SC junks bid for writ of kalikasan over USS Guardian grounding

From InterAksyon (Sep 16): SC junks bid for writ of kalikasan over USS Guardian grounding



Salvage operations to remove the USS Guardian from Tubbatah Reef (file photo)

The Supreme Court has dismissed a motion filed by activist and environmental groups seeking the issuance of a writ of kalikasan over the grounding of the American minesweeper USS Guardian at Tubbataha Reef in Palawan.

The high court voted 13-0-2 on the ruling penned by Associate Justice Martin Villarama.

Introduced by then Chief Justice Reynato Puno in 2010, the writ of kalikasan provides a legal remedy against environmental degradation that poses to the life, health or property of residents of two or more cities and provinces in keeping with the Constitution's guarantee to a "balanced and healthful ecology."

A briefing paper on the ruling released by Supreme Court spokesman Theodore Te, said the tribunal" found that since the satisfaction of any judgement against these officials would require remedial actions and the appropriation of funds by the US government, the suit is deemed to be one against the US itself. The Court ruled that the principle of State Immunity from suit bars the exercise of jurisdiction by this Court" over the officers of the Guardian.

The decision also agreed with the position of Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio that “the conduct of the US, in this case, when its warship had entered a restricted area in violation of RA 10067 and caused damage to the TRNP reef system, brings the matter within the ambit of Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

The tribunal also said it was "not persuaded by the petitioners’ argument that there was a waiver of immunity from suit under the Visiting Forces Agremeent between the US and the Philippines," noting that any such waiver "pertains only to criminal jurisdiction and not to special civil actions such as the present petition for the issuance of the writ of kalikasan."

Reacting to the ruling, Renato Reyes Jr., secretary general of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, said they were "disappointed," adding that the high court "lost a chance to uphold national interest in the face of gross violations of sovereignty by the US."

Reyes said the suit brought against the officers of the Guardian was not about the monetary cost of the warship's grounding but "how the US treats us when incidents like Tubbataha happen."

With the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, which was signed this year and allows increased US military presence in the country, "we fear that the worst is yet to come," Reyes added.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/95484/sc-junks-bid-for-writ-of-kalikasan-over-uss-guardian-grounding