SC asked to assign new judge on case vs. Marcopper

By Perfecto T. Raymundo Jr.

MANILA, June 16 — The victims of the 1993 Mogpog River tragedy in Marinduque province asked the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday to assign a new judge to handle the 10-year-old case against Marcopper Mining Corporation (Marcopper).

Earlier, the victims had filed an administrative case against Marinduque Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 38 Presiding Judge Manuelito Caballes due to alleged inactions and delay in handling the case.

In his reply, Caballes said that he suffered a stroke and had been advised by his doctor to take a "complete rest" and that he intended to file for disability retirement.

The complainants said that on March 11, 2010, Caballes ordered Marcopper to submit all documents in response to the complaint filed against the company and the opening of Marcopper mine site in Marinduque for inspection.

However, Caballes took an indefinite leave after he suffered a stroke.

"We are absolutely dismayed over this delay. We are really looking forward in the implementation of the order," said Rita Natal, a 65-year-old plaintiff from Barangay Bocboc, Mogpog, Marinduque and representative of the 60 plaintiffs who filed the case.

"Imagine, we have waited two years for this order, nine years since we filed the case, 16 years since the horrific tragedy, and yet we are still in the pre-trial stage! And now another delay? How much more do they want us to bear just to achieve justice?" Natal said.

Myke Magalang, executive director of Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC), said "the courts should immediately assign a new judge for this case and implement the order."

Atty. Minerva Quintela, lead counsel of the victims and member of the cause-oriented group Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC-KsK)-Luzon, said that the motion for reconsideration filed by the mining company on the March 11 order should immediately be junked.

"They are just delaying the proceedings. Aside from the fact that they have violated the three-day service of motion rule, they used rehash arguments that were already answered in previous exchanges of pleadings. They were unable to raise any new arguments that merit the stoppage of execution of the March 11 order," Quintela added.

Under the Rules of Court, a written motion has to be received by the other party at least three days before the date of hearing.

In this case, the plaintiffs' counsel only received the copy of the motion for reconsideration by the mining company on June 4, 2010, a day after the supposed notice of submission.

"They used old arguments in their motion which was actually the rationale behind the court's March 11 order. Judge Caballes ruled against Marcopper's assertions and upheld our claims that the documents and properties sought to be examined by the victims were relevant and material for the case," Quintela said.

"We are calling on the courts to immediately act on this, particularly in the light of the recently approved Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, which clearly seek the speedy enforcement of environmental rights and responsibilities by all stakeholders," Quintela stressed.

It can be recalled that at the height of typhoon Monang on Dec. 6, 1993, the siltation dam of Marcopper in Marinduque broke, sending a sudden flood down the Mogpog River.

The deluge of mine tailings and toxic effluents caused the death of two people and the destruction of crops, homes and livestock of the residents.

The Mogpog River has been considered biologically dead after that incident. (PNA) scs/PTR

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