Environmental Law

and Jurisprudence
Atty. Gilbert L. Bautista, MBA, JD
Law defined
• The regime that orders human activities and relations through
systematic application of the force of politically organized society , or
through social pressure, backed by force, in such a society; the legal
system

• The aggregate of legislation, judicial precedents, and accepted legal

principles; the body of authoritative grounds of judicial and
administrative action; esp. the body of rules, standards, and principles
that the courts of a particular jurisdiction apply in deciding
controversies brought before them*
• LAW in its broadest sense, means any rule of
action or norm of conduct applicable to all kinds
of action and all objects of creation; a rule of
conduct, just and obligatory, laid down by
legitimate authority for the common observance
and benefit.
Elements of Law
1. Rule of Conduct
2. Just
3. Obligatory
4. Prescribed by legitimate authority
5. For common benefit
What is Jurisprudence?
• Sources of Law:

1. Legislations – Laws enacted by congress

2. Customs – customs have the force of law only when they are
acknowledged and approved by society through long and
uninterrupted usage

3. Precedents/Supreme Court Decisions – Decisions or principles

enunciated by the Court, “xxx Judicial decisions applying or
interpreting the laws or the Constitution shall form part of the
legal system of the Philippines. xxx”*
 Judicial decisions which apply or interpret the constitution and laws are part of the legal
system in the Philippines but they are not laws. However, although judicial decisions are
not laws, they are evidence of the meaning and interpretations of the laws.
*Article 8, New Civil Code of the Philippines
Environmental Law defined
• The field of law dealing with the maintenance
and protection of the environment, including
preventive measures such as the requirements
of environmental-impact statements, as well as
measures to assign liability and provide cleanup
for incidents that harm the environment
• Environmental Law consists of legal
pronouncements that generally refer to the
physical surroundings affecting human lives. In
general, these are regulated when they
adversely affect human safety and the
enjoyment of life.
Why do we have
Environmental Laws?
• Humans used, exploited, extracted and
destroyed the earth’s resources for human
consumption. Thus, when the supply of these
resources became scarce, appropriate
regulations were set in place.
• After World War II, environmental destruction
has risen to an alarming level, awareness of the
problem had become a matter of worldwide
concern
International Laws on
Environmental Protection
Stockholm Conference
• The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (also
known as the Stockholm Conference) was an international conference
convened under United Nations auspices held in Stockholm, Sweden
from June 5-16, 1972. It was the UN's first major conference on
international environmental issues, and marked a turning point in the
development of international environmental politics.

• UN hold an international conference to examine environmental

problems and identify those that required international cooperation to
solve, which includes among others, dangerous level of pollution on
water and air; earth and living being; major and undesirable
disturbances to the ecological balance of the biosphere; and the
destruction and depletion of the irreplaceable resources.
International Labour Organization
• Convention concerning the Use of White Lead
in Painting held in Geneva in 1921.

• The objective of the convention is to prohibit the

use of white lead and sulphate of lead and of all
products containing these pigments, in the
internal painting of buildings.
Environmental Laws
in the Philippines
Presidential Decree No. 1151
• Philippine Environmental Policy – enacted on June 6, 1977 which
sought to promote general welfare with the following end goal:
(a) recognize, discharge and fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as
trustee and guardian of the environment for succeeding generations;
(b) assure the people of a safe, decent, healthful, productive and aesthetic
environment;
(c) encourage the widest exploitation of the environment without degrading it, or
endangering human life, health and safety or creating conditions adverse to
agriculture, commerce and industry;
(d) preserve important historic and cultural aspects of the Philippine heritage;
(e) attain a rational and orderly balance between population and resource use;
and
(f) improve the utilization of renewable and non-renewable resources.
Environmental Laws in the Philippines
• Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999, Republic Act 8729 affirms the
constitutional right to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with
the rhythm and harmony of nature

• Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, Republic Act 9003

ensures, among others, the following, (a) protection of public health
and environment, (b) utilizes environmentally-sound methods that
maximize the utilization of valuable resources and encourage
resources conservation and recovery, (c) proper segregation,
collection, transport, storage, treatment and disposal of solid waste

• The Forestry Code, Presidential Decree 705 ensures that forest

products remain in stable supply and provides for the management
and regulation thereof
Environmental Laws in the Philippines
• Climate Change Act of 2009, Republic Act 9729 which adopted the ultimate
objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
which is the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the
atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic
interference with the climate system

• The Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998, Republic Act 8550 declared, among
others, the following policies and objectives, (a) to achieve food security, (b)
to limit access to the fishery and aquatic resources of the Philippines, (c) to
protect the rights of fisherfolk

• Philippine Mining Act of 1995, Republic Act 7942 which affirms the
constitutional policy that all mineral resources in public and private lands
within the territory and exclusive economic zones of the Philippines are
owned by the State
International Treaties on
Environmental Protection to
which Philippines is a party
Environmental Treaties Ratified *
*United Nations: Access Information on Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (InforMEA)
What is a Treaty?
• “Treaty” means an international agreement
concluded between States in written form and
governed by international law, whether
embodied in a single instrument or in two or
more related instruments and whatever its
particular designation.*

*Article 2(1), Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

Treaty vs. Executive Agreement
• Treaty vs. Executive Agreement. Executive
Order No. 459 defines “treaties” as
“international agreements entered into by the
Philippines which require legislative
concurrence after executive ratification,” while
“executive agreements” are “similar to treaties
except that they do not require legislative
concurrence.
• All international agreements generally undergo
the domestic legal requirements of ratification.

• An international agreement enters into force

only upon compliance with domestic ratification
requirements.
Article VII, Section 21*
• No treaty or international agreement shall
be valid and effective unless concurred in
by at least two-thirds of all the Members of
the Senate.

*1987 Philippine Constitution

Take Note
• It is only through ratification and
enactment of local legislation that
multilateral environmental agreements and
other international environmental treaties
or agreements become part of our national
law.
Conflict between International
Law and Domestic Law
• When a controversy calls for a determination of the validity of a treaty
in the light of the Constitution, there is no question but that the
Constitution is given primary consideration.

• The Philippine Constitution provides for adherence to the general

principles of international law as part of the law of the land. The time
honored international principle of pacta sunt servanda demands the
performance in good faith of treaty obligations on the part of the
states that enter into the agreement. (CBK Power Company Ltd. v.
CIR, GR. No. 193383-84, January 14, 2015)

• Pacta Sunt Srvanda – A party may not invoke the provisions of its internal law as
justification for its failure to perform a treaty.*

*Article 27, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

How is the Philippine
Government Organized?
• The Philippines is a republic with a
presidential form of government wherein
power is equally divided among its three
branches:
1. Executive
2. Legislative
3. Judicial or Judiciary
• The Legislative branch is authorized to make
laws, alter, and repeal them through the power
vested in the Philippine Congress. This institution
is divided into the Senate and the House of
Representatives.

• The Legislative Branch enacts legislation, confirms

or rejects Presidential appointments, and has the
authority to declare war. This branch includes
Congress (the Senate and House of
Representatives) and several agencies that
provide support services to Congress.
• The Executive branch carries out laws. It is composed
of the President and the Vice President who are elected
by direct popular vote and serve a term of six years. The
Constitution grants the President authority to appoint his
Cabinet. These departments form a large portion of the
country’s bureaucracy.

• The executive branch carries out and enforces laws. It

includes the President, Vice President, the Cabinet,
executive departments, independent agencies, and
other boards, commissions, and committees.
• The Judicial branch evaluates laws. It holds the
power to settle controversies involving rights that
are legally demandable and enforceable. This
branch determines whether or not there has been a
grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or
excess of jurisdiction on the part and
instrumentality of the government. It is made up of
a Supreme Court and lower courts.

• The judicial branch interprets the meaning of laws,

applies laws to individual cases, and decides if
laws violate the Constitution.
Philippines: Democratic and Republican State

• The Philippines is a democratic and

republican State. Sovereignty resides in the
people and all government authority
emanated from them.*

*Article II, Section I, 1987 Philippine Constitution

Philippine Environmental
Law: Constitutional Basis
• The Constitution is the supreme law of the land.

1. Article II
a. Section 15 provides:
Sec. 15. The State shall protect and promote the right to
health of the people and instill health consciousness
among them.
b. Section 16 provides:
Sec. 16. The State shall protect and advance the right of
the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord
with the rhythm and harmony of nature.
• Corollary, the right of the people to a balanced and
healthful ecology embodied in Article II, Section 16
unites with the right to health which is provided for
in the preceding section of the same article. The
Court noted that the right to a balanced and
healthful ecology is a right that does not need to be
stated in the Constitution as it is assumed to exist
from the inception of humankind, further it carries
with it the correlative duty to refrain from impairing
the environment.(Oposa v. Factoran, 224 SCRA 792, July 30, 1993)
2. Article XII: “National Economy and Patrimony”
provides for the efficient use and state ownership of
natural resources.

The salient provisions of said Article XII are as

follows:
a. Section 1
The goals of the national economy are a more equitable distribution of
opportunities, income, and wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods
and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people; and an
expanding productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially
the underprivileged.

The State shall promote industrialization and full employment based on sound
agricultural development and agrarian reform, through industries that make full
and efficient use of human and natural resources, and which are competitive in
both domestic and foreign markets. However, the State shall protect Filipino
enterprises against unfair foreign competition and trade practices.

In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy and all regions of the
country shall be given optimum opportunity to develop. Private enterprises,
including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall
be encouraged to broaden the base of their ownership.
b. Section 2
All lands of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all forces of potential energy, fisheries,
forests or timber, wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State. With the exception of agricultural
lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated. The exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources shall be
under the full control and supervision of the State. The State may directly undertake such activities, or it may enter into co-
production, joint venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per
centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens. Such agreements may be for a period not exceeding twenty-five years,
renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and under such terms and conditions as may be provided by law. In cases of water
rights for irrigation, water supply fisheries, or industrial uses other than the development of water power, beneficial use may be the
measure and limit of the grant.

The State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive economic zone, and
reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.

The Congress may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of natural resources by Filipino citizens, as well as cooperative fish farming,
with priority to subsistence fishermen and fishworkers in rivers, lakes, bays, and lagoons.

The President may enter into agreements with foreign-owned corporations involving either technical or financial assistance for large-
scale exploration, development, and utilization of minerals, petroleum, and other mineral oils according to the general terms and
conditions provided by law, based on real contributions to the economic growth and general welfare of the country. In such
agreements, the State shall promote the development and use of local scientific and technical resources.

The President shall notify the Congress of every contract entered into in accordance with this provision, within thirty days from its
execution.
c. Section 3
Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest or timber,
mineral lands and national parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain may
be further classified by law according to the uses to which they may be
devoted. Alienable lands of the public domain shall be limited to agricultural
lands. Private corporations or associations may not hold such alienable lands
of the public domain except by lease, for a period not exceeding twenty-five
years, renewable for not more than twenty-five years, and not to exceed one
thousand hectares in area. Citizens of the Philippines may lease not more than
five hundred hectares, or acquire not more than twelve hectares thereof, by
purchase, homestead, or grant.

Taking into account the requirements of conservation, ecology, and

development, and subject to the requirements of agrarian reform, the Congress
shall determine, by law, the size of lands of the public domain which may be
acquired, developed, held, or leased and the conditions therefor.
d. Section 4
The Congress shall, as soon as possible, determine, by law, the specific
limits of forest lands and national parks, marking clearly their boundaries
on the ground. Thereafter, such forest lands and national parks shall be
conserved and may not be increased nor diminished, except by law. The
Congress shall provide for such period as it may determine, measures
to prohibit logging in endangered forests and watershed areas.
e. Section 5
The State, subject to the provisions of this Constitution and national
development policies and programs, shall protect the rights of
indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their
economic, social, and cultural well-being.

The Congress may provide for the applicability of customary laws

governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership and
extent of ancestral domain.
f. Section 6
The use of property bears a social function, and all economic agents
shall contribute to the common good. Individuals and private groups,
including corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective
organizations, shall have the right to own, establish, and operate
economic enterprises, subject to the duty of the State to promote
distributive justice and to intervene when the common good so
demands.
ASSIGNMENT #1
1. Define Environmental Law in your own words

2. What is the importance of Philippine Environmental Laws to the Filipino

people?

3. Identify at least eight (8) International Treaties entered into and ratified by
the Philippines and discuss their particulars using the format below:
Environmental Ratification Description
Agreement

4. Identify the basis(es) of Environmental Law under the 1987 Philippine

Constitution
Philippine Environmental
Law: Jurisprudence
1. Oposa v. Factoran
224 SCRA 792, July 30 1993
 Intergenerational Equity

 Public records reveal that Timber License Agreements (TLA)

have been granted to various corporations to cut the aggregate
area of 3.89 million hectares for commercial logging purposes.

 Adverse and detrimental consequences of continued

deforestation is evident
 Their [Minors represented by their parents] personality to sue in behalf of the
succeeding generations can only be based on the concept of
intergenerational responsibility insofar as the right to a balanced and
healthful ecology is concerned. Such right, as hereinafter expounded,
considers the rhythm and harmony of nature.

 Every generation has a responsibility to the next to preserve that rhythm and
harmony for the full enjoyment of a balanced and healthful ecology. Put a
little differently, the minors' assertion of their right to a sound environment
constitutes, at the same time, the performance of their obligation to ensure
the protection of that right for the generations to come.
 With regard to the cancellation of the TLAs, there is the need to
implead, as party defendants, the grantees thereof for they are
indispensable parties

 It is difficult to imagine, as the trial court did, how the non-impairment

clause could apply with respect to the prayer to enjoin the respondent
Secretary from receiving, accepting, processing, renewing or
approving new timber licenses for, save in cases of renewal, no
contract would have as of yet existed in the other instances
2. MMDA, et al. v. Concerned Residents of Manila Bay
574 SCRA 661, December 18, 2008
 Inter-agency responsibility for environmental management

 This case turns on government agencies and their officers who, by the nature of their
respective offices or by direct statutory command, are tasked to protect and
preserve, at the first instance, our internal waters, rivers, shores and seas polluted by
human activities

 Environmental Laws that were allegedly violated: The Environment Code (PD No.
1152), The Pollution Control Law (PD No. 984), The Water Code (PD No. 1067), The
Sanitation Code (PD No. 856), The Illegal Disposal of Waste Decree (PD No. 825),
The Marine Pollution Law (PD No. 979), The Toxic and Hazardous Wastes Law (RA
No. 6969)
 [The] reckless, wholesale, accumulated and ongoing acts of omission or commission [of the
defendants] resulting in the clear and present danger to public health and in the depletion and
contamination of the marine life of Manila Bay, [for which reason] ALL defendants must be held jointly
and/or solidarily liable and be collectively ordered to clean up Manila Bay and to restore its water
quality to class B waters fit for swimming, skin-diving, and other forms of contact recreation.

 Generally, the writ of mandamus lies to require the execution of a ministerial duty. A ministerial duty is
one that "requires neither the exercise of official discretion nor judgment.

 MMDA’s duty to take measures and maintain adequate solid waste and liquid disposal systems
necessarily involves policy evaluation and the exercise of judgment on the part of the agency
concerned. MMDA, in carrying out its mandate, has to make decisions, including choosing where a
landfill should be located by undertaking feasibility studies and cost estimates, all of which entail the
exercise of discretion.

 The statutory command is clear and that MMDA’s duty to comply with and act according to the clear
mandate of the law does not require the exercise of discretion. MMDA in particular, is without
discretion, for example, to choose which bodies of water they are to clean up, or which discharge or
spill they are to contain. By the same token, respondents maintain that petitioners are bereft of
discretion on whether or not to alleviate the problem of solid and liquid waste disposal; in other words,
it is the MMDA’s ministerial duty to attend to such services.
 The Cleaning or Rehabilitation of Manila Bay
Can be Compelled by Mandamus

 The obligation to perform their duties as defined by law, on one hand, and how they
are to carry out such duties, on the other, are two different concepts. While the
implementation of the MMDA’s mandated tasks may entail a decision-making
process, the enforcement of the law or the very act of doing what the law exacts to
be done is ministerial in nature and may be compelled by mandamus.
3. Resident Marine Mammals of the Protected Sea Scape Tañon Strait, et al. v. Reyes
G.R. No. 180771 and 181527, April 21, 2015

 Petitioners are collectively referred to as the "Resident Marine Mammals" in the petition, are the
toothed whales, dolphins, porpoises, and other cetacean species, which inhabit the waters in
and around the Tañon Strait. They are joined by Gloria Estenzo Ramos (Ramos) and Rose-Liza
Eisma-Osorio (Eisma-Osorio) as their legal guardians and as friends (to be collectively known as
"the Stewards") who allegedly empathize with, and seek the protection of, the aforementioned
marine species.

 The Government of the Philippines, acting through the DOE, entered into a Geophysical Survey
and Exploration Contract-102 (GSEC-102) with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., Ltd. (JAPEX).
The contract involved geological and geophysical studies of the Tañon Strait. The studies
included surface geology, sample analysis, and reprocessing of seismic and magnetic data.
JAPEX, assisted by DOE, also conducted geophysical and satellite surveys, as well as oil and
gas sampling in Tañon Strait.
 Resident Marine Mammals and Stewards aver that a study made after the seismic
survey showed that the fish catch was reduced drastically by 50 to 70 percent. They
claim that before the seismic survey, the average harvest per day would be from 15
to 20 kilos; but after the activity, the fisherfolk could only catch an average of 1 to 2
kilos a day. They attribute this "reduced fish catch" to the destruction of the "payao"
also known as the "fish aggregating device" or "artificial reef.“
 Resident Marine Mammals and Stewards also impute the incidences of "fish kill“
observed by some of the local fisherfolk to the seismic survey.

 The Resident Marine Mammals and Stewards have no legal standing to file the
present petition
 Service Contract No. 46 (SC-46) does not violate the 1987 Constitution and the
various laws cited in the petitions
 The Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) was issued in accordance with
existing laws and regulations
 Resident Marine Mammals have no legal standing to file a case
 The human petitioners want us to create substantive and procedural rights for animals
through their allegation that they can speak for them. Obviously, we are asked to
accept the premises that (a) they were chosen by the Resident Marine Mammals of
Tañon Strait; (b) they were chosen by a representative group of all the species of the
Resident Marine Mammals; (c) they were able to communicate with them; and (d) they
received clear consent from their animal principals that they would wish to use human
legal institutions to pursue their interests. Alternatively, they ask us to acknowledge
through judicial notice that the interests that they, the human petitioners, assert are
identical to what the Resident Marine Mammals would assert had they been humans
and the legal strategies that they invoked are the strategies that they agree with.
 In the alternative, they want us to accept through judicial notice that there is a
relationship of guardianship between them and all the resident mammals in the affected
ecology.
 Human petitioners should only speak for themselves and already have legal standing to
sue.
 Environmental Laws violated
 National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992, Republic Act No. 7586
 Environmental Impact Statement System (EISS), Presidential Decree No. 1586.
 Requirements (safeguard) for grant of service contracts with respect to minerals,
petroleum and other mineral oils:
(1) The service contract shall be crafted in accordance with a general law that will set standard
or uniform terms, conditions and requirements, presumably to attain a certain uniformity in
provisions and avoid the possible insertion of terms disadvantageous to the country.
(2) The President shall be the signatory for the government because, supposedly before an
agreement is presented to the President for signature, it will have been vetted several times
over at different levels to ensure that it conforms to law and can withstand public scrutiny.
(3) Within thirty days of the executed agreement, the President shall report it to Congress to
give that branch of government an opportunity to look over the agreement and interpose timely
objections, if any.
 SC-46 is null and void for non-compliance with the requirements of the
Constitution
 President was not signatory to SC-46
 SC-46 was not submitted to Congress
 SC-46 was not executed for the mere purpose of gathering information on the
possible energy resources in the Tañon Strait as it also provides for the parties'
rights and obligations relating to extraction and petroleum production should oil
in commercial quantities be found to exist in the area
4. Mosqueda, et al. v. Pilipino Banana Growers & Exporters Association Inc.
G.R. No. 189185 and 189305, August 16, 2016

 The Sangguniang Panlungsod of Davao City enacted Ordinance No.

0309, Series of 2007, to impose a ban against aerial spraying as an
agricultural practice by all agricultural entities within Davao City

 City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte approved the ordinance on February 9,

2007. The ordinance took effect on March 23, 2007 after its
publication.

 Pursuant to Section 5 of the ordinance, the ban against aerial

spraying would be strictly enforced three months thereafter.
 The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association, Inc.
(PBGEA) and others, filed a petition to challenge the constitutionality
of the ordinance.

 They alleged that the ordinance exemplified the unreasonable

exercise of police power; violated the equal protection clause;
amounted to the confiscation of property without due process of law;
and lacked publication.
 The Sangguniang Bayan of Davao City
enacted Ordinance No. 0309-07
under its corporate powers
 Ordinance No. 0309-07 is a valid act of the Sangguniang Bayan of Davao
City- pursuant to its delegated authority to exercise police power in the
furtherance of public welfare and in ensuring a sound and balanced
environment for its constituents.

 A challenge against Ordinance No. 0309-07 was posed on the ground that
the Sangguniang Bayan of Davao City has disregarded the health of the
plantation workers, contending that by imposing the ban against aerial
spraying the ordinance would place the plantation workers at a higher health
risk because the alternatives of either manual or truck-boom spraying
method would be adopted; and that exposing the workers to the same risk
sought to be prevented by the ordinance would defeat its purported purpose.
 With or without the ban against aerial spraying, the health and safety
of plantation workers are secured by existing state policies, rules and
regulations implemented by the FPA, among others, which the
respondents are lawfully bound to comply with. The respondents
[Sangguniang Bayan of Davao City] even manifested their strict
compliance with these rules, including those in the UN-FAO
Guidelines on Good Practice for Aerial Application of Pesticides
(Rome 2001).
 Ordinance No. 0309-07 violates the Due Process Clause
 Substantive due process requires that a valid ordinance must have a
sufficient justification for the Government's action. This means that in
exercising police power the local government unit must not arbitrarily,
whimsically or despotically enact the ordinance regardless of its salutary
purpose. So long as the ordinance realistically serves a legitimate public
purpose, and it employs means that are reasonably necessary to achieve
that purpose without unduly oppressing the individuals regulated, the
ordinance must survive a due process challenge.
 Section 5 of Ordinance No. 0309-07 is unreasonable and oppressive. It
sets the effectivity of the ban at three months after publication of the
ordinance. Three months will be inadequate time to shift from aerial to
truck-mounted boom spraying, and effectively deprives farmers of
efficient means to combat the Black Sigatoka disease.
 Ordinance No. 0309-07 violates the Equal Protection Clause
 The constitutional right to equal protection requires that all persons or things
similarly situated should be treated alike, both as to rights conferred and
responsibilities imposed.
 The four most common pesticide treatment methods adopted in Davao City
are aerial, truck-mounted boom, truck-mounted mechanical, and manual
spraying. However, Ordinance No. 0309-07 imposes the prohibition only
against aerial spraying.
 The occurrence of pesticide drift is not limited to aerial spraying but results
from the conduct of any mode of pesticide application. Even manual spraying
or truck-mounted boom spraying produces drift that may bring about the
same inconvenience, discomfort and alleged health risks to the community
and to the environment. A ban against aerial spraying does not weed out the
harm that the ordinance seeks to achieve.
 The Precautionary Principle still requires scientific basis

 The principle of precaution originated as a social planning principle in

Germany. In the 1980s, the Federal Republic of Germany used
the Vorsogeprinzip ("foresight principle") to justify the implementation of
vigorous policies to tackle acid rain, global warming and pollution of the
North Sea. It has since emerged from a need to protect humans and the
environment from increasingly unpredictable, uncertain, and
unquantifiable but possibly catastrophic risks such as those associated
with Genetically Modified Organisms and climate change, among others.
The oft-cited Principle 15 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment
and Development (1992 Rio Agenda), first embodied this principle, as
follows:

Principle 15
In order to protect the environment, the precautionary
approach shall be widely applied by States according to their
capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible
damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a
reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent
environmental degradation.
 The principle of precaution appearing in the Rules of Procedure for Environmental
Cases (A.M. No. 09-6-8-SC) involves matters of evidence in cases where there is lack of
full scientific certainty in establishing a causal link between human activity and
environmental effect.
 The precautionary principle shall only be relevant if there is concurrence of three
elements, namely: uncertainty, threat of environmental damage and serious or irreversible
harm.

 All the elements are not present in the case at bar

 To begin with, there has been no scientific study. Although the precautionary principle
allows lack of full scientific certainty in establishing a connection between the serious or
irreversible harm and the human activity, its application is still premised on empirical
studies. Scientific analysis is still a necessary basis for effective policy choices under the
precautionary principle.
 The only study conducted to validate the effects of aerial spraying appears to be
the Summary Report on the Assessment and Fact-Finding Activities on the Issue of Aerial
Spraying in Banana Plantations. Yet, the fact-finding team that generated the report was
not a scientific study that could justify the resort to the .precautionary principle. In fact, the
Sangguniang Bayan ignored the findings and conclusions of the fact-finding team that
recommended only a regulation, not a ban, against aerial spraying.
  The precautionary approach should not apply in sustaining the ban against
aerial spraying if little or nothing is known of the exact or potential dangers
that aerial spraying may bring to the health of the residents within and near
the plantations and to the integrity and balance of the environment. It is
dangerous to quickly presume that the effects of aerial spraying would be
adverse even in the absence of evidence.

 Ordinance No. 0309-07 is an ultra vires act

 Davao City disregarded the regulations implemented by the Fertilizer and
Pesticide Authority (FPA), including its identification and classification of safe
pesticides and other agricultural chemicals in enacting Ordinance No. 0309-
07
 Ordinance No. 0309-07 proposes to prohibit an activity already covered by
the jurisdiction of the FPA, which has issued its own regulations
Environmental Law:
Important Principles
1. Intergeneration Equity
 The right to a balanced and healthful ecology is a fundamental right. It
is an intergenerational responsibility

 The right to a balanced and healthful ecology carries with it the

correlative duty to refrain from impairing the environment.

 It does not need to written for it assumed to exist from inception of

humankind.
2. With Great Power comes Great Responsibility

 Sovereignty over natural resources includes the obligation not

to cause harm or to protect and preserve

 Since 1970s, state sovereignty over natural resources is always

read with the obligation not to cause harm.

 Principle 21 of the Stockholm declaration states “ responsibility

to ensure that activities within the jurisdiction or control do not
cause damage to the environment of other states or of areas
beyond the limits of national jurisdiction”.
3. Prevention is better than cure
 The Principle of Prevention

 Stop environmental damage even before it occurs or

when it is critical and potential damage may already be
irreversible.

 Differentiated from the Obligation Not To Cause Harm

(activities outside its own territory) the principle of
prevention encompasses environmental harm within the
state’s own territory. Thus, applying said principle, action
should be taken at the early stage to reduce pollution
rather than wait for the irreversible effect to occur.
 The Principle of Prevention was used in Presidential Decree No. 1586
entitled “Environmental Impact Statement System, including other
Environmental Management Related Measures and for other purposes”

 Environmental Impact Statements:

(a) the environmental impact of the proposed action, project or undertaking
(b) any adverse environmental effect which cannot be avoided should the proposal be
implemented;
(c) alternative to the proposed action;
(d) a determination that the short-term uses of the resources of the environment are
consistent with the maintenance and enhancement of the long-term productivity of the
same; and
(e) whenever a proposal involve the use of depletable or non-renewable resources, a
finding must be made that such use and commitment are warranted.
4. Precautionary Principle
 Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development states:
“In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by
States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible
damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-
effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.”

 Precautionary principle, approach in policy making that legitimizes the

adoption of preventative measures to address potential risks to the public
or environment associated with certain activities or policies.

 This principle requires high degree of PRUDENCE on the part of

stakeholders. Example, restrict a product or activity even when there is
scientific uncertainty.
5. Sustainable Development
 Brundtland Report (Report of the World Commission on Environment
and Development: Our Common Future) defines: “Sustainable
Development is development that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their
own needs”

 Sustainable Development carries with it two concepts:

1. Existence of needs with particular focus on the needs of the poor
2. The environment has limitations in meeting the needs of present and future
generation

 There must be optimal management of the natural resources.

 Sustainable Development is embodied in the Philippine Agenda 21

which was formulated in response to the country’s commitment to the
1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Jeneiro, Brazil.
6. Rights-Based Approach
 The right to a balanced and healthful ecology is a fundamental right
that ought to be protected.

 Reflected in the various international instruments, such as:

1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights - “the right to a standard of living
adequate for health and well-being”
2. Stockholm Declaration - Man has the fundamental right to freedom,
equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that
permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn
responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and
future generations.
3. Rio Declaration on Environment and Development – (a) recognizes that
human beings are “the center of concerns for sustainable development;”
(b) mandates the states to eradicate poverty, (c)recognizes the importance
of enjoining the citizens in addressing environmental issues with particular
emphasis on the role of women, youth, and Indigenous Peoples
ASSIGNMENT #2
1. Explain the doctrine of “Intergenerational Equity” as held by the Supreme
Court in the case of Oposa v. Factoran.

2. Elaborate the phrase “To LOOK before you LEAP!” and focus your
discussion on the importance or significance of Environmental Impact
Assessment (EIA) as a process for any or all activities that may cause
harm to the environment. Site an example.
Sources
1. Bryan A. Garner, Black’s Law Dictionary, 8th Edition
2. Rolando A. Suarez, Introduction to Law, 3rd Edition
3. Donna B. Zapa-Gasgonia, Environmental Law and Policy, 2012
4. https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/milestones/humanenvironment
5. http://un-act.org/publication/ilo-convention-no-13-white-lead-painting-
convention-1921/
6. https://www.informea.org/en/countries/PH/parties
7. https://pia.gov.ph/branches-of-govt
8. https://www.gov.ph/philippine-government
9. J. Eduardo Malaya and Maria Antonia Mendoza-Oblena, Philippine Treaty
Law and Practice, August 2010
10. Hans Kelsen, "Basic Principles of International Law," Rinehart &
Company, Inc., New York (1956 Ed.)
-End-

Thank you!