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Technology Developers Inc. v. private respondent acting mayor

Pays/Territoire
Philippines
Date
Jan 21, 1991
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Nom du tribunal
Supreme Court of the Philippines
Siège de la cour
Manila
Juge
Gancayco J.
Numéro de référence
G.R. No. 94759/1991
Langue
Anglais
Sujet
Air et atmosphère
Résumé

The petitioner was a private manufacturer and exporter of charcoal briquettes. A letter was sent to them by the mayor of a nearby town stating that the pollution emitted by the petitioner negatively affected the local residents’ health. On these grounds, the letter ordered the private corporation to shut down their operations as well as requested the manager to present a building permit, a mayor’s permit and an anti-pollution permit. However, the corporation did not manage to secure a mayor’s permit.

The petitioner’s plant was then shut down following an order to the municipality’s station commander to padlock the premises.

The corporation filed a petition arguing that the shutting down of their plant was unlawful. A lower court granted them a preliminary injunction to prevent the closing of the plant. However, this injunction was later dissolved again by the lower court, because the petitioner was unsuccessful at trial and on appeal. The petitioner then contested the order to dissolve the preliminary injunction before the Supreme Court.

The Court held that dissolving the injunction was the correct course of action and that shutting down the plant’s operations was lawful due to the lack of a permit and the investigation concerning the plant’s pollution. Another argument brought forward in the decision was that the petitioner had made no effort in mitigating the emissions coming from its plant despite being made aware of the negative effects they have on the residents. Furthermore, the Court noted that the health and lives of citizens need to be protected from negative effects of pollution and that this is more important than the need to contribute to economic growth.

Texte intégral
SC-1991-Technology-Developers-v.-Court-of-Appeals-and-Ors..pdf
Site web
www.globalhealthrights.org