Apex Mining Co., Inc. v. Garcia
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: This case concerns a dispute over conflicting mining claims within a 4,941.0-hectare area located in Moncayo, Davao del Norte and Cateel, Davao Oriental. The core of the controversy lies in whether the disputed area is part of an established forest reserve, which would dictate the proper procedure for acquiring mining rights. Petitioners Apex Mining Co., Inc., et al. (Apex) claim mining rights through declarations of location, while respondent Marcopper Mining Corporation (Marcopper) initially registered claims but later applied for prospecting and exploration permits after discovering the area might be within a forest reserve. Procedural History: Marcopper, after registering its mining claims in 1984, learned they might be within the Agusan-Davao-Surigao Forest Reserve established by Proclamation No. 369. Abandoning its initial claims, Marcopper applied for and obtained a Permit to Prospect and subsequently a Permit to Explore. Upon discovering Apex's conflicting claims within the same area, Marcopper filed a petition with the Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences (BMGS) to cancel Apex's claims. The BMGS initially granted Apex's motion to dismiss Marcopper's petition and declared Marcopper's Permit to Explore null and void. However, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reversed this decision, declaring Marcopper's permit valid and Apex's claims void. Apex appealed to the Office of the President, which affirmed the DENR's decision. Apex then filed the present petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court. The Petition: Petitioners Apex Mining Co., Inc., et al. seek certiorari to nullify the July 27, 1989 decision of the Office of the President, which affirmed the DENR's ruling that Marcopper's Permit to Explore is valid and Apex's mining claims are void. Apex argues that the disputed area is not within an established forest reserve and that Proclamation No. 369 did not create a forest reserve but merely withdrew lands from settlement. They contend that their mining claims were validly acquired through declarations of location with the BMGS, and Marcopper's permits are invalid. The petition challenges the legal basis of Proclamation No. 369 as establishing a forest reserve and questions the procedural validity of Marcopper's mining rights acquisition within such a reserve.
Issue(s)
Whether the disputed area is within an established and existing forest reservation. Whether Apex Mining Co., Inc.'s mining claims are valid despite being located within a forest reserve. Whether Marcopper Mining Corporation's Permit to Explore No. 133 is valid.
Ruling
The petition is dismissed. The decision of the Office of the President affirming the DENR's ruling is affirmed. Marcopper's Permit to Explore No. 133 is declared valid and subsisting, while Apex's mining claims and Small Scale Mining Permits are declared null and void and/or inoperative.
Ratio Decidendi
On the issue of whether the disputed area is within an established and existing forest reservation: The Court affirmed that the disputed area is indeed within an established forest reserve. Petitioners argued that Proclamation No. 369 did not establish a forest reserve but merely withdrew lands from settlement or disposition under Section 8 of Act No. 2874. However, the Court found that the Governor-General, under Section 8 of Act No. 2874, was empowered to withdraw lands of the public domain for public or quasi-public uses, which includes establishing a forest reserve. The Court further cited that President Carlos P. Garcia, in Proclamation No. 583 (1959), explicitly referred to Proclamation No. 369 as having established the "Agusan-Davao-Surigao Forest Reserve." This contemporaneous and subsequent administrative interpretation, confirmed by Congress through Concurrent Resolution No. 17, was deemed controlling. On the validity of Apex's mining claims despite being located within a forest reserve: The Court held that mining claims located within a forest reserve are not open to mining location. Presidential Decree No. 463, as amended, provides that prospecting, exploration, and exploitation of minerals in reserved lands can only be undertaken through specific procedures. Specifically, Section 8 of P.D. No. 463, as amended by P.D. No. 1385, states that prospecting, exploration, and exploitation of minerals in reserved lands (other than mineral reservations) may be undertaken by government agencies, or by qualified persons through permits issued by the Secretary. Section 13 of P.D. No. 463 explicitly states that no prospecting and exploration shall be allowed in government reservations except when authorized by the proper government agency. Therefore, Apex's claims, being located within the forest reserve and acquired through declarations of location with the BMGS, were in violation of the law and thus invalid. The Court also reiterated the principle that findings of fact made by administrative agencies, such as the DENR and the Office of the President, must be respected if supported by substantial evidence. It is not the role of the reviewing court to re-weigh evidence or substitute its judgment for that of the administrative agency. Such decisions can only be set aside upon proof of gross abuse of discretion, fraud, or error of law. In this case, the findings that the area was a forest reserve and that Apex's claims were invalid were supported by substantial evidence, and no such grounds for setting aside the administrative decision were established. On the validity of Marcopper Mining Corporation's Permit to Explore No. 133: The Court held that acquiring mining rights within a forest reserve requires an initial application for a permit to prospect with the BFD, followed by a permit to explore with the BMGS, a procedure that Marcopper followed after discovering its claims were within the reserve.
Main Doctrine
Mining claims located within an established forest reserve are invalid if acquired through declarations of location with the Bureau of Mines and Geo-Sciences, as such areas are subject to prospecting and exploration permits initially applied for with the Bureau of Forest Development, in accordance with Presidential Decree No. 463.