There is consensus among legal practitioners that there are sufficient environmental policies dealing with the management and protection of the country’s resources. We have laws, for example, dealing with the management and protection of forest and fisheries resources, wildlife and protected areas. Neither is the country deficient in laws dealing with urban issues such as air and water pollution, solid waste, and hazardous and toxic waste. Even the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) System has its legislative foundation since the 1980s. Thus, in terms of policy, environmental impacts of projects or activities that are required to go through the EIA system because of their nature or environmentally critical location have long been addressed.
The existence of these policies has yet to turn the tide of environmental destruction, since laws and policies must be enforced and implemented in order to achieve the desired policy objective. Low level of knowledge and understanding of these policies and irregular law enforcement have rendered them almost useless. The sorry state of the Philippine environment testifies to this.
The low level of policy enforcement is brought about by a variety of factors. These include lack of knowledge or capacity of enforcers, limited material or logistical support, the slow judicial process, and many others. Inadequate legal support for law enforcers is another contributing factor. The inadequacy can be found both in cases filed in court to prosecute environmental violators and in harassment cases filed against enforcers. Anecdotal information is replete with examples of enforcers who have been harassed with suits for enforcing environmental laws. Also, due to the shortage of lawyers in the government service, these law enforcers are often constrained to hire private lawyers for their own defense.
The absence of adequate government-support related representation for harassed law enforcement personnel make law enforcers vulnerable to pressure from violators. This situation in turn affects the morale not only of the harassed officer but his colleagues as well. Logically, these have impact on the overall law enforcement effort of the enforcement agency.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) confirmed that there is no adequate legal representation available for their personnel who are sued for actions arising from their official enforcement functions. The Office of the Solicitor General and the Public Attorney’s Office simply cannot cope with the volume of requests for representation.
Projects to Address Inadequate Legal Support
Environmental Defense Project (Endefense Project)
The Tanggol Kalikasan (TK), Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) and Paglilingkod Batas Pangkapatiran Foundation (PBPF) were partner-implementors of the Endefense Project funded by the Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE). The project’s general objective was to deliver pro-active and to enhance sustained public interest environmental legal services to specific FPE project sites with the end view of empowering local communities in managing their natural resources for biodiversity conservation. The specific program components included planning assistance to partners; development of public interest lawyers, capacity-building, IEC program and materials development; delivery of direct legal assistance; policy research, networking and advocacy.
An evaluation was conducted to
study the impact of the project. The results of the evaluation need to be
presented to the partners and other environmental lawyers.
Environmental Justice Project (EJP)
TK, ELAC, PBPF and UPLB-College
of Forestry and Natural Resources (UPLB-CFNR) are presently partner-implementors
of the Environmental Justice Project funded by the USAID through the Center for
International Environmental Law (CIEL). Under this project, TK is leading the
implementation of the Defending the Defenders Project. The partners also
organized the Philippine Environmental Justice Forum: Forest and Coastal
Resources.
a. Defending the Defenders Project
In meetings held with the DENR in 2003, the Office of the Undersecretary of Operations articulated the urgency to develop a program that will respond to the immediate need of enforcers for legal assistance to defend themselves from harassment cases. TK thus developed and leads the implementation of the Defending the Defenders Project. The project has the following objectives:
1. Facilitate the creation of network or pool of lawyers who will provide legal assistance to environmental law enforcers (DENR or community) who are sued back in court for performing their work as environmental law enforcers;
2. To identify the possible causes, which are within the control of the DENR, of cases filed against its field personnel and duly deputized agents and the appropriate remedies thereto, like the conduct of capacity building trainings for the said personnel;
3. To create awareness among policy makers of the need to adopt a clear guideline whenever DENR field personnel and duly deputized agents are subjected to harassment suits; and
4. To prepare a more comprehensive law enforcement legal support program.
The priority sites under the project are CAR, Region 2, Region 5, Region 4B and Region 7. They were chosen since, based on a study conducted by TK, they showed the highest number of harassment cases filed against DENR personnel in the performance of their duties.
To date, 4 two-level focus group discussions (FGDs) were held in DENR CAR, Region 2, Region 5 and Region 7. The first level was attended by forest protection officers based in the CENR and PENR offices, while the second level was attended by CENR and PENR officers and Regional Technical Directors for Forestry and Protected Area and Wildlife Sector. The results of the FGDs reiterated the need for legal assistance of law enforcers and the capacity building and networking of lawyers to support law enforcement on the ground.
b. Philippine Environmental Justice Forum: Forest and Coastal Resources
The partners organized the forum on November 11-12, 2004 in UPLB. More than 80 participants from government agencies, academe, NGOs and POs attended the forum. The forum objectives were to:
1. present and discuss the concept of environmental justice in the context of forest and coastal resource governance;
2. identify issues and concerns related to the promotion of environmental justice in forest and coastal areas;
3. exchange ideas, experiences, insights, legal remedies and tools, including alternative dispute resolution process, among participants in promoting environmental justice; and
4. formulate concrete actions that will facilitate effective stakeholders’ collaboration to advance environmental justice in the Philippines and improve the welfare of vulnerable communities depending on forest and coastal resources for survival.
The workshop outputs, specially the concept of environmental justice, the issues and initiatives to address these issues, the gaps, and action plan which includes strengthening legal support to law enforcement, should be presented to environmental lawyers.
The conference was supported by
the Environmental Justice Project (CIEL/USAID), The Ford Foundation, and The
Asia Foundation/USAID.
Environmental Governance Project
TK also has an ongoing capacity-building program for environmental law enforcers, local government officials, lawyers, prosecutors, and judges under its Ford Project entitled Public Interest Legal Support Towards Good Environmental Governance. The organization annually trains more than a hundred community law enforcers, including DENR forest rangers through its Paralegal/Law Enforcement Training Program. It has also trained more than two hundred local government officials through its Institute of Environmental Governance Program. In partnership with the University of the Philippines – Institute of Judicial Administration and the Department of Justice, Tanggol organized a conference entitled “Prosecuting for the Environment: Ipagtanggol ang Kalikasan!” for prosecutors and MTC/MCTC judges on February 21-24, 2000. Tanggol likewise organized the conference entitled “The Environmental on the Scale: Ipagtanggol ang Kalikasan II”, in partnership with the Supreme Court and the Philippine Judicial Academy (PHILJA) on July 23-26, 2001.
Conferences to Integrate the Projects’ Goal to Strengthen Legal Support for Environmental Law Enforcement
These three projects supported the Luzon-wide Paralegal and Law Enforcement Conference and this Lawyers Conference and Workshop.
Luzon-wide Paralegal and Law Enforcement Conference
The Luzon-wide Paralegal and Law Enforcement Conference was conducted in September 28-30, 2005 in Tayabas, Quezon. More 90 paralegal, community and DENR law enforcers discussed their experiences, identified their challenges/issues and drafted an action plan. The conference was co-funded by the Ford Foundation, CIEL/USAID under the Defending the Defenders Project and FPE.
The
workshop outputs need to be presented to lawyers who could help address the
issue of lack of legal assistance when they file cases against violators and
when harassment cases are filed against them.
Lawyers Conference and Workshop 2005
This time, the partners hope to gather at least 70 lawyers from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) – National Environment Action Team (NEAT), Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of the Ombudsman, environmental NGOs, and public interest lawyers.