After several hearings late last year, the Court of Appeals last week handed down a decision that denied the plea of residents in Aroroy, Masbate for an environmental protection order against the operation of a gold mining firm in their town.
The CA’s fourth division ruled that the residents failed to substantiate their claims that the operation of Filminera Resources Corp. has affected the environment in the towns of Aroroy and Baleno and that these had impact on their livelihood.
With the ruling issued by Associate Justices Noel G. Tijam, now associate justice of the Supreme Court, and Francisco P. Acosta and Eduardo B. Peralta Jr., the CA dismissed the petition for a Writ of Kalikasan with plea for EPO filed by a group called Ang Aroroy ay Alagaan Inc. and several other residents. (Rey G. Panaligan)