The Supreme Court has ordered government officials to respond to the petition for a writ of kalikasan over the government’s flood control projects.
Among the officials required to comment on the petition are President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., former House Speaker Martin Romualdez and Senate President Vicente Sotto III, according to the high court’s order dated October 15.
The following government agencies are also implicated as respondents:
Department of Budget and Management
Department of Public Works and Highways
Department of Environment and Natural Resources
Department of the Interior and Local Government
Metro Manila Development Authority
River Basin Control Office
An order to comment is part of the high court’s procedures in handling cases or petitions.
The petition was filed on September 11 by lawyers and environmentalists against government officials, local government units, and all contractors awarded with flood control projects.
They assert that “long years of neglect and willful destruction” have led to “brutal environmental degradation.’
A writ is a legal remedy for those individuals whose constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology is violated or threatened.
On October 15, the Department of Justice issued new Immigration lookout bulletin orders against 19 individuals tagged in the flood control project fiasco, placing them on a travel watchlist at the Bureau of Immigration.
This adds to the initial 33 lawmakers who were issued ILBOs on October 8.