FACTS:

Petitioners John Eric Loney, Steven Paul Reid, and Pedro B. Hernandez are the President and Chief
Executive Officer, Senior Manager, and Resident Manager for Mining Operations, respectively, of
Marcopper Mining Corporation (“Marcopper”), a corporation engaged in mining in the province of
Marinduque.
Marcopper had been storing tailings3 from its operations in a pit in Mt. Tapian, Marinduque. At the
base of the pit ran a drainage tunnel leading to the Boac and Makalupnit rivers. It appears that
Marcopper had placed a concrete plug at the tunnel’s end. On 24 March 1994, tailings gushed out of
or near the tunnel’s end. In a few days, the Mt. Tapian pit had discharged millions of tons of tailings
into the Boac and Makalupnit rivers.
In August 1996, the Department of Justice separately charged petitioners in the Municipal Trial Court
of Boac, Marinduque (“MTC”) with violation of Article 91(B),4 sub-paragraphs 5 and 6 of Presidential
Decree No. 1067 or the Water Code of the Philippines (“PD 1067”),5 Section 86 of Presidential Decree
No. 984 or the National Pollution Control Decree of 1976 (“PD 984”),7 Section 1088 of Republic Act
No. 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 (“RA 7942”),9 and Article 36510 of the Revised Penal
Code (“RPC”) for Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Damage to Property.11
Petitioners moved to quash the Informations on the following grounds: (1) the Informations were
“duplicitous” as the Department of Justice charged more than one offense for a single act; (2)
petitioners John Eric Loney and Steven Paul Reid were not yet officers of Marcopper when the
incident subject of the Informations took place; and (3) the Informations contain allegations which
constitute legal excuse or justification.

MTC:

ISSUE: