THE ANGAT River – Bustos Dam Forest Reserve in Angat, Bulacan is the main source of water for the National Capital Region. Any quarrying or deforestation close to the area adversely affects water supply for the metropolis and its 14 million residents based on the 2024 census.
In issuing a Writ of Kalikasan, the Supreme Court stopped the Halrey Construction Inc., a registered civil works contractor of the Department of Public Works and Highways from its earthmoving activities.
The company, which is based in Sta. Maria Bulacan, is owned by the Halili family with Anthony Gerard A. Halili as the vice president and chief operating officer. He represents the company in contracting with the DPWH.
With an expected El Nino during the second half of 2026, the water supply of Metro Manila would be greatly reduced in favor of energy production and irrigation for farms.
In its decision, the high tribunal ordered the respondents “to immediately stop quarrying, excavation, earth extraction, or similar activities within the watershed area.”
“Respondents are further prohibited from committing acts that may cause additional damage to the environment,” it added.
In issuing the writ, the SC office explained that technical findings showed that “the respondents’ activities have significantly increased surface runoff, erosion, and sedimentation within the watershed system,” reads a news article which first appeared on politiko.com.ph.
“Reports indicated that these activities have destroyed cultivated crops, vegetation, and fruit-bearing trees that serve as wildlife habitats,” it cited.
The SC noted that “a change in the natural landscape of just a portion of a protected forest reserve threatens the stability of the Angat River-Bustos Dam watershed, posing serious risks to the life, health, and property of inhabitants in several provinces.”
The high court reminded that the Angat River-Bustos Dam Forest Reserve was declared protected forest land under Proclamation No. 573.
The court en banc on Wednesday granted the petition for a writ of kalikasan as well as for a temporary environmental protection order sought by Narciso de Leon against Halrey Construction Inc./ Harley Construction Co. and its executive Anthony Halili, whom the court tagged as responsible for the quarrying, excavation, earth extraction and other similar activities in the protected forestland.
Created by the Supreme Court in 2010, a writ of kalikasan is a legal remedy unique to Philippine law. It came out with the rules of procedure to help in deciding cases involving environmental damage that threatens life, health and property, reads a separate article published b y the Inquirer.
The construction company was also banned from conducting other activities that may cause “additional damage to the environment.”
In 1969, Proclamation No. 573 declared that the parcels of land traversing various barangays in the towns of Norzagaray, Doña Remedios Trinidad and Angat, now known as the Angat-River Bustos Dam, would constitute a permanent forest reserve.
Records show that Halrey Construction Inc. had been a contractor for various government projects, including those of the DPWH and the Rizal provincial government.
The Angat Dam is a major source of potable water for Metro Manila residents while the broader forest reserve is deemed crucial to the watershed system, including providing irrigation for farms in Bulacan and Pampanga.