SC Clarifies Voting in Maynilad, Manila Water, MWSS


The Supreme Court today clarified that the voting in the consolidated decision finding Maynilad Water Services, Inc. (Maynilad), Manila Water Co., Inc. (Manila Water), and Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) liable for violation of Sec. 8 of the Philippine Clean Water Act is 12-0 and not 14-0, following the abstention of two Associate Justices.

Assistant Court Administrator and SC Spokesperson Atty. Brian Hosaka said that Justice Diosdado M. Peralta and Justice Andres B. Reyes, Jr. did not take part in the deliberations in the consolidated cases of Maynilad vs. The Secretary of DENR (G.R. No. 202897), Manila Water vs. The Secretary of DENR, et al. (G.R. No. 206823), and MWSS vs. The Pollution Adjudication Board (G.R. No. 207969). In the subject decision penned by Justice Ramon Paul L. Hernando, the Court En Banc denied the petitions filed by Maynilad, Manila Water, and MWSS and affirmed with modifications the decisions of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-GR SP Nos. 113374, 112023, and 112041.

Atty. Hosaka said that Justice Diosdado Peralta did not take part in the case because his wife, CA Justice Fernanda Lampas-Peralta, concurred in the assailed CA Decision in CA-GR SP No. 113374.

Justice Andres Reyes, Jr. also did not take part in the deliberations of the case because he was a member of the division which ruled in CA GR SP No. 113023, when he was still in the Court of Appeals. SOURCE: SC Clarifies Voting in Maynilad, Manila Water, MWSS Case. August 7, 2019. sc.judiciary.gov.ph/5692/