CA nixes petition of bishop

The Court of Appeals has dismissed a petition filed by Palawan Bishop Pedro Arigo which questions the implementation of EO 683 which covers the sharing of proceeds from the Camago-Malampaya oil and natural gas project located 80 kms. off the northeastern coast of Palawan.

In its seven-page decision penned by Associate Justice Rebecca de Guia-Salvador, the appellate court’s 11th Division ruled that the petition “has been prematurely filed.”

The appellate court said that it cannot render a judgment on the petition filed by Arigo as it  is linked to a case (GR 170867) which is still pending at the Supreme Court.

GR 170867 raises the issue of whether or not the Camago-Malampaya natural gas reservoir is within the territorial jurisdiction of Palawan, or forms part of the national territory of the Philippines.

“It would be premature for the court to rule in this case when GR No. 170867 is still up for adjudication before the Supreme Court, the appellate court,” said.

In addition, the CA said it is taking judicial notice of the ongoing efforts of the legislative and the executive departments to arrive at a common position in redefining the country’s baseline in the light of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“For this court to rule on this case, would therefore be premature and may even be tantamount to a collateral adjudication of the archipelagic base­line. The task of defining the baseline involves policy determination; accordingly, ample opportunity must be accorded the legislative and executive departments to forge a policy consensus, and to implement them, before the courts may intervene under the expanded concept of judicial power in Section 1, Article 8 of the Constitution, the CA said. 

“Wherefore, the petition is denied due course, and accordingly dismissed,” the Court ruled.