Angeles court halts sewerage project

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – A regional trial court (RTC) here has stopped a $2-million sewerage project along the Sacobia River.

Lydia Soliman, Tesuphils Inc. and Rainbow Holdings, Inc. should halt the construction, establishment and operation of the waste recovery facility in Barangay Calum-pang in Mabalacat City, according to a decision recently issued by RTC Branch 57 Judge Omar Viola.

The court also ordered the respondents “to remove and withdraw the heavy equipment in the area.”

In petitioning the court to stop the project, the Clark Development Corp. said the area where it is being constructed is within the jurisdiction of the Clark Special Economic Zone (CSEZ) and the ancestral domain of Aetas.

The CDC said it did not approve the project, which was started on the basis of a waiver of right with a certain Iluminado Sicat, who is not an Aeta.

The CDC noted that it signed a joint management agreement with the Aeta folk that gave it authority to manage and administer ancestral domains within the CSEZ.

“The respondents violated the laws giving CDC rights as administrator and development authority of the CSEZ and manager of the ancestral domain,” Viola stated in his ruling.

Viola also ordered the CDC to post a P2-million bond in favor of the respondents.