Court favors Taguig garbage contractor in lakeside property dispute

MANILA, Philippines – The Court of Appeals (CA)  has allowed the solid waste contractor of Taguig City to continue using the lakeside property along C6 Road for its operations.

In its 19 page decision dated Jan. 15, the CA’s former special 13th division nullified the cease and desist order (CDO) issued by the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) against IPM Construction and Development Corporation, the garbage-collecting firm tapped by the local government of Taguig.

The LLDA issued the CDO because of the company’s alleged illegal reclamation and dumping activities in Laguna de Bay.

LLDA pointed out that due to the activities of the firm, the lake’s carrying capacity has depleted.

IPM filed an appeal but was turned down by LLDA, prompting it to take its case to the Court of Appeals.

In its recent ruling, the appeals court made permanent the writ of mandatory and prohibitory injunction on the enforcement  issued by the CA to stop the enforcement of the CDO in August last year.

The appeals court said LLDA committed grave abuse of discretion in closing the IPM facility.

It maintained that the CDO violated IPM’s right to use the property as it also stopped the other operations of the firm in the facility that have not been found to be illegal.

“The use of the property is not limited to the operation of a transfer station. IPM was not using the entire area for the sole purpose of managing and maintaining a Materials Recovery Facility for the local government of Taguig.”

“The lot also served as an office and a staging and storage area for IPM. If it were true that the CDO is aimed only at putting a stop to the illegal activities therein, it should not have ordered the complete stoppage of IPM’s operations and the closure of the entire establishment,” the appeals court said.

The CA said under LLDA Resolution Number 41, series of 1997, LLDA could resort to closing down the IPM property only for non-payment of a fine imposed for failure to abate pollution.

No such fine was actually imposed in IPM’s case.

“It [LLDA] made a short-cut by immediately ordering the stoppage of all its operations in the premises.  Worse, it padlocked the establishment and seized control of the entire property,” the CA stressed.

“Evidently, LLDA exceeded its authority when it took control of the premises leaving IPM practically dispossessed of its property without due process,” the appeals court said.

The resolution was written by Associate Justice Priscilla Baltazar – Padilla and concurred in by Associate Justices Victoria Isabel Paredes and Germano Francisco Legaspi./gsg