MANILA – The National Water Resources Board (NWRB) slapped soft drinks manufacturer Pepsi Cola Products Philippines, Inc. (PCPPI) a penalty worth P11.8 million for operating six deep wells in its plant in Muntinlupa City without appropriate permit from the agency.
NWRB is an attached agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
In an order dated April 19, the company was initially ordered to pay a penalty amounting to P11.58 million.
The fine increased to P11.8 million as NWRB personnel together with the Task Force DENR Enforcers Metro Manila and the Philippine National Police (PNP) entered the company’s premises and sealed the illegal deep wells.
Archie Asuncion, head of NWRB’s Litigation and Adjudication Unit, said the penalty imposed on PCPPI was set at P1,000 per day per source (deep well) from January 10, 2013 up to June 11, 2018.
On June 11, operatives from NWRB, DENR and PNP raided the soft drinks plant in Muntinlupa to enforce a Supreme Court decision which became final and executory on April 17, 2017.
The raid and sealing of PCPPI deep wells were done at DENR secretary Roy Cimatu’s order, which was communicated through Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Units Concerns Benny Antiporda.
NWRB, the agency that monitors and regulates the use of all water resources in the country, said the sealing of the illegal deep wells was done to lessen the depletion of groundwater resources in the area.
“The sealing was done after the raiding team disconnected the riser and submersible pumps of the deep wells from the power supply and computer box,” Antiporda said.
Citing a NWRB 2004 study, Antiporda said the groundwater in the area was already “critical,” and its extraction has been causing land subsidence. (With DENR/PN)
