PO L L UT IO N A DJ UD ICATI O N

BOARD V S. CO URT OF A PPEAL

AND SOL AR TEXTILE
FIN IS HING COR P.

11:06 AM

G.R. 93891
Pollution Adjudication board vs. Court of Appeal and Solar Textile Finishing Corp.
March 11, 1991

Respondent Solar assailed the Ex parte Cease and Desist Order by petitioner
Pollution Adjudication Board on the ground that the former was denied due process
and that the degree of threat required for the said Order is remiss. Petitioner reasoned
that under PD No.984 Section 7(a), the Board has the legal authority to issue ex parte
orders to suspend the operations of an establishment when there is prima
facie evidence that such establishment is discharging effluents or wastewater, the
pollution level of which exceeds the maximum permissible standards set by the NPCC.

RULING:
The Court ruled in favor of petitioner.

The Court held that the Board may issue the ex parte cease and desist order upon
prima facie evidence that the respondent corporation has waste discharge beyond the
allowable standards set by the NPCC (Sec5, Effluent Regulations of 1982 and
Sec7(a),PD 984). If it has not yet been subject to the allowable standard, the Board
may still issue ex parte cease and desist order upon prima facie evidence that the
effluent pose an "immediate threat to life, public health, safety or welfare, or to animal
or plant life. The court held that the Board, as the government entity tasked to
determine whether the effluents of a particular industrial establishment comply with or
violate applicable anti-pollution statutory and regulatory provisions, has the authority to
issue the order as it may see fit. This is, after all, allowed by law to address relevant
pollution issues as an immediate recourse.