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THE ‘DOLPHINS’ would have to wait years before the Supreme Court resolves the petition for injunction to stop the oil exploration on the Tañon Strait.
According to environment lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos who represented the dolphins in the petition, the Office of the Solicitor General asked for more time to file their reply to the petition.
Ramos said the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) also made a similar request to the High Tribunal.
“These are delay tactics. So we expect that we will have to put in many years into this case,” she said.
“But this is also an indication that we have a strong case because of the documents that we submitted to the court,” said Ramos.
She said government agencies are relying only on the Mining Act as their defense.
“The Mining law does not cover oil and petroleum exploration,” she said.
Ramos was referring to the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (Republic Act No. 7942), the act instituting a new system of mineral resources exploration, development, utilization and conservation.
The government agencies were ordered by the Supreme Court to answer the petition filed last month by Ramos and Rose Liza Eisma-Osorio in behalf of the “Filipino mammals.”
The petition aims to declare service the contract of Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. (Japex) unconstitutional and disallow oil exploration and exploitation, said Ramos.
In the petition, the lawyers argued that the affected mammals had a legal standing to file the petition and were the “real parties in interest” in the petition. The real party in interest is the party that stands to benefit or be injured by the judgment in the suit or the party entitled to the proceeds of the suit. Editorial Assistant Ma. Bernadette A. Parco
