Depot in fuel spill charged

A division of the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) has filed charges for violation of the Clean Water Act against the owner of the mini-depot that released thousands of liters of bunker fuel into the Pasig River Saturday night.

Carlo Religioso, officer in charge of the LLDA’s surveillance and monitoring division, said the charges were filed by his unit against Laraine Marketing on Monday.

Since the LLDA is a quasi-judicial body, he explained the charges were filed in the agency’s legal division, which he said acted much like a regional trial court. Any appeal would have to be filed in the Court of Appeals, he said.

Religioso said the LLDA was set to serve a cease-and-desist order that would stop Larraine Marketing from further discharging any form of wastewater into the river anytime this week.

This, according to him, was to prevent further pollution of the river and “ensure the safety of marine and human life.”