Environmental Laws (FULL Notes)
Environmental Laws (FULL Notes)
LAWS:
SUMMARY OF TOPICS: LAWS AND CASES
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FIRST ASSIGNMENT [For Dec 14]:
1. Climate Change
2. UNFCC
3. Philippines response to climate change
4. RA 9729 Climate Change Law
5. RA 9367 Biofuel Act
6. RA 9513 Renewable Energy
7. Vol. I of Bedan Journal Sovereignty [Changing
Concept]
8. General Environmental Law [Identify relevant
provisions in 1987 Consti Art II]
9. PD 1511 Philippine Environment Policy [Brown
Legislations]
10. Fundamental Principles of Environmental Law
[Draft Covenant]
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I. REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9729 - AN ACT MAINSTREAMING
CLIMATE CHANGE INTO GOVERNMENT POLICY
FORMULATIONS, ESTABLISHING THE FRAMEWORK
STRATEGY AND PROGRAM ON CLIMATE CHANGE,
CREATING FOR THIS PURPOSE THE CLIMATE
CHANGE COMMISSION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Section 1. Title. This Act shall be known as the Climate
Change Act of 2009.
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the State
to afford full protection and the advancement of the right of
the people to a healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm
and harmony of nature. In this light, the State has adopted
the Philippine Agenda 21 framework which espouses
sustainable development, to fulfill human needs while
maintaining the quality of the natural environment for
current and future generations.
Towards this end, the State adopts the principle of
protecting the climate system for the benefit of humankind,
on the basis of climate justice or common but differentiated
responsibilities and the Precautionary Principle to guide
decision-making in climate risk management. As a party to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change, the State adopts the ultimate objective of the
Convention which is the stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would
prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the
climate system which should be achieved within a time
frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to
climate change, to ensure that food production is not
threatened and to enable economic development to proceed
in a sustainable manner. As a party to the Hyogo
Framework for Action, the State likewise adopts the
strategic goals in order to build national and local resilience
to climate change-related disasters.
Government share
The government has the share on the proceeds derived by
RE Developers which is equal, in general, to one percent
(1%) of the RE developers gross income (except indigenous
geothermal energy which is 1.5% of their gross income). No
government share is collected from proceeds of Biomass
resources development and of micro-scale projects for
communal purpose and non-commercial operations which
are not greater than one hundred kilowatts. The
accumulated government share will be distributed to
national and local government by 60% and 40%
respectively.
Renewable energy trust fund
Renewable Energy Trust Fund or RETF was established, in
pursuant to Section 28 of the Act, to enhance the
development and greater utilization of RE. The fund is
utilized through grants, loans, equity investments,
counterpart fund or such other financial arrangements
necessary for the attainment of the activities stipulated in
the Act. The fund is used to, among others, finance research
and development works engaged in RE and support the
operation or RE resources to improve their competitiveness
in the market. The RETF is mostly funded from fees and
penalties collected and net annual income of Philippine
owned and controlled corporation.
Conclusion
Energy sector is one among the contributors of GHGs in the
country. Through the enactment of the Renewable Energy
Act of 2008, it is hoped that energy self-sufficiency will be
achieved and dependence on GHG emitter energy sources
will be reduced. With the policy mechanisms laid down,
incentives and privileges stipulated, regulatory framework
established, financial support appropriated, among others,
acceleration of utilization of RE resources and participation
from stakeholders, more importantly from the private
sectors, are expected.
VI. ENVIRONMENTAL PROVISIONS OF 1987
CONSTITUTION
Sec. 16, Art. II: 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.
Sec. 2 (2), Art. XII: The State shall protect the nations
marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and
exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment
exclusively to Filipino citizens.
Sec.5, Art. XII: 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.
(Note: Indigenous peoples traditional ecological knowledge
is an integral part of understanding the environment).
VII. Presidential Decree No. 1151/Philippine
Environmental Policy
Enactment and Implementation: June 6, 1977
Purpose: To protect the right of the people to a healthy
environment through a requirement of environmental
impact assessments and statements
Control Area: Nationwide
Overview:
- Conflicting demands of population growth, urbanization,
industrial expansion, rapid natural resources utilization,
and increasing technological advances have resulted in a
piecemeal-approach concept of environmental protection.
- The tunnel-vision concept is not conducive to the
attainment of an ideal environmental situation where
man and nature can thrive in harmony with one another.
- There is now an urgent need to formulate an intensive,
integrated program of environmental protection that will
bring about a concerted effort towards the protection of
the entire spectrum of the environment through a
requirement of environmental impact assessments and
statements.
Features
- Declares a continuing policy of the State (a) to create,
develop, maintain, and improve conditions under which
man and nature can thrive in productive and enjoyable
harmony with each other, (b) to fulfill the social,
economic, and other requirements of present and future
generations of Filipinos, (c) to ensure the attainment of an
environmental quality that is conducive to a life of dignity
and well being
- In pursuing this policy , it shall be the responsibility of the
government, in cooperation of concerned private
organizations and entities, to use all practicable means,
consistent with other essential considerations of national
policy, in promoting the general welfare to the end that
the nation may (a) recognize, discharge, and fulfill the
responsibilities of each generation as trustee and
guardian of the environment for the succeeding
generations, (b) assure the people of a safe, decent,
helpful, productive, and aesthetic environment, (c)
encourage the widest exploitation of the environment
without degrading it, or endangering human life, health,
and safety or cr4eating 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, (f) improve the utilization of renewable and
nonrenewable resources.
- In furtherance of these goals and policies, the government
recognizes the right of the people to a healthful
environment. It shall be the duty and responsibility of
in Felipe Ysmael, Jr. & Co., Inc. vs. Deputy Executive Secretary:
(190 SCRA 673 684 [1990]) ". . . Timber licenses, permits
and license agreements are the principal instruments by
which the State regulates the utilization and disposition of
forest resources to the end that public welfare is promoted.
And it can hardly be gainsaid that they merely evidence a
privilege granted by the State to qualified entities, and do
not vest in the latter a permanent or irrevocable right to the
particular concession area and the forest products therein.
They may be validly amended, modified, replaced or
rescinded by the Chief Executive when national interests so
require. Thus, they are not deemed contracts within the
purview of the due process of law clause [See Sections 3(ee)
and 20 of Pres. Decree No. 705, as amended. Also, Tan v.
Director of Forestry, G.R. No. L-24548, October 27, 1983,
125 SCRA 302]." Since timber licenses are not contracts, the
non-impairment clause, which reads: "SEC. 10. No law
impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed." In the
second place, even if it is to be assumed that the same are
contracts, the instant case does not involve a law or even an
executive issuance declaring the cancellation or
modification of existing timber licenses. Hence, the nonimpairment clause cannot as yet be invoked. Nevertheless,
granting further that a law has actually been passed
mandating cancellations or modifications, the same cannot
still be stigmatized as a violation of the non-impairment
clause. This is because by its very nature and purpose, such
a law could have only been passed in the exercise of the
police power of the state for the purpose of advancing the
right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology,
promoting their health and enhancing the general welfare.
In Abe vs. Foster Wheeler Corp., (110 Phil. 198, 203 [1960])
this Court stated: "The freedom of contract, under our
system of government, is not meant to be absolute. The
same is understood to be subject to reasonable legislative
regulation aimed at the promotion of public health, moral,
safety and welfare. In other words, the constitutional
guaranty of non-impairment of obligations of contract is
limited by the exercise of the police power of the State, in
the interest of public health, safety, moral and general
welfare." The reason for this is emphatically set forth
in Nebia vs. New York, (291 U.S. 502, 523, 78 L. ed. 940 947949) quoted in Philippine American Life Insurance Co. vs.
Auditor General, (22 SCRA 135, 146-147 [1968]) to wit:
"'Under our form of government the use of property and the
making of contracts are normally matters of private and not
of public concern. The general rule is that both shall be free
of governmental interference. But neither property rights
nor contract rights are absolute; for government cannot
exist if the citizen may at will use his property to the
detriment of his fellows, or exercise his freedom of contract
to work them harm. Equally fundamental with the private
right is that of the public to regulate it in the common
interest.'" In court, the non-impairment clause must yield to
the police power of the state.
and sea life that once thrived in its blue waters. But the
tasks ahead, daunting as they may be, could only be
accomplished if those mandated, with the help and
cooperation of all civic-minded individuals, would put their
minds to these tasks and take responsibility. This means
that the State, through petitioners, has to take the lead in
the preservation and protection of the Manila Bay.
So it was that in Oposa v. Factoran, Jr. the Court stated that
the right to a balanced and healthful ecology need not even
be written in the Constitution for it is assumed, like other
civil and political rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, to
exist from the inception of mankind and it is an issue of
transcendental importance with intergenerational
implications. Even assuming the absence of a categorical
legal provision specifically prodding petitioners to clean up
the bay, they and the men and women representing them
cannot escape their obligation to future generations of
Filipinos to keep the waters of the Manila Bay clean and
clear as humanly as possible. Anything less would be a
betrayal of the trust reposed in them.
By a Decision of September 28, 2005, the CA denied
petitioners appeal and affirmed the Decision of the RTC in
toto, stressing that the trial courts decision did not require
petitioners to do tasks outside of their usual basic functions
under existing laws.
3.Manila Prince Hotel v. GSIS [1997]
INCLUDES THE NATIONAL RESOURCES AND CULTURAL
HERITAGE. When the Constitution speaks of national
patrimony, it refers not only to the natural resources of the
Philippines, as the Constitution could have very well used
the term natural resources, but also to the cultural
heritageof the Filipinos.
PADILLA, J., concurring opinion:
1. POLITICAL LAW; CONSTITUTION; PATRIMONY OF THE
NATION, CONSTRUED. A study of the 1935 Constitution,
where the concept of "national patrimony" originated,
would show that its framers decided to adopt the even more
comprehensive expression "Patrimony of the Nation" in the
belief that the phrase encircles a concept embracing not
only the natural resources of the country but practically
everything that belongs to the Filipino people, the tangible
and the material as well as the intangible and the spiritual
assets and possessions of the people. It is to be noted that
the framers did not stop with conservation. They knew that
conservation alone does not spell progress; and that this
may be achieved only through development as a correlative
factor to assure to the people not only the exclusive
ownership, but also the exclusive benefits of their national
resources, not only for the present generation but for future
generations as well. It is also the policy of the state to
recognize and apply a true value system including social and
environmental cost implications relative to their utilization,
development and conservation of our natural resources.
SECTION 4. Mandate. The Department shall be the primary
government agency responsible for the conservation,
management, development and proper use of the countrys
environment and natural resources, specifically forest and
grazing lands, mineral resources, including those in
reservation and watershed areas, and lands of the public
domain, as well as the licensing and regulation of all natural
resources as may be provided for by law in order to ensure
equitable sharing of the benefits derived therefrom for the
welfare of the present and future generations of Filipinos.
To accomplish its mandate, the Department shall be guided
by the following objectives that will serve as basis for policy
formulation:
(a) Assure the availability and sustainability of the countrys
natural resources through judicious use and systematic
restoration or replacement, whenever possible;
(b) Increase the productivity of natural resources in order
to meet the demands for forest, mineral, and land
resources of a growing population;
(c) Enhance the contribution of natural resources for
achieving national economic and social development;
(d) Promote equitable access to natural resources by the
different sectors of the population;
(e) Conserve specific terrestrial and marine areas
representative of the Philippine natural and cultural
heritage for present and future generations.
SECTION 5. Powers and Functions. To accomplish its
mandate, the Department shall have the following powers
and functions:
(a) Advise the President on the enactment of laws relative
to the development, use, regulation, and conservation of
the countrys natural resources and the control of
pollution;
(b) Formulate, implement, and supervise the governments
policies, plans and programs pertaining to the
management, conservation, development, use and
replenishment of the countrys natural resources;
(c) Promulgate rules and regulations in accordance with law
governing the exploration, development, conservation,
extraction, disposition, use and such other commercial
activities tending to cause the depletion and degradation
of our natural resources;
(d) Exercise supervision and control over forest lands,
alienable and disposable lands, and mineral resources
and in the process of exercising such control the
Department shall impose appropriate payments, fees,
charges, rentals and any such form of levy and collect
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3RD ASSIGNMENT
1. PD 1152: Envi Code of Phils
2. RA 8749 : Clean Air Act
3. RA 9275: Clean Water Act
4. RA 9003: Ecological Solid Waste Management Act
5. RA 6969: Toxic Substances Control Act
6. PD 1586: Environmental Impact Assessment
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1. PD 1152: Envi Code of Phils - Enacted in June 6, 1977
Purpose : To achieve and maintain such levels of air quality
as to protect public health and to prevent to the greatest
extent practicable, injury and/or damage to plant and
animal life and property, and promote the social and
economic development of the country
- Control Area - Nationwide
Overview
The broad spectrum of environment has become a matter of
vital concern to the government
The national leadership has taken a step towards this
direction by creating the National Environmental Protection
Council
It is necessary that the creation of the Council be
complemented with the launching of comprehensive
program of environmental protection and management
Such a program can assume tangible and meaningful
significance only by establishing specific environment
management policies and prescribing environment quality
standards in a Philippine Environment Code
Features
1. Provided a comprehensive program of environmental
protection and management. The Code established specific
environment management policies and prescribes
environmental quality standards.
2. To achieve and maintain such levels of air quality as to
protect public health and to prevent to the greatest extent
practicable, injury and/or damage to plant and animal life
and property, and promote the social and economic
development of the country
3. Prescribe management guidelines to protect and improve
water quality through: classification of Philippine waters,
establishment of water quality standards, protection and
improvement of the quality of the Philippine water
resources, and responsibilities for surveillance and
mitigation of pollution incidents
4. Set guidelines for waste management with a view to
ensuring its effectiveness, encourage, promote and
stimulate technological, educational, economic and social
efforts to prevent environmental damage and unnecessary
loss of valuable resources of the nation through recovery,
recycling and re-use of wastes and wastes products, and
provide measures to guide and encourage appropriate
government agencies in establishing sound, efficient,
Air Quality Control Techniques. - Simultaneous with the
issuance of the guideline values and standards, the
Department, through the research and development
program contained in this Act and upon consultation with
the appropriate advisory committees, government agencies
and LGUs, shall issue, and from time to time, revise
information on air pollution control techniques.
Air Quality Management Fund. - An Air Quality
Management Fund to be administered by the Department as
a special account in the National Treasury is hereby
established to finance containment, removal, and clean-up
operations of the Government in air pollution cases,
guarantee restoration of ecosystem and rehabilitate areas
affected by the acts of violators of this Act.
Air Pollution Research and Development Program. The
Department in coordination with the Department of Science
and Technology (DOST), other agencies, the private sector,
the academe, NGOs and POs, shall establish a National
Research and Development Program for the prevention and
control of air pollution.
AIR POLLUTION CLEARANCES AND FOR STATIONARY
SOURCES
Permits. - Consistent with the provisions of this Act, the
Department shall have the authority to issue permits as it
may determine necessary for the prevention and abatement
of air pollution.
Pollution From Stationary Sources. - The Department shall
within two (2) years from the effectivity of this Act, and
every two (2) years thereafter, review, or as the need
therefor arises, revise and publish emission standards for
stationary sources of air pollution.
Ban on Incineration. Incineration, hereby defined as the
burning of municipal, bio-medical and hazardous wastes,
which process emits poisonous and toxic fumes, is hereby
prohibited.
Local government units are hereby mandated to promote,
encourage and implement in their respective jurisdiction a
comprehensive ecological wastes management that includes
waste segregation, recycling and composting.
Pollution from Motor Vehicles. The DOTC shall implement
the emission standards for motor vehicles set pursuant to
and as provided in this Act. To further improve the emission
standards, the Department shall review, revise and publish
the standards every two (2) years, or as the need arises.
Regulation of All Motor Vehicles and Engines. Any imported
new or locally-assembled new motor vehicle shall not be
registered unless it complies with the emission standards
set pursuant to this Act, as evidenced by a Certificate of
Conformity (COC) issued by the Department.
What is Environmental Impact Assessment?
- Proposals for activities which are outside the scope of the
management plan for protected areas shall be subject to an
environmental impact assessment as required by law before
they are adopted, and the results thereof shall be taken into
consideration in the decision-making process.
- Republic of the Philippines vs City of Davao G.R. No. 148622
What if the protected area is an ancestral land?
- Ancestral lands and customary rights and interest arising
shall be accorded due recognition.
- The DENR shall prescribe rules and regulations to govern
ancestral lands within protected areas. They can be evicted
by the DENR or arranged in a resettlement without their
consent provided there is notice and hearing.
What are the prohibited acts?
- Hunting, destroying, disturbing, or mere possession of any
plants or animals or products derived therefrom without a
permit from the Management Board;
- Dumping of any waste products detrimental to the
protected area, or to the plants and animals or inhabitants
- Use of any motorized equipment without a permit from
the Management Board
- Mutilating, defacing or destroying objects of natural
beauty, or objects of interest to cultural communities (of
scenic value)
- Damaging and leaving roads and trails in a damaged
condition
Squatting, mineral locating, or otherwise occupying any
land
- Constructing or maintaining any kind of structure, fence or
enclosures, conducting any business enterprise without a
permit
- Leaving in exposed or unsanitary conditions refuse or
debris, or depositing in ground or in bodies of water
- Altering, removing destroying or defacing boundary marks
or signs
2. RA 9147 [Wildlife Act]
Approved by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was an
important legislative measure geared towards ensuring
environmental sustainability. Originating in the House of
Representatives as HB 10622, filed by Rep. J.R. Nereus O.
Acosta, the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection
Act (RA 9147) aims to protect our countrys fauna from
illicit trade, abuse and destruction, through (1) conserving
and protecting wildlife species and their habitats, (2)
regulating the collection and trade of wildlife,
(3) pursuing, with due regard to the national interest, the
Philippine commitment to international conventions,
protection of wildlife and their habitats, and
(4) initiating or supporting scientific studies on the
conservation of biological diversity.
The provisions of this Act shall be enforceable for all wildlife
species found in all areas of the country, including critical
5th ASSIGNMENT:
1. AARHUS Convention
2. Writ of Kalikasan
3. PD 1160: Expansion of Authority of Brgy. Captains
B. CASES
1. G.R. No. 180771, April 21, 2015 - RESIDENT MARINE
MAMMALS v. Sec. Reyes
2. G.R. No. 194239, June 16, 2015 - WEST TOWER
CONDOMINIUM CORPORATION v. FIRST PHILIPPINE
INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION
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1. AARHUS Convention
The Aarhus Convention was adopted on 25th June 1998 in
the Danish city of Aarhus at the Fourth Ministerial
Conference in the 'Environment for Europe' process. It lays
down a set of basic rules to promote the involvement of
citizens in environmental matters and improve enforcement
of environmental law. The Convention is legally binding on
States that have become Parties to it. As the European Union
is a Party, the Convention also applies to the EU institutions.
The Three Pillars of the Convention: The provisions of
the Aarhus Convention are broken down into three pillars:
access to information, public participation in decisionmaking and access to justice.
1. Access to Information
Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention concern environmental
information. Members of the public are entitled to request
environmental information from public bodies and these
bodies are obliged to maintain this information. This
includes information on the state of the environment,
policies and measures taken, or on the state of human
health and safety, where this can be affected by the state of
the environment. Some information is exempt from release,
for example where the disclosure would adversely affect
international relations, national defence, public security, the
course of justice, commercial confidentiality or the
confidentiality of personal data. Information may also be
withheld if its release could harm the environment, such as
the breeding sites of rare species.
2. Public Participation in Decision-Making
Under the Convention, the public has a right to participate
in decision-making in environmental matters.
Arrangements should be made by public authorities to
enable the public to comment on, for example, proposals for
projects affecting the environment, or plans and
programmes relating to the environment. Any subsequent
comments are to be taken into consideration in the
decision-making process. Information must be provided on
the final decisions and the reasons for it. In the European
Union, this part of the Aarhus Convention has been
implemented by Directive 2003/35/EC on public
participation (the Public Participation Directive).
3. Access to Justice
Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention allows the public to
access to justice, i.e. the right to seek redress when
environmental law is infringed and the right to access
review procedures to challenge public decisions that have
been made without regard to the two other pillars of the
Convention.
Article 9(1) deals with access to justice in respect of
requests for environmental information. It has been
implemented in Ireland by the European Communities
(Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations
2007-2011. These regulations provide for an internal
review mechanism in respect of information requests and
assign the role of Commissioner for Environmental
Information to the Information Commissioner.
All members of the public are required to have access to
review procedures to challenge decisions relating to the
environment, made by public bodies or private persons.
These procedures must be 'fair, equitable, timely and not
prohibitively expensive'.
2. Writ of Kalikasan
RULE 7 - WRIT OF KALIKASAN
SECTION 1. Nature of the writ. The writ is a remedy
available to a natural or juridical person, entity authorized
by law, peoples organization, non-governmental
organization, or any public interest group accredited by or
registered with any government agency, on behalf of
persons whose constitutional right to a balanced and
healthful ecology is violated, or threatened with violation by
an unlawful act or omission of a public official or employee,
or private individual or entity, involving environmental
damage of such magnitude as to prejudice the life, health or
property of inhabitants in two or more cities or provinces.
SEC. 2. Contents of the petition. The verified petition shall
contain the following:
(a) The personal circumstances of the petitioner;
(b) The name and personal circumstances of the respondent
or if the name and personal circumstances are unknown
and uncertain, the respondent may be described by an
assumed appellation;
(c) The environmental law, rule or regulation violated or
threatened to be violated, the act or omission
complained of, and the environmental damage of such
magnitude as to prejudice the life, health or property of
inhabitants in two or more cities or provinces;
(d) All relevant and material evidence consisting of the
affidavits of witnesses, documentary evidence, scientific
or other expert studies, and if possible, object evidence;
(e) The certification of petitioner under oath that:
(1) petitioner has not commenced any action or filed
any claim involving the same issues in any court,
tribunal or quasi-judicial agency, and no such other
action or claim is pending therein;
1. Mutual respect for the independence, sovereignty,
equality, territorial integrity, and national identity of all
nations;
2. The right of every State to lead its national existence free
from external interference, subversion or coercion;
3. Non-interference in the internal affairs of one another;
4. Settlement of differences or disputes by peaceful
manner;
5. Renunciation of the threat or use of force; and
6. Effective cooperation among themselves.
ASEAN COMMUNITY - The ASEAN Vision 2020, adopted by
the ASEAN Leaders on the 30th Anniversary of ASEAN,
agreed on a shared vision of ASEAN as a concert of
Southeast Asian nations, outward looking, living in peace,
stability and prosperity, bonded together in partnership in
dynamic development and in a community of caring
societies.
At the 9th ASEAN Summit in 2003, the ASEAN Leaders
resolved that an ASEAN Community shall be established.
At the 12th ASEAN Summit in January 2007, the Leaders
affirmed their strong commitment to accelerate the
establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015 and signed
the Cebu Declaration on the Acceleration of the
Establishment of an ASEAN Community by 2015.
The ASEAN Community is comprised of three pillars,
namely the ASEAN Political-Security Community, ASEAN
Economic Community and ASEAN Socio-Cultural
Community. Each pillar has its own Blueprint, and, together
with the Initiative for ASEAN Integration (IAI) Strategic
Framework and IAI Work Plan Phase II (2009-2015), they
form the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community 2009-2015.
ASEAN CHARTER
The ASEAN Charter serves as a firm foundation in achieving
the ASEAN Community by providing legal status and
institutional framework for ASEAN. It also codifies ASEAN
norms, rules and values; sets clear targets for ASEAN; and
presents accountability and compliance.
The ASEAN Charter entered into force on 15 December
2008. A gathering of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers was held
at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta to mark this very
historic occasion for ASEAN.
With the entry into force of the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN will
henceforth operate under a new legal framework and
establish a number of new organs to boost its communitybuilding process.
In effect, the ASEAN Charter has become a legally binding
agreement among the 10 ASEAN Member States.
2. ASEAN Environmental Programs
The ASEAN region is endowed with rich natural resources
that sustain essential life support systems both for the
region and the world. Apart from providing water, food and
energy, these natural resources play an important role in
sustaining a wide range of economic activities and
livelihoods.
The region is blessed with a variety of unique ecosystems
such as the Mekong River Basin, Ha Long Bay and Lake
Toba. The region has a long coastline, measuring about
173,000 kilometres in total, and is surrounded by major
seas and gulfs such as the South China Sea, the Andaman Sea
and the Gulf of Thailand.
By virtue of its location in the tropics, ASEAN region is also
endowed with abundant freshwater resources. In 2007, the
region had a total capacity of 5,675 billion cubic metres of
internal renewable water resources, with Brunei
Darussalam, Lao PDR and Malaysia having the highest per
capita water resource availability.
While occupying only 3 per cent of the worlds total land
area, the region is renowned for its rich biological heritage,
comprising the three mega biodiversity countries, namely
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, which together
represent around 80 per cent of global biological diversity.
The forest cover in ASEAN is about 45 per cent compared to
the worlds average of 30.3 per cent and it provides the
natural habitat for up to 40 per cent of all species on Earth.
In terms of demography, ASEAN is highly populated. In mid
2008, the region had about 580 million people with a
density of 130 people per square kilometre, one of the
highest in the world. Population density is especially high in
megacities such as Jakarta and Manila at about 10,000
people per square kilometre, spurred by increasing ruralurban migration and rapid urbanisation. In 2005, 44
percent of the regions total population were living in urban
areas and this is projected to increase to 55 percent by
2020.
Increased population, rapid economic growth, combined
with the existing and region-wide social inequities among
the ASEAN countries have essentially exerted increasing
pressures on the natural resources of the region and
brought along various common or transboundary
environmental issues, such as air, water and land pollution,
urban environmental degradation, transboundary haze
pollution, and depletion of natural resources, particularly
biological diversity. It has also led to increased consumption
of resources and generation of waste, resulting in
unsustainable development. Therefore, despite an
abundance of natural resources, ASEAN, as elsewhere, is
facing an enormous challenge in keeping a delicate balance
of environmental sustainability and economic development.
Policy and Institutional Framework
Recognizing the importance of environmental cooperation
for sustainable development and regional integration,
ASEAN has since 1977 cooperated closely in promoting
environmental cooperation among its member states.
Currently, ASEAN environmental cooperation focuses on ten
4. 1995 Agreement on Cooperation for Sustainable
Development of Mekong River Basin
The Governments of The Kingdom of Cambodia, The Lao
People's Democratic Republic, The Kingdom of Thailand,
and The Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, being equally
desirous of continuing to cooperate in a constructive and
mutually beneficial manner for sustainable development,
utilization, conservation and management of the Mekong
River Basin water and related resources, have resolved to
conclude this Agreement setting forth the framework for
cooperation acceptable to all parties hereto to accomplish
these ends
Who, having communicated to each other their respective
full powers and having found them in good and due form,
have agreed to the following:
CHAPTER I. PREAMBLE
RECALLING the establishment of the Committee for the
Coordination of Investigations of the Lower Mekong Basin
on 17 September 1957 by the Governments of these
countries by Statute endorsed by the United Nations,
NOTING the unique spirit of cooperation and mutual
assistance that inspired the work of the Committee for the
Coordination of Investigations of the Lower Mekong Basin
and the many accomplishments that have been achieved
through its efforts,
ACKNOWLEDGING the great political, economic and social
changes that have taken place in these countries of the
region during this period of time which necessitate these
efforts to re-assess, re-define and establish the future
framework for cooperation,
RECOGNIZING that the Mekong River Basin and the related
natural resources and environment are natural assets of
immense value to all the riparian countries for the economic
and socia! well-being and living standards of their peoples,
REAFFIRMING the determination to continue to cooperate
and promote in a constructive and mutually beneficial
manner in the sustainable development, utilization,
conservation and management of the Mekong River Basin
water and related resources for navigational and nonnavigational purposes, for social and economic
development and the well-being of all riparian States,
consistent with the needs to protect, preserve, enhance and
manage the environmental and aquatic conditions and
maintenance of the ecological balance exceptional to this
river basin,
AFFIRMING to promote or assist in the promotion of
interdependent sub-regional growth and cooperation
among the community of Mekong nations, taking into
account the regional benefits that could be derived and/or
detriments that could be avoided or mitigated from
activities within the Mekong River Basin undertaken by this
framework of cooperation,
REALIZING the necessity to provide an adequate, efficient
and functional joint organizational structure to implement
Articles:
a. Maritime Convulsions in ASEAN [ Manila Times
May 30, 2015]
The sea belongs to nobody but interests clash over its
uses.
At no other time in history do some Asean countries face
several maritime challenges than during this second
decade of the 21st. All because of the uses of the South
China Sea and its resources major shipping routes,
important fishing grounds and abundant oil and gas
reserves. But over and above those maritime pursuits is
the question of territorial (land, water and air space)
ownership as developed in law.
The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the
Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from Singapore and
Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around 3,500,000
square kilometers. Center of dispute is the Spratly Islands
area. Chinas unilaterally declared nine-dash line
ownership of 90% of the South China Sea overlaps with the
competing claims of some Asean countries Brunei
Darussalam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. NonAsean claimant is Taiwan. Similarly claimed by China is
Natuna Islands at the southern tip of South China Sea
which is within Indonesias exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
and sits on Indonesias maritime borders with Brunei
Darussalam, Malaysia and Vietnam. Likewise, Chinas
recent announcement of a fishing ban to all fishing
activities in Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago was strongly
objected to by Vietnam.
Vietnam says it has sufficient legal and historical
foundations testifying to its sovereignty over Hoang Sa and
the sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its waters, EEZ
and continental shelf in line with the UN Law of the Sea.
Scarborough Shoal which is well within the Philippine EEZ
is contested too. (Japan is into a bitter territorial dispute
with China over the Sinkaku/Diaoyu islands in the East
China Sea).
At the recently concluded Summit of Heads of States held
in Malaysia, Asean leaders expressed their concern at
Chinas massive reclamation in the Spratlys which has
eroded trust and confidence and may undermine, peace,
security and stability in the South China Sea. Asean
foreign ministers were instructed to urgently address the
matter constructively via frameworks such as AseanChina relations. The Asean Chairmans statement also
reasserted (i) the importance of freedom of navigation in
and over-flight in the South China Sea; (ii) called for the
full implementation of the Declaration of the Conduct of
Parties in the South China Sea; and (iii) demanded that the
parties concerned should resolve their differences in
accordance with international law including the Law of the
Sea treaty.
The rising tension in the disputed waters prompted the US
to warn against militarization of the territorial disputes.
Lately, satellite imagery showed the extensive reclamation
activities for a land mass that could support an airstrip,
NEW thinking about defense and security environment
during the last few years pervades countries around the
world. This was brought about by, to mention a few, the
emergence of a terrorist quasi-state in the Middle East;
home-grown terrorist attacks prompting governments to
be on extreme alert; mass immigration to Europe; the
proliferation of advanced defense technologies; internal
displacement of people due to armed conflicts; the
phenomenon of environmental refugees including climate
migrants as a consequence of natural disasters; popularity
of cyber warfare, which gave way to various levels of
internal uncertainty and a new perception about security
concerns.
In the Asean region, tension prevails as rivals jostle over
territories in the West Philippine Sea which has enormous
geo-strategic and economic significance. This climate of
conflict has security implications which forced
governments to re-think their long-term defense
strategies. In fact, some analysts opined that defense
planning is increasingly being shaped by climate and
resource considerations too. Take note that majority of the
Asean countries are vulnerable to extreme climate
disturbances due to global warming and disaster relief had
come to be accepted as the militarys secondary role.
The changed defense and security environment in the
Asean countries has led to procurement drivesto ensure
stability. Singapore highlights its island defense
capabilities centered on automation and mobility
enhancements. The Singapore Armed Forces recently
acquired protected mobility vehicles which enhances
ballistic protection for troops and incorporates a host of
safety measures. Earlier, the country significantly boosted
its sea power by commissioning six new frigates.
The Philippines, as part of its long awaited military
modernization program, recently received new aircrafts
including jet fighters and helicopters from South Korea.
Medium lift transport and surveillance aircrafts were also
acquired from Spain while heavy landing craft vessels will
be acquired from Australia. Meanwhile, as Vietnams
economy improves tremendously, reforms to further
professionalize the Vietnam Peoples Army are under way.
Its procurements include, among others, fighter aircrafts,
submarines, coastal radar system, maritime patrol
helicopters and fast patrol vessels for the Vietnam Coast
Guard.
Brunei Darrusalams off-shore patrol vessels from
Germany considerably enhanced its naval operational
capabilities. To improve training, its Navy is building a
center of excellence for seamanship warfare, weapons
handling, firefighting and damage control, communications
and engineering training.
Indonesia, on the other hand, identified its need for a
complementary submarine fleet that can fill in the gaps of
The Ramsar Convention (formally, the Convention on
Wetlands of International Importance, especially as
Waterfowl Habitat) is an international treaty for the
conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands,
recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of
wetlands and their economic, cultural, scientific, and
recreational value. It is named after the city of Ramsar in
Iran, where the Convention was signed in 1971.
The Convention on Wetlands, called the Ramsar Convention,
is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework
for national action and international cooperation for the
conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.
Number of Contracting Parties: 169
Number of Ramsar Sites: 2,231
Total surface of designated sites: 214,936,005 ha
The Conventions mission is the conservation and wise use
of all wetlands through local and national actions and
international cooperation, as a contribution towards
achieving sustainable development throughout the world.
Wetlands are among the most diverse and productive
ecosystems. They provide essential services and supply all
our fresh water. However they continue to be degraded and
converted to other uses.
The Convention uses a broad definition of wetlands. It
includes all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps
and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries,
deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas,
coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds,
rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.
Under the three pillars of the Convention, the Contracting
Parties commit to:
a. work towards the wise use of all their wetlands;
b. designate suitable wetlands for the list of Wetlands of
International Importance (the Ramsar List) and ensure
their effective management;
c. cooperate internationally on transboundary wetlands,
shared wetland systems and shared species.
The Ramsar Convention works closely with five other
organisations known as International Organization Partners
(IOPs). These are Birdlife International, the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the International
Water Management Institute (IWMI), Wetlands
International and WWF International. These support the
work of the Convention by providing expert technical
advice, helping implement field studies and providing
financial support.
Administrative Authority
Scientific and Technical Review Panel [STRP]
Implementation of the Policy
- action plan
- work plan
- guidelines to implement the policy
Review of Legislation
Designation of Lead Agency
Monitoring
-wetland health and land use monitoring
- program success monitoring
Wetland Risk Assessment Framework
EIA
Local Indigenous People Participation
1. collaboration with the management of inhabited or
privately owned wetland
2. access to natural resources within wetland
essential for livelihood, security, cultural heritage
3. people express interest to get involved
Objectives of the Ramsar List
1. Establish networks of Ramsar sites
2. Contribute to maintaining biodiversity
3. Foster cooperation among CP, etc.
4. Use network to promote cooperation in relation to
complementary treaties
National Wetland Policy Opportunities
- establish wetland conservation and objectives in
government policies
- enhance coordination of agencies
- incentives to create wetlands
- foster better wetland management
- better knowledge about wetland conservation and
application
Wetland Policy Objectives Focus on:
- maintenance of wetland functions
- advance land use planning affecting wetlands
- enhancement and rehabilitation of wetlands
- proclamation of sites
- mitigation of impact of activites
- wise use of wetland resources
Goal Statements
Principles
Wetland Functions:
- water supply
- flood control
- tourism
- saline intrusion
- shoreline protection
- sediment trap
- natural products
- water transport
- cultural significance
- carbon sink
Principal Threats to Wetland Functions:
- agriculture
- logging
- mining
- urban expansion
- infrastructure development
Primarily on Birds ecological dependence on wetlands
Recognizes the importance of wetlands as resources of
great economic, cultural, scientific and recreational value
Convention broadened to cover all aspects of wetland
conservation and wise use
CONSIDER FOR FINALS: *** Provide Laws where PH
provides for implementation of RAMSAR Convention
3. 1985 ASEAN agreement (on environmental
protection) Nature and Natural Resources
Objectives: To maintain essential ecological processes and
life-support systems, to preserve genetic diversity, and to
ensure the sustainable utilisation of living resources.
Summary of provisions:
Chapter II of the Agreement provides for the conservation of
species and ecosystems through extensive management
measures.
Chapter II deals with species genetic diversity (art. 3),
sustainable use of species (art. 4), endangered and endemic
species (art. 5), vegetation cover and forest and endemic
species (art. 5), vegetation cover and forest (art. 9).
Chapter III of the Agreement relates to the conservation of
ecological processes with a view to maintaining their proper
functioning. Articles 10 and 11 concern the reduction,
prevention and control of environmental degradation and
pollution.
Chapter IV provides for environmental planning measures
with a view to integrating natural resources conservation
into the land use process. Articles of chapter IV deal with
land use planning (art. 12), establishment of protected areas
(art. 13), and impact assessments (art. 14).
Chapter V concerns national supporting measures which
consist in, inter alia, promoting education, information and
participation of the public in the planning and
implementation of conservation measures, and in training
scientific and technical personnel (art. 16).
Chapter VI provides for international co-operation between
the Parties through, inter alia, the co-ordination of their
activities in the field of conservation of nature and
management of natural resources, especially when these are
SUMMARY - The objective of the Bonn Convention is the
conservation of migratory species worldwide. Wild animals
require special attention because of their importance from
the environmental, ecological, genetic, scientific,
recreational, cultural, educational, social and economic
points of view.
The Convention defines the following terms:
"migratory species" means the entire population or any
geographically separate part of the population of any
species or lower taxon of wild animals a significant
proportion of whose members cyclically and predictably
cross one or more national jurisdictional boundaries;
"conservation status of a migratory species" means the
sum of the influences acting on the migratory species
that may affect its long-term distribution and
abundance;
"endangered" means that the migratory species is in
danger of extinction throughout all or part of the
territory of a State.
The parties to the Convention acknowledge the importance
of conserving migratory species, and the need to pay special
attention to species the conservation status of which is
unfavorable.
To avoid any migratory species becoming endangered, the
parties must endeavour:
to promote, cooperate in or support research relating to
migratory species;
to provide immediate protection for migratory species
included in Appendix I; and
to conclude Agreements covering the conservation and
management of migratory species listed in Appendix II.
To protect endangered migratory species, the parties to the
Convention will endeavor:
to conserve or restore the habitats of endangered
species;
to prevent, remove, compensate for or minimise the
adverse effects of activities or obstacles that impede the
migration of the species; and
to the extent feasible and appropriate, to prevent,
reduce or control factors that are endangering or are
likely to further endanger the species.
Range States of migratory species ("range" means areas of
land or water that a migratory species inhabits, crosses or
overflies on its migration route) must prohibit the taking of
animals belonging to species listed in Appendix I, subject to
certain exceptions (taking for scientific purposes, or to
enhance the propagation or survival of the species). Such
exceptions must be precise as to content and limited in
space and time, and should not operate to the disadvantage
of the species.
The conservation and management of the species listed in
Appendix II may require international agreements.
Credibility
Conservation
Capacity-building
Communication
Communities
What the Convention contains - The Convention defines
the kind of natural or cultural sites which can be considered
for inscription on the World Heritage List.
The CBD Conference of the Parties (COP):
The first meeting of the COP took place in Nassau, the
Bahamas from 28 November - 9 December 1994. Key
decisions taken by COP-1 included: adoption of the
medium-term work programme; designation of the
Permanent Secretariat; establishment of the Clearing House
Mechanism (CHM) and the SBSTTA; and designation of the
Global Environment Facility (GEF) as the interim
institutional structure for the financial mechanism.
The second session of the COP met in Jakarta, Indonesia
from 6-17 November 1995. Decisions taken by COP-2
included: designation of the permanent location of the
Secretariat in Montral, Canada; agreement to develop a
protocol on biosafety; operation of the CHM; designation of
the GEF as the continuing interim institutional structure for
the financial mechanism; consideration of its first
substantive issue, marine and coastal biodiversity; and
agreement to address forests and biodiversity, including the
development of a statement from the CBD to the
Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) of the
Commission on Sustainable Development. COP-2 also
addressed the issue of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture (PGRFA), adopting a statement for input to the
FAOs Fourth International Technical Conference on PGRFA
(ITCPGR-4).
COP-3 met in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 4-15 November
1996. Delegates' decisions included: a work programme on
agricultural biodiversity and a more limited one on forest
biodiversity; agreement to hold an intersessional workshop
on traditional knowledge (Article 8(j)); application by the
Executive Secretary for observer status to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) Committee on Trade and the
Environment; and a statement from the CBD to the Special
Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGASS) to review
implementation of Agenda 21.
COP-4 took place from 4-15 May 1998 in Bratislava,
Slovakia. Delegates addressed, inter alia: inland water,
marine and coastal, agricultural and forest biodiversity; the
clearing-house mechanism; biosafety; implementation of
Article 8(j) (traditional and indigenous knowledge); access
and benefit sharing; a review of the operations of the
Convention; and national reports. Delegates also conducted
a review of the financial mechanism.
COP-5 is scheduled to take place from 15-26 May 2000 in
Nairobi, Kenya.
The Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and
Technological Advice (SBSTTA):
Article 25 of the CBD establishes a Subsidiary Body on
Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to provide
the COP with "timely advice" relating to implementation of
the Convention.
The first session of the SBSTTA took place from 4-8
September 1995 in Paris, France. Recommendations on the
The Cartagena Protocol addresses the safe transfer,
handling and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) that
may have an adverse effect on biodiversity with a specific
focus on transboundary movements. The Protocol
establishes an advance informed agreement (AIA)
procedure for imports of LMOs, incorporates the
precautionary principle and details information and
documentation requirements. The Protocol also contains
provisions
regarding
documentation,
confidential
information and information-sharing, capacity-building, and
financial resources, with special attention to the situation of
developing countries and those without domestic
regulatory systems.
2. Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary
Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal,
usually known as the Basel Convention
Overview: The Basel Convention on the Control of
Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their
Disposal was adopted on 22 March 1989 by the Conference
of Plenipotentiaries in Basel, Switzerland, in response to a
public outcry following the discovery, in the 1980s, in Africa
and other parts of the developing world of deposits of toxic
wastes imported from abroad.
Awakening environmental awareness and corresponding
tightening of environmental regulations in the
industrialized world in the 1970s and 1980s had led to
increasing public resistance to the disposal of hazardous
wastes in accordance with what became known as the
NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) syndrome and to an
escalation of disposal costs. This in turn led some operators
to seek cheap disposal options for hazardous wastes in
Eastern Europe and the developing world, where
environmental awareness was much less developed and
regulations and enforcement mechanisms were lacking. It
was against this background that the Basel Convention was
negotiated in the late 1980s, and its thrust at the time of its
adoption was to combat the toxic trade, as it was termed.
The Convention entered into force in 1992.
Objective - The overarching objective of the Basel
Convention is to protect human health and the environment
against the adverse effects of hazardous wastes. Its scope of
application covers a wide range of wastes defined as
hazardous wastes based on their origin and/or
composition and their characteristics, as well as two types
of wastes defined as other wastes - household waste and
incinerator ash.
Aims and provisions: The provisions of the Convention
center around the following principal aims:
- the reduction of hazardous waste generation and the
promotion of environmentally sound management of
hazardous wastes, wherever the place of disposal;
Article 3: Membership
1. No two members of the Tribunal may be nationals of the
same State. A person who for the purposes of membership
in the Tribunal could be regarded as a national of more than
one State shall be deemed to be a national of the one in
which he ordinarily exercises civil and political rights.
2. There shall be no fewer than three members from each
geographical group as established by the General Assembly
of the United Nations.
Article 4 : Nominations and elections
1. Each State Party may nominate not more than two
persons having the qualifications prescribed in article 2 of
this Annex. The members of the Tribunal shall be elected
from the list of persons thus nominated.
2. At least three months before the date of the election, the
Secretary-General of the United Nations in the case of the
first election and the Registrar of the Tribunal in the case of
subsequent elections shall address a written invitation to
the States Parties to submit their nominations for members
of the Tribunal within two months. He shall prepare a list in
alphabetical order of all the persons thus nominated, with
an indication of the States Parties which have nominated
them, and shall submit it to the States Parties before the
seventh day of the last month before the date of each
election.
3. The first election shall be held within six months of the
date of entry into force of this Convention.
4. The members of the Tribunal shall be elected by secret
ballot. Elections shall be held at a meeting of the States
Parties convened by the Secretary-General of the United
Nations in the case of the first election and by a procedure
agreed to by the States Parties in the case of subsequent
elections. Two thirds of the States Parties shall constitute a
quorum at that meeting. The persons elected to the Tribunal
shall be those nominees who obtain the largest number of
votes and a two-thirds majority of the States Parties present
and voting, provided that such majority includes a majority
of the States Parties.
Article 5: Term of office
1. The members of the Tribunal shall be elected for nine
years and may be re-elected; provided, however, that of the
members elected at the first election, the terms of seven
members shall expire at the end of three years and the
terms of seven more members shall expire at the end of six
years.
2. The members of the Tribunal whose terms are to expire
at the end of the above-mentioned initial periods of three
and six years shall be chosen by lot to be drawn by the
Secretary-General of the United Nations immediately after
the first election.
3. The members of the Tribunal shall continue to discharge
their duties until their places have been filled. Though
replaced, they shall finish any proceedings which they may
have begun before the date of their replacement.
4. In the case of the resignation of a member of the Tribunal,
the letter of resignation shall be addressed to the President
of the Tribunal. The place becomes vacant on the receipt of
that letter.
Article 6: Vacancies
1. Vacancies shall be filled by the same method as that laid
down for the first election, subject to the following
provision: the Registrar shall, within one month of the
occurrence of the vacancy, proceed to issue the invitations
provided for in article 4 of this Annex, and the date of the
election shall be fixed by the President of the Tribunal after
consultation with the States Parties.
2. A member of the Tribunal elected to replace a member
whose term of office has not expired shall hold office for the
remainder of his predecessor's term.
Article 7:Incompatible activities
1. No member of the Tribunal may exercise any political or
administrative function, or associate actively with or be
financially interested in any of the operations of any
enterprise concerned with the exploration for or
exploitation of the resources of the sea or the seabed or
other commercial use of the sea or the seabed.
2. No member of the Tribunal may act as agent, counsel or
advocate in any case.
3. Any doubt on these points shall be resolved by decision of
the majority of the other members of the Tribunal present.
Article 8: Conditions relating to participation of members in a
particular case
1. No member of the Tribunal may participate in the
decision of any case in which he has previously taken part
as agent, counsel or advocate for one of the parties, or as a
member of a national or international court or tribunal, or
in any other capacity.
2. If, for some special reason, a member of the Tribunal
considers that he should not take part in the decision of a
particular case, he shall so inform the President of the
Tribunal.
3. If the President considers that for some special reason
one of the members of the Tribunal should not sit in a
particular case, he shall give him notice accordingly.
4. Any doubt on these points shall be resolved by decision of
the majority of the other members of the Tribunal present.
Article 9:Consequence of ceasing to fulfil required conditions
If, in the unanimous opinion of the other members of the
Tribunal, a member has ceased to fulfil the required
conditions, the President of the Tribunal shall declare the
seat vacant.
Article 10: Privileges and immunities
The members of the Tribunal, when engaged on the
business of the Tribunal, shall enjoy diplomatic privileges
and immunities.
Article 11: Solemn declaration by members
Every member of the Tribunal shall, before taking up his
duties, make a solemn declaration in open session that he
will exercise his powers impartially and conscientiously.
Article 12: President, Vice-President and Registrar
1. The Tribunal shall elect its President and Vice-President
for three years; they may be re-elected.
SECTION 2. COMPETENCE
Article 20: Access to the Tribunal
1. The Tribunal shall be open to States Parties.
2. The Tribunal shall be open to entities other than States
Parties in any case expressly provided for in Part XI or in
any case submitted pursuant to any other agreement
conferring jurisdiction on the Tribunal which is accepted by
all the parties to that case.
Article 21:Jurisdiction - The jurisdiction of the Tribunal
comprises all disputes and all applications submitted to it in
accordance with this Convention and all matters specifically
provided for in any other agreement which confers
jurisdiction on the Tribunal.
Article 22: Reference of disputes subject to other agreements
If all the parties to a treaty or convention already in force
and concerning the subject-matter covered by this
Convention so agree, any disputes concerning the
interpretation or application of such treaty or convention
may, in accordance with such agreement, be submitted to
the Tribunal.
Article 23:Applicable law - The Tribunal shall decide all
disputes and applications in accordance with article 293.
SECTION 3. PROCEDURE
Article 24: Institution of proceedings
1. Disputes are submitted to the Tribunal, as the case may
be, either by notification of a special agreement or by
written application, addressed to the Registrar. In either
case, the subject of the dispute and the parties shall be
indicated.
2. The Registrar shall forthwith notify the special agreement
or the application to all concerned.
3. The Registrar shall also notify all States Parties.
Article 25: Provisional measures
1. In accordance with article 290, the Tribunal and its
Seabed Disputes Chamber shall have the power to prescribe
provisional measures.
2. If the Tribunal is not in session or a sufficient number of
members is not available to constitute a quorum, the
provisional measures shall be prescribed by the chamber of
summary procedure formed under article 15, paragraph 3,
of this Annex. Notwithstanding article 15, paragraph 4, of
this Annex, such provisional measures may be adopted at
the request of any party to the dispute. They shall be subject
to review and revision by the Tribunal.
Article 26: Hearing
1. The hearing shall be under the control of the President or,
if he is unable to preside, of the Vice-President. If neither is
able to preside, the senior judge present of the Tribunal
shall preside.
2. The hearing shall be public, unless the Tribunal decides
otherwise or unless the parties demand that the public be
not admitted.
Sec. 9. National Cultural Treasurers may be taken out of
the country only with written permit from the Director of
the National Museum, and only for the purpose of exchange
programs or for scientific scrutiny, but shall be returned
immediately after such exhibition or study: provided, that
the Director of the National Museum shall require that the
cultural treasures be adequately, insured against loss or
damage by the owners thereof, and shall be properly
accompanied by a duly authorized representative of the
National Museum and/or protected.
SECTION 10. It shall be unlawful to export or to cause to
be taken out of the Philippines any of the cultural properties
defined in Section three of this Act, without previous
registration of the objects with the National Museum and a
written permit from the Director of the National Museum:
provided, however, that in the granting or the withholding
of permit, the provisions of Section seven of this Act shall
have been satisfied.
SECTION 11. No cultural property may be imported
without an official certification of exportation from the
country of origin.
SECTION 12. It shall be unlawful to explore, excavate, or
make diggings on archaeological or historical sites for the
purpose of obtaining materials of cultural historical value
without the prior written authority from the Director of the
National Museum. No excavation or diggings shall be
permitted without the supervision of an archaeologist
certified as such by the Director of the National Museum, or
of such other person who, in the opinion of the Director, is
competent to supervise the work, and who shall, upon
completion of the project, deposit with the Museum a
catalogue of all the materials found thereon, and a
description of the archaeological context in accordance with
accepted archaeological practices. When excavators shall
strike upon any buried cultural property, the excavation
shall be suspended and the matter reported immediately to
the Director of the National Museum who shall take the
appropriate steps to have the discovery investigated and to
insure the proper and safe removal thereof, with the
knowledge and consent of the owner. The suspension shall
not be lifted until the Director of the National Museum shall
so allow it.
All exploration, excavation, or diggings on government and
private property for archaeological or historical purposes
shall be undertaken only by the National Museum, or any
institution duly authorized by the Director of the National
Museum.
SECTION 13. All restorations, reconstructions, and
preservations of government historical buildings, shrines,
landmarks, monuments, and sites, which have been
designated as "National Cultural Treasures," and "important
cultural properties" shall only be undertaken with the
written permission of the Director of the National Museum
who shall designate the supervision of the same.
SECTION 14. Any donation or support by private
individuals or institutions to the National Museum, and any
investment for the purchase of cultural properties
registered with the National Museum or for the support of
scientific and cultural expeditions, explorations, or
excavations when so certified by the Director of the
National Museum, shall be tax exempt and deductible from
the income tax returns of the individual or institution.
Donations of National Cultural Treasures and important
cultural properties to the National Museum or any
accredited institution for preservation for posterity, or of
any monetary contribution to the National Museum or any
accredited institution for the purchase of National Cultural
Treasures and important cultural properties shall also be
deductible from the income tax returns: provided, that such
donations are duly acknowledge and receipted by the
recipient and certified by the Director of the National
Museum.
SECTION 15. Any cultural property for sale as allowed
under this Act, should be registered with the National
Museum and the proceeds thereof shall be considered as
income and therefore subject to taxation: provided,
however, that the Government shall be given the first option
for three months to buy these cultural properties placed on
sale.
SECTION 16. All dealers of cultural properties shall secure
a license as a dealer in cultural properties from the Director
of the National Museum.
SECTION 17. All dealers engaged in the business of
exporting cultural properties shall secure a license as
exporter of cultural properties from the Director of the
National Museum.
SECTION 18. The Director of the National Museum is
hereby empowered to promulgate rules and regulations for
the implementation of the provisions of this Act, which rules
and regulations shall be given the widest publicity and also
shall be given directly to known collectors, excavators,
archaeologists, dealers, exporters and others affected by
this Act. Such rules and regulations shall be approved by the
Secretary of education.
3. Natl Museum Law RA 8492
The National Museum is mandated to declare cultural
properties of the Philippines as either Important Cultural
Properties or National Cultural Treasures, pursuant to
several laws, including Republic Act No. 4846 (Cultural
Properties Preservation and Protection Act) as amended by
Presidential Decree No. 374, Presidential Decree No. 260,
Republic Act No.8492 (National Museum Act of 1998) and
most recently, Republic Act No. 10066 (National Cultural
Heritage Act of 2009).
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the State
to pursue and support the cultural development of the
Filipino people, through the preservation, enrichment and
dynamic evolution of the Filipino national culture, based on
the principle of unity in diversity in a climate of free artistic
and intellectual expression.
Section 3. Conversion of the National Museum. To
implement the above declared State policies, and to ensure
its independence and autonomy, the present National
Museum hereafter referred to as the National Museum, is
hereby converted into a trust of the government. The
National Museum is detached from the Department of
Education, Culture, and Sports and from the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts. It shall be placed
solely for budgetary purposes under the Office of the
President.
The Museum, as established under this Act shall be known
by the name of National Museum and by the name shall
known and have perpetual succession with the power,
limitations, and restriction hereafter contained and no
other.
The National Museum shall be permanent institution in the
service of the community and its development, accessible to
the public, and not intended for profit. It shall obtain, keep,
study and present material evidence of man and his
environment. The National Museum shall inform the general
public about these activities for the purpose of study,
education and entertainment.
The primary mission of the National Museum shall be to
acquire documents, preserve, exhibit and foster scholarly
study and appreciation of works of art specimens and
cultural and historical artifacts. Pending its reorganization
by the Board of Trustees, the National Museum shall be
composed of the Museum structure, organization and its
collections, properties, assets and liabilities.
Section 4. Permanent Home; Evidence of Title to Site and
Buildings. The whole Executive House Building also
known as the Old Congress Building, the Department of
Finance Building and Department of Tourism Building on
Agrifina Circle shall be the permanent and exclusive site of
the National Museum. They shall be known as the National
Museum Complex. The Executive House shall now be known
as the National Museum.
The site and lands selected for the building for the Museum
shall be deemed appropriated to the Museum, and the
record of the description of such site and lands, or a copy
thereof, certified by the Chairman and Secretary of the
Board of Trustees, shall be received as evidence in all courts
of the extent and boundaries of the lands appropriated to
the Museum.
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is the policy of the State
to pursue and support the cultural development of the
Filipino people, through the preservation, enrichment and
7.5. Regulate registration, excavation, preservation and
exportation of Philippine cultural properties through a legal
department and customs department which shall be
established for these purposes;
7.6. Implement the pertinent provisions of Presidential
Decree No. 374, as further amended, and other related laws
on the protection and conservation of cultural properties;
7.7. Undertake research on salvage archaeology, monitor
and control archaeological excavations, diggings and
researches into Philippine pre-history and proto-history;
7.8. Gather, identify, reconstruct, restore and maintain a
national archaeological reference collection; study
archaeological artifacts and ecofacts, with their
corresponding data and deduce archaeological
interpretations;
7.9. Undertake researches on the pre-history of the
Philippines in order to define the foundations of the
cultures of the people by conducting systematic and
controlled archaeological excavations in different sites on
land and underwater, and to supplement existing historical
documentation;
7.10. Collect, preserve, restore and exhibit to the public
objects of arts;
7.11. Conduct researches on Philippine arts and its relations
to the arts of other countries and prepare for publication
research papers on them;
7.12. Carry out researches among different people of the
Philippines to define the ethnography of each group, to
establish the ethnology and to document for posterity and
exhibit to the public their traditional and existing cultures,
practices and artistic forms expressive of their culture;
7.13. Collect, acquire, identify, reconstruct, restore, preserve
and maintain ethnographic items; gather their
interpretations; mount exhibitions and prepare technical
manuscripts for publication;
7.14. Maintain a chemical and physical laboratory where
scientific analysis of materials recovered from
archaeological and ethnographic sites may be undertaken
for their preservation;
7.15. Plan, organize and stage exhibitions in all disciplines
covered by the Museum geology, cultural properties,
zoology, botany, archaeology, arts, anthropology,
restoration and engineering;
7.16. Plan and organize library services, guided tours,
lectures, seminars, symposia or workshops;
7.17. Implement and enforce Presidential Decree Nos. 260,
374, 756, 1109, 1492, 996, 1683 and 1726-A;
7.18. Supervise restoration, preservation, reconstruction,
demolition, alteration, relocation and remodeling of
immovable properties and archaeological landmarks and
sites;
7.19. Disseminate astronomical knowledge and information
through planetarium shows, lectures and demonstrations,
exhibits and actual celestial observations;
7.20. Maintain, preserve, interpret and exhibit to the public
the artifacts in sites of the Paleolithic habitation site of the
possible earliest man to the Philippines, the Neolithic
habitation of the ancient Filipino at the Tabon Caves, and
other important archaeological sites;
7.21. Secure and receive bilateral and international grants
and endowments to support its programs/projects.
7.22. Initiate, promote, encourage and support the
establishment and promotion of, and extend management,
technical and financial assistance to regional, provincial, city
and/or local museums; and
7.23. Develop and implement consortium agreements and
linkages with institutions of higher learning and other
organizations engaged in similar researches being
undertaken by the National Museum.
4. Natl Historical Commission Act RA 4368
AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A NATIONAL HISTORICAL
COMMISSION, TO DEFINE ITS POWERS AND FUNCTIONS,
AUTHORIZING THE APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS
THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Section 1. There is hereby created a National Historical
Commission which shall be composed of a Chairman and
four regular members and two ex-officio members, namely,
the Director of Public Libraries and the Director of the
National Museum: provided, that the ex-officio members
shall not receive any compensation and shall not have the
right to vote.
Section 2. The Chairman and four members shall be
appointed by the President of the Philippines with the
consent of the Commission on Appointments. No one shall
be appointed to any of these positions unless he be a citizen
of the Philippines, at least thirty years old, at least a holder
of a four-year college degree, and has distinguished himself
in historical research and writing. The Chairman shall
receive a compensation of twelve thousand pesos per
annum, and the four members shall each receive eight
thousand four hundred pesos per annum.
Section 3. The National Historical Commission shall be
under the direct control and supervision of the Department
of Education. The Chairman and the four members shall
hold office during good behavior until they reach retirement
Why is a global response needed?
Mercury pollution is a global problem that requires global
action because it moves with air and water, transcends
political borders, and can be transported thousands of miles
in the atmosphere.
What will the Minamata Covention require?
The Minamata Convention, once in force, will require party
nations to:
a. Reduce and where feasible eliminate the use and release
of mercury from artisanal and small-scale gold mining.
b. Control mercury air emissions from coal-fired power
plants, coal-fired industrial boilers, certain non-ferrous
metals production operations, waste incineration and
cement production.
c. Phase-out or take measures to reduce mercury use in
certain products such as batteries, switches, lights,
cosmetics, pesticides and measuring devices, and create
initiatives to reduce the use of mercury in dental
amalgam.
d. Phase out or reduce the use of mercury in manufacturing
processes such as chlor-alkali production, vinyl chloride
monomer production, and acetaldehyde production.
e. In addition, the Convention addresses the supply and
trade of mercury; safer storage and disposal, and
strategies to address contaminated sites.
f. The Convention includes provisions for technical
assistance, information exchange, public awareness, and
research and monitoring. It also requires Parties to report
on measures taken to implement certain provisions. The
Convention will be periodically evaluated to assess its
effectiveness at meeting its objective of protecting human
health and the environment from mercury pollution.
Summary of the Minamata Treaty on Mercury on the
basis of conference room papers (CRPs) at the end of
INC 5. [28 January 2013]
Preamble (CRP 53) - Reaffirms the Rio+20 principles
including common but differentiated responsibilities;
Recognizes the health concerns of vulnerable populations
and particular vulnerabilities of indigenous communities;
Discusses the importance of financial, technical,
technological and capacity-building support, particularly for
developing countries and economies in transition;
States that the Convention and other international
agreements are mutually supportive and includes
references to WHO activities related to human health and
mercury.
Convention Objective (Article 1, CRP 15 and 20)
The objective of the Convention is to protect human health
and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and
releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
Mercury supply sources and trade (Article 3, CRP 55)
New mercury mines in a country are prohibited as of the
date the Convention enters into force by that government;
2. Land Management
3. Mines and Geo-Sciences Development
4. Environmental Management
4.1 Issues clearance certificate to vehicles which have
passed the smoke-belching test.
4.2 Issues pollution clearance and temporary permit to
operate pollution control devices including the collection of
corresponding fees/charges.
4.3 Conducts monitoring and investigation of pollution
sources and control facilities.
4.4 Supervises, coordinates and monitors the
implementation of environmental programs, projects and
activities in the region.[10] [emphasis supplied]
Furthermore, monitoring is defined in DAO No. 21, Series of
1992, as the activity designed to gauge the level of
compliance with the conditions stipulated in the ECC,[11]
and in the EIS[12] or PD[13] submitted.[14] This is the
function of the PENR and CENR offices as mandated in DAO
No. 37, Series of 1996.[15] Particularly, it provided that:
Section 10. Compliance Monitoring
x x x
b. Monitoring of compliance with the proponents ECC issued
pursuant to an IEE,[16] and applicable laws, rules and
regulations, shall be undertaken by the concerned PENRO
and CENRO with support from the Regional Office and/or
EMB whenever necessary.
Hence, how could petitioner be guilty of neglecting a duty,
which is not even his to begin with? Administrative liability
could not be based on the fact that petitioner was the
person who signed and approved the ECC, without proof of
actual act or omission constituting neglect of duty.
In the absence of substantial evidence of gross neglect of
petitioner, administrative liability could not be based on the
principle of command responsibility.[17] The negligence of
petitioners subordinates is not tantamount to his own
negligence.
It was not within the mandated responsibilities of petitioner
to conduct actual monitoring of projects. The principles
governing public officers under the Revised Administrative
Code of 1987 clearly provide that a head of a department or
a superior officer shall not be civilly liable for the wrongful
acts, omissions of duty, negligence, or misfeasance of his
subordinates, unless he has actually authorized by written
order the specific act or misconduct complained of.[18]
The investigation conducted by the Ombudsman refers to
the tragic incident in Cherry Hills Subdivision, Antipolo
Rizal, where several families lost lives and homes. Despite
the fact that what was involved was a housing and land
development project, petitioner, as the Regional Executive
Director for Region IV, Department of Environment and
Natural Resources, was found negligent because he was the
one who signed and approved the ECC.
On March 12, 1994, an Inspection Report allegedly prepared
by respondent BALICAS, attested by respondent RUTAQUIO
and approved by respondent TOLENTINO re: field
evaluation to the issuance of ECC, was submitted.
Consequently, on April 28, 1994, upon recommendations of
respondent TOLENTINO, Philjas application for ECC was
approved by respondent PRINCIPE, then Regional Executive
Director, DENR under ECC-137-R1-212-94.
A Mining Field Report for SSMP dated May 10, 1994 was
submitted pursuant to the inspection report prepared by
respondents CAYETANO, FELICIANO, HILADO and BURGOS,
based on their inspection conducted on April 25 to 29, 1994.
The report recommended, among others, that the proposed
extraction of materials would pose no adverse effect to the
environment.
Records further disclosed that on August 10, 1994,
respondent BALICAS monitored the implementation of the
CHS Project Development to check compliance with the
terms and conditions in the ECC. Again, on August 23, 1995,
she conducted another monitoring on the project for the
same purpose. In both instances, she noted that the project
was still in the construction stage hence, compliance with
the stipulated conditions could not be fully assessed, and
therefore, a follow-up monitoring is proper. It appeared
from the records that this August 23, 1995 monitoring
inspection was the last one conducted by the DENR.
On September 24, 1994, GOV. CASIMIRO I. YNARES, JR.,
approved the SSMP applied for by Philjas under SSMP No.
RZL-012, allowing Philjas to extract and remove 50,000
metric tons of filling materials from the area for a period of
two (2) years from date of its issue until September 6,
1996.[4]
Immediately after the tragic incident on August 3, 1999, a
fact-finding investigation was conducted by the Office of the
Ombudsman through its Fact-Finding and Intelligence
Bureau (FFIB), which duly filed an administrative complaint
with the Office of the Ombudsman against several officials of
the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB),
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
and the local government of Antipolo.
The charge against petitioner involved a supposed failure
on her part to monitor and inspect the development of
Cherry Hills Subdivision, which was assumed to be her duty
as DENR senior environmental management specialist
assigned in the province of Rizal.
For her part, petitioner belied allegations that monitoring
was not conducted, claiming that she monitored the
development of Cherry Hills Subdivision as evidenced by
three (3) monitoring reports dated March 12, 1994, August
10, 1994 and August 23, 1995. She averred that she also
conducted subsequent compliance monitoring of the terms
and conditions of Philjas Environmental Compliance
ISSUE:W/N the acting mayor had a legal ground for
ordering the stoppage of Technology Developer
HELD: YES. The following circumstances militate against the
maintenance of the writ of preliminary injunction sought by
petitioner:
1. No mayor's permit had been secured. While it is true that
the matter of determining whether there is a pollution of
the environment that requires control if not prohibition of
the operation of a business is essentially addressed to the
Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources, it must be recognized
that the mayor of a town has as much responsibility to
protect its inhabitants from pollution, and by virtue of his
police power, he may deny the application for a permit to
operate a business or otherwise close the same unless
appropriate measures are taken to control and/or avoid
injury to the health of the residents of the community from
the emissions in the operation of the business.
2. The Acting Mayor called the attention of petitioner to the
pollution emitted by the fumes of its plant whose offensive
odor "not only pollute the air in the locality but also affect
the health of the residents in the area," so that petitioner
was ordered to stop its operation until further orders.
3. This action of the Acting Mayor was in response to the
complaint of the residents of Barangay Guyong, Sta. Maria,
Bulacan, directed to the Provincial Governor through
channels.
4. The closure order of the Acting Mayor was issued only
after an investigation was made by Marivic Guina who in
her report observed that the fumes emitted by the plant
goes directly to the surrounding houses and that no proper
air pollution device has been installed.
5. Petitioner failed to produce a building permit from the
municipality of Sta. Maria, but instead presented a building
permit issued by an official of Makati on March 6, 1987.
6. While petitioner was able to present a temporary permit
to operate by the then National Pollution Control
Commission on December 15, 1987, the permit was good
only up to May 25, 1988. Petitioner had not exerted any
effort to extend or validate its permit much less to install
any device to control the pollution and prevent any hazard
to the health of the residents of the community.
Court takes note of the plea of petitioner focusing on its
huge investment in this dollar-earning industry. It must be
stressed however, that concomitant with the need to
promote investment and contribute to the growth of the
economy is the equally essential imperative of protecting
the health, nay the very lives of the people, from the
deleterious effect of the pollution of the environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL
PRINCIPLES
PRINCIPLES OF WAR
1. DUE DILIGENCE
- aka Good
Neighborliness
- where the sovereign right
to exploit own resources
entails responsibility to
ensure that the activities do
not cause damage to other
states or areas beyond
jurisdiction.
1. NECESSITY
- w/n the act of war to be
done is necessary in order
to achieve a legitimate
military advantage
2. PROPORTIONALITY
-w/n the advantage sought
by the necessary action
outweighs the anticipated
collateral damage
2. PRECAUTIONARY
3. DISCRIMINATION
PRINCIPLE
- w/n the chosen weapon
or tactic sufficiently
- that in order to protect the discriminates between
environment, the
military and civilian
precautionary approach
objects; or between
shall be applied: where
combatants and non
there are threats of serious combatants
or irreversible damage, the
lack of full scientific
4. HUMANITY
certainty shall not be used
- w/n the act causes
as a reason of postponing
unnecessary suffering to
cost-effective measures to
the victim
prevent environmental
degradation
-w/n minimal force is
used to achieve enemy
submission
Objective of ENVIRONMENTAL PRINCIPLES: to prevent
invention of new and more destructive weapons of war
thereby anticipating and preventing damage to the
environment.
Principle 24 of the UN Declaration on Environment and
Development states: Warfare is inherently destructive of
sustainable development. States shall therefore respect
international law providing protection for the environment
in times of armed conflict and cooperate in its further
development as necessary.
Martens Clause in cases not covered by specific
provisions, civilians and combatants remain under the
protection and authority of:
1. principles of war [necessity/proportionality
/discrimination/humanity]
2. principles of international law derived from
established customs
3. principles of humanity
4. dictates of public conscience
2 major groups of international conventions which
protect the environment during wartime:
a. Geneva Conventions [Switzerland] a body of
treaties governing the behavior of belligerents and
provides varying degrees of protection of
combatants, prisoners of war, civilians and their
property, and cultural property
Composed of:
a. 1976 Convention on the Prohibition of
Military and Any other Hostile Use of
Environmental Modification Techniques
[ENMOD] where the natural environment is
deliberately manipulated to cause destruction
- example: altering weather patterns,
earthquake modification, ocean current
modification to create tidal waves, river
diversion, destruction of a dam
b. 1977 Additional Protocol [Protocol I] with
ENMOD, applies to international wars
- placed great emphasis on objects necessary to
the survival of civilian population including
civilian infrastructures such as power plants
and water treatment facilities
c. 1977 Additional Protocol to the Protection
of Victims in Non International Armed
Conflicts applied to internal conflicts
b. Hague Convention [Netherlands] governed
weapons which sought to ban weapons that cause
unnecessary suffering pursuant to the right of
Parties in armed conflict to choose methods or
means of warfare is NOT unlimited.
Conventions:
1. Convention IV Respectng the Laws and Customs of
War on Land with Annex of Regulations [1907]
2. Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of
Asphyxiating, Poisonous, or other Gases, and
Bacteriological Methods of Warfare [1925]
3. Convention on the Prohibition on the Development,
Production, Stockpiling of bacteriological
(Biological) and Toxin Weapons and their
Destruction [1972]
4. Convention on the Prohibitions and Restrictions on
the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons which
may be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to
have Indiscriminate Effects (1980)
5. Convention on the Prohibition on the Development,
Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical
Weapons and on their Destruction [1993]
- restricted weapons included:
o exploding munitions
o poisonous gas
o chemical and biological weapons
o blinding lasers
o land mines
- while most are designed to target humans, many
bring about environmental consequences [i.e.
MOST DIFFICULT ISSUE IN CONFRONTING THE
COMMUNITY OF NATIONS IN REGARD TO PROTECTION OF
THE ENVIRONMENT IN TIMES OF ARMED CONFLICT
How to impose the law against powerful nations [ US vs.
Vietnam, Russia vs. Afghanistan, Allied forces in Gulf War
and Kosovo]
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FOR APRIL 18:
2. A World Tribunal to Protect the Environment?
Premises, Opportunities, Obstacles [PLJ Vol. 79, 4,
February 2005] by: Amado S. Tolentino Jr.
A WORLD TRIBUNAL TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT?
As proposed, the following parties may appear before the
International Court of the environment:
a) Individuals;
b) Non-governmental organizations and environmental
associations;
c) States;
d) Supranational organizations such as the European
Union; and
e) International organizations under the UN and the
individual organs of the UN.
Of relevance is the fact that, to date, the International Court
of Justice has declined to submit decisions by UN organs to
judicial review. International organizations are not
accountable in law and do not exercise powered
independently of their member states. How can the World
Bank, for example, be held legally accountable for it
participation in an oil and pipeline project were to result in
environmental harm? In connection, take note than in
recent times, international financing institutions such as the
International Monetary Fund and regional development
banks have become the object of ire of nongovernmental
organizations (NGOs), and even some government arms,
due to development projects perceived as destructive of the
environment.
At present, international organizations, environmental
associations, NGOs and potentially affected individuals are
not granted direct access to the ICJ. Only States have direct
access and not the individuals who are the direct victims of
environmental destruction. While it is commonly known
that States themselves may commit or tolerate
environmental crimes, it is advisable and realistic to work
towards strengthening international judicial guarantees for
effectively protecting the rights of the individual to a
healthy and undisturbed environment.
The international community must be aware that a proper
international court exists where they can make their claims
apart from a higher authority responsible for its
management, supervision and control. That proposed
higher authority can exist in the form of the proposed
International Environment Agency. Further, the evolution of
the concept of environmental crime, the widening of liability
law for environmental damages, and the application of the
Polluter Pays Principle could make a new court necessary.
Supplementary arguments are the jurisdictional deficiencies
in different state systems, the social and ethical need for
environmental justice and the educational role of such an
institution. Last but not the least, an international court for
the environment ould be able to focus special attention on
areas outside the jurisdiction of individual states. For
example, such a body could concentrate on the urgent
problems of protecting the global commons.
Critics may point out that the ICJ established a Chamber for
environmental matters in 1993. Nevertheless, it is
unrealistic to expect that tribunal to extend legal access to
private parties or political action groups because States
Second, the Permanent Court of Arbitrations Environment
Facility could result in increased confidence in the PCA as a
venue for settling disputes involving international
environmental issues. One notes the PCAs rules on
international arbitration where only one party is a State,
and similar rules for disputes involving intergovernmental
organizations and States and international organizations
and private parties.
Finally, the establishment of the Inspection Panel by the
World Bank and similar units by other development banks
such as the Asian Development Bank and the InterAmerican Development Bank could translate factual
relationships that exist between individuals and groups and
an international body into a legal relationship and enable
them to hold the organization accountable. The
International Monetary Fund will likewise be establishing
an Independent Evaluation Office.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
SUPPLEMENTING SOURCES BY AMB. TOLENTINO
a. PROBLEM AREAS, ISSUES AND CONCERNS IN THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
*** CONSIDER FOR FINALS: THINK OF MEANS OF HOW TO
SOLVE SUCH ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
Barriers to Compliance
Factors Motivating
and Factors Encouraging
Compliance
Non-compliance
Economic
- desire to avoid a penalty
- lack of funds
- desire to avoid future
- greed/desire to achieve
liability
competitive advantage
- desire to save money by
- compelling demands for
doing more cost-efficient
resources
and environmentally
sound practices
Social / Moral
- moral and social values
-lack of social respect for the
for environmental
law
equality
- lack of public support for
- social respect for the law
environmental concerns
- clear Governmental will
- lack of governmental
to enforce environmental
willingness to enforce
laws
Personal
- positive personal
- fear of change
relationships between
- inertia
program personnel and
- ignorance about
facility managers
requirement
- desire on the part of the
- ignorance about how to
facility manager to avoid
meet the requirement
legal process
- desire to avoid jail, the
stigma of enforcement
and adverse publicity
Management
- jobs and training
- lack of internal
dedicated to compliance
accountability for
- bonuses or salary
compliance
increase based on
- lack of management
environmental
systems for compliance
compliance
- lack of compliance training
for personnel
Technological
- availability of affordable
- inability to meet
technology
requirements due to lack
of appropriate technology
- technologies that are
unreliable or difficult to
operate
b. MEA Negotiation
- Bilateral treaties are negotiated at ministerial or
government-to-government level
- Multilateral Treaties are often negotiated at diplomatic
conferences convened by:
1. an international organization (UN) or one of its
agencies (UNEP)
2. at invitation by a state
Depositary
Secretariat
- notes signatures
- day-to-day administration
- receives instruments of
of the treaty regime
ratification, acceptance
- receive reports from CP on
or accession
implementation and
- maintains list of all the
infringement
status of CP and
- convening annual
signatories
meetings or special
- amendments made to the
meetings on specific issues
treaty
or review meetings
c. MAJOR GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL INSTRUMENTS
[EXCLUDING MARINE ENVIRONMENT]
1971 - RAMSAR Convention on Wetlands of International
Importance [Ramsar Convention]
1972 - Convention Concernin the Protection of the World
Cultural and Natural Heritage [World Heritage
Convention]
1972 - Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the
Human Environment
1973 - Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Flora and Fauna [CITES]
1979 - Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Species of Wild Animals [Bonn Convention]
World Heritage
1972
Convention
Biosphere
Reserves &
Multilateral
Environmental
Agreements
Climate Change
1972 Rio
Convention
Migratory
Species of Wild
Animals 1979
Bonn
Convention
1992 Biological
Diversity
Convention``
e. Legislations in Compliance by ASEAN Countries in
Environmental Laws
SINGAPORE considered most rule conscious among
ASEAN
Regulates system permits; license mandatory rec
~system of inspection warnings (e.g factories required to
have anti-pollution equipment)
~consultation prior prosecution
~creativeness in littering (w/ vest to clean; seminar; media)
INDONESIA
Compliance strategy is:
---------------End----------------
UIOGD