G.R. No.

92024 November 9,
1990CONGRESSMANENRIQUET.GARCIA(SecondDistrictofBataan),petitioner,vs.THE
BOARD OF INVESTMENTS, THE DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY,
LUZONPETROCHEMICAL CORPORATION, and PILIPINAS SHELL
CORPORATION,respondents.GUTIERREZ, JR.,J.:
This is a petition to annul and set aside the decision of the Board of Investments(BOI)/Department
of Trade and Industry (DTI) approving the transfer of the site of the proposedpetrochemical plant
from Bataan to Batangas and the shift of feedstock for that plant from naphtha onlyto naphtha
and/or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
FACTS:
Former Bataan Petrochemical Corporation (BPC), now Luzon Petrochemical Corporation,
formedby a group of Taiwanese investors, was granted by the BOI for the transfer of its proposed
plant site fromBataan to Batangas and the shift of the plant’s feedstock or fuel for its petrochemical
plant from “naphtaonly” to “naptha and/or liquefied petroleum gas. The reason adduced for the
transfer was the insurgencyand unstable labor situation, and the presence in Batangas of a huge
liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) depotowned by the Philippine Shell Corporation. In February 1989,
one year after the BPC began its productionin Bataan, the corporation applied to the BOI to have
its plant site transferred from Bataan to Batangas.Despite vigorous opposition from petitioner
Cong. Enrique Garcia and others, the BOI granted privaterespondent BPC’s application, stating
that the investors have the final choice asto where to have theirplant site because they are the ones
who risk capital for the project.
ISSUE:
1. Whether or not the foreign investor has the right of final choice of plant site.2. Whether it
constitutes a grave abuse of discretion for the BOI to yield to the wishes of the investor
withoutconsidering the national interestRuling:1.Does the investor have a "right offinalchoice"
of plant site? N