Too much money involved in Naga case?

First of all, tomorrow is a grandiose day – it is the Philippine Wine Merchants’ greatest food and wine festival dubbed “The 18th Grand Wine Experience” to be held at the Grand Ballroom of the Marriott Hotel, Resorts World Manila. Gates open at 5 p.m. and you are assured of the best wines and spirits available in this country and the best food that the Marriott would prepare. If we go by last year’s Grand Wine Experience the Marriott culinary team more than excelled themselves. A week ago, I celebrated my second year as a kidney Transplant patient and I got these letters sent to me.

“Mr. Bobit Avila, I don’t get to read all your articles, but this one on “kidney transplants” simply echoes down to earth sincere understanding, compassion, caring and kindness to one’s fellow men and women. God bless you, Bobit Avila….. Rogelio Peña Montebello, California. One thing I learned is that Filipinos who lived in America have to line up like everyone else… sometimes it takes years just to find a match. It is a fact that a Filipino friend of mine who was already on dialysis for a year saw his doctor who said he would not sign his transplant in the Philippines. He didn’t wait, he came home and had a kidney transplant with my surgeon Dr. Alvin Roxas and returned to the US. He came to Cebu for a visit and we had dinner and he was back to normal. Here’s another letter,

“Dear sir Bobit, I am an avid reader of your column Shooting Straight and today your article delve on kidney problem. My brother was diagnosed of the problem and now he is on dialysis for 3 months already. He has a daughter in Cebu and probably you can help us to meet Dr. Roxas. thank you. Ody F. Guerrero PME Municipal CouncilorAnao, Tarlac.” I wrote him back giving him our address and showed him that we are willing to help.

What made that article of great importance was that Dr. Enrique Ona of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute (NKTI) wanted to contact me so Dr. Roxas gave me his number and we talked for a while. He wanted to know when I would be in Manila so we could meet. I talked in Tagalog while he talked in Bisaya when I found out that he came from Pagadian. I assured him of my support if NKTI wanted some kind of push all he needed to do was call me.

Remember what happened to Naga a month ago? Well the latest to come out of Naga is that 39 residents of Naga City have filed a P4.5 billion case against entities they believe were responsible for the landslide that killed at least 78 in September. They are suing Cemex Holdings Philippines Inc., Apo Land and Quarry Corp., Apo Cement Corp., Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Region 7, the Naga City government, and the Cebu provincial government.

But what I don’t like in that report is that these people are also asking the court to stop mining operations in Cebu. They asked that the court issue a Temporary Protection Order within 72 hours to stop the quarry operations while the case is pending. Granted if the court gave them the 72 hours to cease operating their quarries, what good is that really when what they are asking the courts is literally economic sabotage! Atty. Benjamin Cabrido said they are suing on behalf of the next generations of Filipinos. Come now is this for real? Who really cares for the future of our children??

Now I gathered that the complainants want the respondents to pay for P500 million worth of rehabilitation fund; damages amounting to P1 million for each of the 77 fatalities and eight missing persons (P84 million); P1 million each for the 57 houses destroyed and buried in the landslide,

including their appliances and movables (P57 million); P100,000 for each of the seven injured persons (P700,000); and P500,000 for each of the 8,262 displaced persons (P4.1 billion); P500,000 as moral damages for each of the family of the 84 fatalities and missing persons (P42 million); P200,000 as exemplary damages for each of the families of the 84 fatalities and missing persons (P16 million); and P1 million attorney’s fees.

I have no problem with the families of the victims asking for reparations… but their demands to stop mining means thousands of Cebuanos would become jobless and the government losses valuable revenues from our natural resources. Now if Naga always had landslides in the past, then perhaps they can request for a termination of mining in Naga, but not the entire Cebu. Now the latest news from Naga is that Apo Land and Quarry Corp. is asking Regional Trial Court Judge Dennis Larrobis to inhibit himself from this case due to his close personal relationship with the main lawyer of this case. Hmmm there’s just too much money involved!