MANILA, Philippines—An ocular inspection of the repair work on the West Tower condominium in Makati City aimed at containing gas leaks from the underground pipeline of the First Philippine Industrial Corp. (FPIC) was scheduled on April 15 by the Supreme Court, sitting en banc Tuesday in its first summer session in Baguio for 2011.
The Lopez-owned-FPIC had petitioned the high court to temporarily lift the November 2010 writ of Kalikasan it imposed on the firm, said Midas Marquez, SC spokeperson.
The writ of Kalikasan is a special environmental protection order adopted as a legal remedy by the court during the term of former Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
In their en banc resolution, the justices said they wanted to “determine the veracity of the claim of architect Roberto Dimayuga … that there are two additional leaks in the pipeline of [FPIC] aside from the pipeline leak found in the vicinity of Bonifacio Street in Makati City.”
The FPIC has been doing repair work on the Bonifacio leak, which seeped through concrete and drew public attention in July last year. But Dimayuga claimed new leaks had been detected near Gen. Capinpin and Gen. Del Pilar Streets in Barangay (village) Bangkal.
Dimayuga is the president of the West Tower Condo Homeowners Association, who offered to guide the justices during the inspection.
The high court authorized Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr. to head the team.
Reacting to the resolution, FPIC president Anthony Mabasa said they were still waiting for their official copy.
“Our next step would be to meet with the West Tower counsels and other concerned parties to coordinate the joint inspection as ordered by the Supreme Court,” he said in a statement.—Elmer Kristian Dauigoy, Inquirer Northern Luzon