G.R. Nos. 272888

Ruling

Accordingly, respondents should also be held liable for violation of section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019. For their part, respondents Bautista, Prado, Salvacion, Randy, Ralph, Claud, Ocson, and Luna alleged that in April 2018, the island of Boracay was declared closed to tourists and subject to rehabilitation, leading to several government-led renovation and construction projects that produced a huge volume of waste and debris which ECOS hauled out. For the year 2018, the LGU paid ECOS tipping and hauling fees in the total amount of PHP 55,161,366.11. [53] In November 2018, despite the lack of tourism income from which the funding for the payment of the services of ECOS was sourced, the LGU appropriated PHP 50,000,000.00 for the hauling of residual waste and PHP 38,325,000.00 for the operation, management, and development of the sanitary landfill for the year 2019. [54] On December 12, 2019, the LGU made the same appropriations in similar amounts for the year 2020. [55] On November 12, 2020, the LGU passed an ordinance appropriating the amount of PHP 20,236,960.00 for payment of the hauling services in favor of ECOS, which amount was paid to and received by ECOS. [56] On December 14, 2020, the COA issued a Notice of Suspension [57] on the payments made by the LGU for the hauling of solid waste and the management, operation, and development of an eco-tourism, engineered sanitary landfill for the year 2019. [58] The COA suspended the total amount of PHP 94,741,803.07 due to lack of supporting documents pertaining to the breakdown of expenditures made in connection with the ECOS landfill. [59] Pursuant to the foregoing Notice of Suspension, Bautista requested ECOS's assistance in addressing the deficiencies raised by the COA. [60] ECOS conveyed its willingness to assist the LGU and comply with the Notice of Suspension, but only in part, claiming that the audit team acted arbitrarily and violated their mandate as auditors. [61] Considering that the documents required by the COA were in the custody of ECOS, the LGU was unable to submit the documents required to lift the audit suspension. [62] Despite the Notice of Suspension, the LGU was able to make payments to ECOS, using financial assistance granted by the Province of Aklan in the amount of PHP 12,000,000.00 to partially settle the arrears for the 2019 unpaid obligations on February 2, 2022. [63] The DENR also granted financial assistance to the LGU on February 24, 2022 in the amount of PHP 50,000,000.00, out of which PHP 47,500,000.00 was paid to and received by ECOS on April 27, 2022. [64] These payments covered the outstanding billing for the year 2019. [65] The LGU continued to pay ECOS for the services rendered and, to date, has paid a total of PHP 398,467,656.61. [66] On March 25, 2021, the LGU received the March 24, 2021 Notice of Violations [67] issued by DENR-EMB Regional Director Pascua and forwarded a copy of the same to ECOS for their information and immediate compliance. [68] ECOS, t