Environment Policy and Law in the Philippines
The recent natural and man-made calamities and tragedies that hit southern Philippines only highlight the need for a single government agency to exclusively focus on the protection of the environment.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez proposed the creation of a National Environmental Protection Agency of the Philippines (NEPA), together with brother Abante Mindanao party-list Rep. Maximo Rodriguez Jr.
“Everybody knows how many lives have been lost to floods and landslides in Mindanao and other parts of the country, and the death toll count is still on. Damage to property and infrastructure could reach staggering levels,” the Cagayan de Oro City lawmaker said.
The Mindanao lawmakers said the proposed NEPA was contained in House Bill 2798, which is under consideration by the House committee on government reorganization.
The NEPA shall be the primary arm of the government responsible for the conservation and protection of the country’s environment.
It shall be headed by a chairman, appointed by the President, with a Cabinet rank. The NEPA shall also have regional offices to be headed by Regional Executive Directors.
The authors cited the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, which ensures the implementation of all environmental laws, the use of the best available scientific information, the integration of all environmental policies, ensure the participation and cooperation of the entire Filipino community.
In the Philippines, the Cagayan de Oro City solon said, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was mandated to protect the environment while at the same time, it had to oversee the utilization of the country’s natural resources.
“The DENR is caught between conservation and utilization. The certainty of clashing of interests between environmental protection and conservation on the one hand and utilization and conservation on the other would be unavoidable,” the authors said.
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