Mining key to progress—Puno

Manila Standard Today

Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno said critical industries such as mining should be regulated by the national government and Congress, and not by local government units.

Puno, addressing the mining companies during the Mining Philippines Conference and Expo 2010 at the Manila Hotel last week, said “mining is a key industry to the economic development of the Philippines.”

He said “it is a fact that local governments are not prepared to take on the function of regulating critical industries.”

The former chief justice, now referred to as the “writ justice” of the Philippine court system, was invited by the mining industry to talk about the new rules of procedures for the Writ of Kalikasan.

“Any attempt to strike a balance between the demands for economic progress and the demands for protecting the environment will always be contentious. But the heart of the new rules [Writ of Kalikasan] lies on the principles of sustainable development,” Puno said.

It was also during Puno’s term at the Supreme Court when the Writ of Amparo was used and invoked.

Puno said the high court “adopted the rights-based approach to govern environmental cases” in coming up with the rules of procedures for the environmental writ.

Puno stressed that while the Writ of Kalikasan gave the citizens the power to protect the environment by running to the high court through the so-called citizen suit, the writ could not be used to harass government organizations.