Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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G.R. No. 163509. December 6, 2006.
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* THIRD DIVISION.
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TINGA, J.:
1
PICOP Resources, Inc. (PICOP) assails the Decision of the
Court of 2Appeals dated November 28, 2003 and its
Resolution dated May 5, 2004, which respectively denied
its petition for review and motion for reconsideration.
The undisputed facts quoted from the appellate court’s
Decision are as follows:
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VOL. 510, DECEMBER 6, 2006 405
PICOP Resources, Inc. vs. Base Metals Mineral Resources
Corporation
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406 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
PICOP Resources, Inc. vs. Base Metals Mineral Resources
Corporation
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5 Revising Presidential Decree No. 389, Otherwise Known as the
Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines.
6 Rollo, pp. 87-92.
409
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7 Supra note 2.
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PTLA No. 47, part of which later became IFMA No. 35. In
turn, the areas set aside as wilderness as in PTLA No. 47
became the initial components of the NIPAS under Sec.
5(a) of RA No. 7586. When RA No. 7942 was signed into
law, the areas covered by the NIPAS were expressly
determined as areas where mineral agreements or
financial or technical assistance agreement applications
shall not be allowed. PICOP concludes that since there is
no evidence that the permanent forest areas within PTLA
No. 47 and IFMA No. 35 have been set aside for mining
purposes, the MAB and the Court of Appeals gravely erred
in reinstating Base Metals’ MPSA and, in effect, allowing
mining exploration and miningrelated activities in the
protected areas.
PICOP further argues that under DENR Administrative
Order (DAO) No. 96-40 implementing RA No. 7942, an
exploration permit must be secured before mining
operations in government reservations may be undertaken.
There being no exploration permit issued to Banahaw
Mining nor appended to its MPSA, the MAB and the Court
of Appeals should not have reinstated its application.
PICOP brings to the Court’s attention the 12
case of PICOP
Resources, Inc. v. Hon. Heherson T. Alvarez, wherein the
Court of Appeals ruled that the Presidential Warranty
issued to PICOP for its TLA No. 43 dated July 29, 1969, a
TLA distinct from PTLA No. 47 involved in this case, is a
valid contract involving mutual prestations on the part of
the Government and PICOP.
The Presidential Warranty in this case is allegedly not a
mere confirmation of PICOP’s timber license but a
commitment on the part of the Government that in
consideration of PICOP’s investment in the wood-
processing business, the Government will assure the
availability of the supply of raw materials at levels
adequate to meet projected utilization requirements. The
guarantee that PICOP will have peaceful
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412 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
PICOP Resources, Inc. vs. Base Metals Mineral Resources
Corporation
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VOL. 510, DECEMBER 6, 2006 413
PICOP Resources, Inc. vs. Base Metals Mineral Resources
Corporation
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416 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED
PICOP Resources, Inc. vs. Base Metals Mineral Resources
Corporation
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21
Base Metals met this argument head on in its Answer
dated December 1, 1997, in which it contended that PD No.
705 does not exclude mining operations in forest lands but
merely requires that there be proper notice to the licensees
of the area. 22
Again in its Petition dated January 25, 2003 assailing
the reinstatement of Base Metals’ MPSA, PICOP argued
that RA No. 7942 expressly prohibits mining operations in
plantation areas such as PICOP’s concession area. Hence,
it posited that the MGB Panel of Arbitrators did not
commit grave abuse of discretion when it ruled that
without PICOP’s consent, the area is closed to mining
location.
It is true though that PICOP expounded on the
applicability of RA No. 3092, RA No. 7586, and RA No.
7942 for the first time in its motion for reconsideration of
the appellate court’s Decision. It was only in its motion for
reconsideration that PICOP argued that the area covered
by PTLA No. 47 and IFMA No. 35 are permanent forest
lands covered by RA No. 7586 which cannot be entered for
mining purposes, and shall remain indefinitely as such for
forest uses and cannot be excluded or diverted for other
uses except after reclassification through a law enacted by
Congress.
Even so, we hold that that the so-called new issues
raised by PICOP are well within the issues framed by the
parties in the proceedings a quo. Thus, they are not, 23
strictly speaking, being raised for the first time on appeal.
Besides, Base Metals and the OSG have been given ample
opportunity, by way of the pleadings filed with this Court,
to respond to PICOP’s arguments. It is in the best interest
of justice that we settle the crucial question of whether the
concession area in dispute is open to mining activities.
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29 Id., at p. 19.
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