Complainants were dismayed Thursday by another delay in the court hearings on the damage suit against Marcopper Mining Corporation for its tailings and toxic effluents contaminating the Mogpog River almost 17 years ago.

According to advocacy group Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (LRC), the case was delayed again by the absence of a presiding judge and a motion for reconsideration filed by the new counsel of Marcopper on the order of Marinduque Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 38 Judge Manuelito Caballes.

Several cases were filed against Marcopper, including a damage suit filed in 2001 by 60 plaintiffs from Barangay Magapua and Bocboc, Marinduque, who claimed to have suffered from the Marcopper siltation dam bursting in 1993 and contaminating the river.

Complainant Rita Natal, 65-years-old, from Barangay Bocboc, Mogpog, Marinduque, is the representative of the 60 plaintiffs who filed the case.

The LRC pointed out that nine years after the case against Marcopper, the case is still in its pre-trial stage.

In his March 11, 2010 order, Judge Caballes had ordered Marcopper to produce all necessary documents and open the mine site in Marinduque for inspection on June 16 and 17.

However, the judge was unavailable to continue hearing the case after suffering a stroke and filing for indefinite leave. Victims’ lead counsel Minerva Quintela, also of the LRC, said the motion for reconsideration filed by the Marcopper should immediately be junked for “delaying the proceedings.”

“Aside from the fact that they have violated the three-day service of motion rule, they used rehashed arguments that were already answered in previous exchanges of pleadings. They were unable to raise any new arguments that merit the stoppage of execution of the March 11 order,” she said.

She noted that under the Rules of Court, a written motion has to be received by the other party at least three days before the date of hearing.

“In this case, the plaintiffs’ counsel only received the copy of the motion for reconsideration by the mining company last June 4, 2010, one day after the supposed notice of submission,” she said.

“They used old arguments in their motion which was actually the rationale behind the court’s March 11 order. Judge Caballes ruled against Marcopper’s assertions and upheld our claims that the documents and properties sought to be examined by the victims were relevant and material for the case,” Quintela said.

In his March 11 order, Caballes cited jurisprudence that called for all parties to be given opportunities to “discover or inform themselves of all the facts relevant to the action, not only those known to them individually, but also those known to their adversaries.”

The court also pointed out in its order that among the causes of action alleged in the case was Marcopper’s continuing negligence and inaction in the maintenance of the dam and rehabilitation of the river which causes the victims to suffer continuing damages.

“We are calling the courts to immediately act on this, particularly in the light of the recently approved Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, which clearly seeks the speedy enforcement of environmental rights and responsibilities by all stakeholders,” Quintela said.

“Judge Caballes declared in his reply on the administrative complaint filed by the mining victims that he had suffered a stroke and had been advised by his doctor to take a complete rest and that he intends to file for disability retirement. He is currently on indefinite leave,” said LRC-Luzon campaigns paralegal officer Gerard Arances.

Arances said the presiding judge was the subject of an administrative complaint filed by the mining victims with the Office of Administrator (OCA) of the Supreme Court due to delays and inaction on the Rita Natal case, and a petition for mandamus filed before the Supreme Court last May 6, 2010 to force the presiding judge to act on the case.