Panlilio asks DOJ to issue TRO vs quarry ordinance

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – Required under the law to implement next week a provincial board-approved ordinance on lahar sand quarrying which he believes to be “grossly unconstitutional,” Gov. Eddie Panlilio has petitioned the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) against it.

“If Gov. Panlilio does not implement the law after the provincial board had overridden his veto, he would be charged with dereliction of duty and be subject to administrative proceedings, especially by vested interest groups seeking political vendetta,” the governor’s information office said.

It was referring to Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution No. 176 which scraps the P150 share of the provincial government from the P300 tax per truckload of lahar sand quarried in the province.

Panlilio vetoed the resolution last Oct. 9, but the provincial board overrode his veto on Oct. 22.

Panlilio said he considers the ordinance “grossly unconstitutional and illegal.”

Alongside his petition with the DOJ, the priest-turned-governor appealed to his supporters to sign a people’s initiative to repeal the resolution.

Under Republic Act 6735, voters are empowered to make changes in the Constitution or local laws by affixing their signatures to a petition.

“But this could take time, so we (sought) a TRO and eventually, we hope we could have an injunction until we have finished the people’s initiative process, “ Panlilio said.

Panlilio’s lawyers have also advised him to “seek judicial relief, perhaps before the Supreme Court on pure questions of law.”

RA 6735 prescribes that for the people’s initiative on local laws to be considered, at least 10 percent of the voting population of a province or town should sign the petition, and that of this 10 percent, each legislative district has to be represented by at least three percent each.

Panlilio said the people’s initiative petition would need about 100,000 signatures, as Pampanga has about one million registered voters.

Resolution 176 scraps the P150 administrative fee due the provincial government. Under the old system, the remaining P150 of the P300 collected per truck is divided among the provincial government, the host-municipality and the host-barangay under a 30-30-40 percent sharing scheme.

The new resolution instead divides the entire P300 between the provincial government, the host municipality, and the host barangay on a 30-30-40 percent sharing scheme. – Ding Cervantes