with mining operations. Second, the CA found that respondent’s duty to pay the PHP 30,000.00 per day was tied to its continuing disposal of tailings and that, because respondent had ceased dumping since July 1991 and the ETF already contained an estimated PHP 14 million, further collection would be onerous, deprive respondent of property, and deny due process.

Issues Presented to the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court identified the principal legal issue as whether the PAB under RA 3931, as amended by PD 984 and reorganized by EO 192, had been divested of authority to hear pollution cases connected with mining operations by the subsequent enactment of RA 7942. Subsidiary issues included whether respondent remained liable for the ETF contributions for the period claimed by the PAB and whether PAB’s April 23, 1997 Order violated respondent’s right to due process.

Ruling of the Supreme Court (Disposition)

The Supreme Court partially granted the petition. It reversed the Court of Appeals insofar as that court declared that the PAB lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate pollution complaints related to mining operations, and it affirmed the Court of Appeals insofar as it held that respondent had no arrears in deposits with the ETF because the existing fund was sufficient to complete the rehabilitation. The Court declared that the PAB retained jurisdiction to act on the complaint and that respondent need not pay the arrears claimed by the PAB.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court reviewed the statutory scheme. It traced the PAB’s adjudicative powers to RA 3931, strengthened by PD 984, and preserved in the reorganization under EO 192, which specifically vested in the PAB the NPCC’s adjudicatory powers with respect to pollution cases, including authority to issue, renew, or deny permits and to issue orders requiring discontinuance of pollution under Section 6 of PD 984 and to issue ex-parte orders under Section 7(a) when prima facie evidence of imminent threat exists. The Court analyzed RA 7942, noting Sections 63, 66, 67, 69 to 71, and the repealing clause in Section 115, and concluded that RA 7942 did not expressly or by necessary implication repeal or strip the PAB of its adjudicative authority. The Court emphasized the rule disfavoring implied repeals and held that the two statutes were complementary rather than irreconcilable: the mines regional director’s powers under RA 7942 were administrative, regulatory and remedial within mining installations and operations, including issuance of orders and suspension for imminent danger, but they did not confer quasi-judicial adjudicatory jurisdiction that would supplant the PAB’s authority to hear and decide pollution complaints. The Court found no legislative intent in the legislative history of RA 7942 to repeal the Pollution Control Law. The Court cited precedent requiring a clear conflict before an implied repeal may be found and reaffirmed that adjudication of pollution cases generally pertains to the PAB except where a special law expressly provides otherwise.

On the question of arrears the Court accepted testimony elicited at the CA hearing that the ETF conta

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