10/12/2019
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and paramount necessity for the writ to prevent serious damage.[25]
Before the preventive writ may be issued, first and foremost there must be a clear
showing by the complainant that there is an existing right to be protected, a clear and
unmistakable right at that.[26] Thus, it is incumbent upon private respondents to
establish that their rights over the land in the Busol Forest Reserve are unequivocal and
indisputable. They, however, admit that their claims for recognition are still pending
before the NCIP; they are but mere expectations-short of the required present and
unmistakable right for the grant of the issuance of the provisional remedy of injunction.
[27]
Private respondents also bewail that it would be more prudent that the injunctive writs
be issued to prevent the baseless or unnecessary demolition of their house should their
land claims be ultimately recognized. While the Court understands their predicament,
there is still no basis for the issuance of the injunctive writs because it can be
compensable through the award of damages. A clear and unmistakable right is not
enough to justify the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction as there must be a
showing that the applicant would suffer irreparable injury. Thus, the Court in Power
Sites and Signs, Inc. v. United Neon[28] ruled:
It is settled that a writ of preliminary injunction should be issued only to
prevent grave and irreparable injury, that is, injury that is actual, substantial
and demonstrable. Here, there is no irreparable injury as understood in law.
Rather, the damages alleged by the petitioner, namely, immense loss in
profit and possible damage claims from clients and the cost of the billboard
which is a considerable amount of money is easily quantifiable, and certainly
does not fall within the concept of irreparable damage or injury as described
in Social Security Commission v. Bayona:
Damages are irreparable within the meaning of the rule relative
to the issuance of injunction where there is no standard by which
their amount can be measured with reasonable accuracy. An
irreparable injury which a court of equity will enjoin includes that
degree of wrong of a repeated and continuing kind which produce
hurt, inconvenience, or damage that can be estimated only by
conjecture, and not by any accurate standard of measurement.
An irreparable injury to authorize an injunction consists of a
serious charge of, or is destructive to, the property it affects,
either physically or in the character in which it has been held and
enjoined, or when the property has some peculiar quality or use,
so that its pecuniary value will not fairly recompense the owner of
the loss thereof.[29] (emphasis omitted)
More importantly, their continued occupation absent any clear legal right cannot be
countenanced because of the threat it poses to the Busol Water Reserve. In Province of
Rizal v. Executive Secretary,[30] the Court emphasized the importance of preserving
watersheds, to wit:
elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/64367
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