(A look back on the year that was in Mindanao, and Mindanawons in the national and international scene)
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 January) — Environmentalists cheered as the Supreme Court on July 1 issued a Writ of Kalikasan against the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Samal Island Protected Landscape and Seascape Protected Area Management Board, and the China Road and Bridge Corporation, and gave them 10 days to file a verified return on the petition and referred the payer for a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) to the Court of Appeals in Cagayan de Oro for action.
But the celebration was short-lived. The Court of Appeals on July 11denied the petitioners’ prayer for a TEPO.
“The TEPO would have immediately halted construction activities that, according to marine scientists and field documentation, have already caused irreversible damage to coral reef ecosystems in Paradise Reef (Samal) and the Hizon Marine Protected Area (Davao City),” the petitioners from the Sustainable Davao Movement said in a statement on July 11.
A TEPO is a provisional order issued by a court directing or enjoining a person or entity from performing an act that may cause environmental damage.
In denying the issuance of a TEPO, the CA said doing so at this stage “would cause undue disruption to a government infrastructure project already in progress and may potentially harm the greater public interest.”
The Court said the petitioners “failed to demonstrate that the case pertains to matters of extreme urgency and that grave injustice and/or irreparable injury will arise if no TEPO is issued at his stage of the proceedings.”
Carmela Marie Santos, environmental advocate and member of Sustainable Davao Movement, said they are “deeply saddened” by the ruling of the CA’s 21st Division to deny issuing the temporary protection “for reefs that took centuries to grow and now face destruction in a matter of weeks.”
“This decision allows continued harm to ecosystems that sustain not only marine life, but the livelihoods and food sources of coastal communities,” she said.
At that time, marine biologist John Michael Lacson’s “conservative estimate” of the extent of damage brought about by the construction of the Samal-Davao bridge was already extensive. At least a fifth of the 7,500 square meter Paradise Reef in Samal “is now dead” and environmentalists expect more damages after the CA’s denial of the TEPO.
“Had we been given a chance to testify in Cagayan de Oro, all of this would have been presented to show that there is indeed an imminent danger that an entire coral reef will perish,” Lacson told MindaNews then.
Video taken on Earth Day, April 22, 2025, a day after the petition for a Writ of Kalikasan was filed. Video shows the result of application of cement by CRBC was an overflow that covered stag horn corals. Video courtesy of John Michael Lacson
Lacson said the CA denied the petitioners’ prayer for a TEPO without giving them a day in court. The petitioners had explained in their 222-page petition for a Writ of Kalikasan that the construction of the Samal Island-Davao City Connector (SIDC) project has resulted in “actual, serious, and irreversible damage to coral reefs in Paradise Reef and in Hizon Marine Protected Area.”
The 3.98 kilometer bridge that would connect Davao City and Samal Island is expected to be finished in 2028. The ₱23-billion project funded through a loan from China, is expected to reduce travel time between Davao City and Samal Island from 20 minutes by ferry to five minutes by car.
Law professor Romeo Cabarde of the Ateneo de Davao Public Interest and Legal Advocacy Center (APILA) said the CA erred in denying the TEPO despite unrefuted evidence of actual and imminent environmental destruction affecting legally protected marine ecosystems.
“The precautionary principle mandates judicial intervention even in the face of scientific uncertainty when irreparable harm is probable. The denial constitutes a failure to uphold the constitutional mandate to protect the people’s right to a balanced and healthful ecology,” he told MindaNews in July, adding there was no discussion on the merits as the petitioners were not given a chance to be heard.
Cabarde told MindaNews on Thursday that the Writ of Kalikasan they requested carried with it a provisional remedy of TEPO. The SC issued the writ but remanded the TEPO to the CA. Under regular circumstances, the CA should have immediately issued the TEPO but CA ruled otherwise because it said they don’t’ see the urgency.”
The hearings are ongoing, he said. “The year ended with marking of exhibits and identification of witnesses. Next hearing will be on January 21 and February 12,” Cabarde said.
For Samal Mayor Lemuel Reyes, the CA’s ruling was the best news. “Kini ang pinakanindot nga balita… PADAYON ang TULAY (This is the best news… The bridge project will continue) …thank you Lord,” he posted on his social media page. (Carolyn O. Arguillas, Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
