03. Special People vs. Canda et al, G.R. No.

160932, January 14, 2013

Facts:

Petitioner, a proponent of a water-resource development and utilization project in

Barangay Jimilia-an in the Municipality of Loboc, Bohol that would involve the tapping
and purifying of water from the Loboc River, and the distribution of the purified water to
the residents of Loboc and six other municipalities. They applied for a Certificate of Non-
Coverage (CNC) with the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) of the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Region 7, seeking to be exempt from the
requirement of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) under Section 4 of
Presidential Decree No. 1586. However, Canda, the EMB Chief in Bohol, denied their
application and requires an Initial Environmental Examination because the petitioner’s
project is located within a critical area. RD of DENR likewise denied their application.

Issue:

Whether or not the Petitioner’s project should be granted with CNC.

Ruling:

No, the petitioner’s project should not be granted with CNC.

Section 5, PD No. 1586 provides in part that “All other projects, undertakings and
areas not declared by the Presidents as environmentally critical shall be considered as
non-critical and shall not be required to submit an environmental impact
statement…”

(A)(III)(B)(6) and (7) of Proclamation No. 2146 provides that (6) areas frequently
visited and/or hard-hit by natural calamities (geologic hazards, floods, typhoons, volcanic
activity, etc.); and (7) Areas with critical slopes; is declared as environmentally critical
and within the scope of the EIS System.”

Here, there is no sufficient showing that the petitioner satisfactorily complied with
the requirement to submit the needed certifications. For one, it submitted no
certification to the effect that the project site was not within a critical slope. Also, the
PHIVOLCS’s certification showed that the project site had experienced an Intensity VII
earthquake in 1990, a fact that sufficed to place the site in the category of "areas
frequently visited and/or hard-hit by natural calamities." Clearly, the petitioner failed to
establish that it had the legal right to be issued the CNC applied for, warranting the
denial of its application.