Hon. Ramon Jesus P. Paje vs. Hon. Teodoro A. Casiño et al., G.R. No. 207257, 3 February 2015 (Philippines)

In the Petition for issuance of Writ of Kalikasan filed by the Casiño group, it was alleged that the power plant would cause grave environmental damage and adversely affect the health of the residents of Subic and the surrounding municipalities. In support of its petition, the Casiño group relied heavily on a final report on the social acceptability process of the coal power plant and the experts' views stated therein which raised objections to the environmental soundness of the project. 

The Supreme Court stated that the ratio for the liberality of discovery measures in environmental cases is to allow the court sufficient leeway to obtain the necessary information required to rule on the issues for resolution with the objective of protecting the right to a healthful and balanced ecology. In this case, the Supreme Court found that the statements in the final report relied on failed to sufficiently show the causal link or reasonable connection between the coal power plant and the potential grave environmental damage, or were otherwise addressed and controverted by respondents.