Practice question
A regulator has evidence that an old water allocation, lawful when made, now threatens public-trust uses. It proposes reconsideration under the governing law and procedures. The user insists that past official approval permanently forecloses any reconsideration, even for demonstrated public harm. Which response best fits Maynilad?
- Every past approval is automatically void.
- No allocation may be reconsidered after any investment.
- Public trust authorizes confiscation without any governing law.
- The State must ignore changed public-resource conditions.
- Past approval does not categorically extinguish continuing trust supervision; reconsideration must still observe applicable legal requirements.
Legal references
- Maynilad Water Services v. Secretary of DENR, G.R. Nos. 202897, 206823 and 207969, August 6, 2019, main decision, water management as a public trust: https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocs/1/65416
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