1987 Constitution and the

Environmental Laws

January 24, 2014

 Provisions in the 1987 Constitution

• Article II
• Section 15 provides that “the State shall
protect and promote the right to health of the
people and instill health conscious among
them”
• Section 16 provides that “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”.
 1987 Constitution
• Article XII entitled “National Economy and
Patrimony” that provides for the efficient use
and state ownership of natural resources.
 Local Government Code of 1991
• Section 2 Declaration of Policy

• (a) It is hereby declared the policy of the State that the

territorial and political subdivisions of the State shall enjoy
genuine and meaningful local autonomy to enable them to
attain their fullest development as self-reliant communities
and make them more effective partners in the attainment of
national goals. Toward this end, the State shall provide for a
more responsive and accountable local government structure
instituted through a system of decentralization whereby local
government units shall be given more powers, authority,
responsibilities, and resources. The process of
decentralization shall proceed from the national government
to the local government units.
 LGC of 1991
• Section 16- General Welfare
• Every local government unit shall exercise the powers
expressly granted, those necessarily implied there from, as
well as powers necessary, appropriate, or incidental for its
efficient and effective governance, and those which are
essential to the promotion of the general welfare. Within
their respective territorial jurisdictions, local government
units shall ensure and support, among other things, the
preservation and enrichment of culture, promote health and
safety, enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology,
encourage and support the development of appropriate and
self-reliant scientific and technological capabilities, improve
public morals, enhance economic prosperity and social
justice, promote full employment among their residents,
maintain peace and order, and preserve the comfort and
convenience of their inhabitants.
 LGC of 1991
• Section 17. Basic Services and Facilities
• (a) Local government units shall endeavor to be self-
reliant and shall continue exercising the powers and
discharging the duties and functions currently vested
upon them. They shall also discharge the functions and
responsibilities of national agencies and offices
devolved to them pursuant to this Code. Local
government units shall likewise exercise such other
powers and discharge such other functions and
responsibilities as are necessary, appropriate, or
incidental to efficient and effective provisions of the
basic services and facilities enumerated herein
 What are the Related Services
• (1) For Barangay:
• (iii) Services and facilities related to general
hygiene and sanitation, beautification, and
solid waste collection;
• (2) For a Municipality
• (vi) Solid waste disposal system or
environmental management system and
services or facilities related to general hygiene
and sanitation
 Related Services
• (3) For a Province:
• (iii) Pursuant to national policies and subject
to supervision, control and review of the
DENR, enforcement of forestry laws limited to
community-based forestry projects, pollution
control law, small-scale mining law, and other
laws on the protection of the environment;
and mini-hydroelectric projects for local
purposes
 Related Services
• 4) For a City:
• All the services and facilities of the
municipality and province
 LGC of 1991
• Section 26. Duty of National Government Agencies in the
Maintenance of Ecological Balance
• It shall be the duty of every national agency or government-
owned or controlled corporation authorizing or involved in
the planning and implementation of any project or program
that may cause pollution, climatic change, depletion of non-
renewable resources, loss of crop land, rangeland, or forest
cover, and extinction of animal or plant species, to consult
with the local government units, nongovernmental
organizations, and other sectors concerned and explain the
goals and objectives of the project or program, its impact
upon the people and the community in terms of
environmental or ecological balance, and the measures that
will be undertaken to prevent or minimize the adverse effects
thereof .
 LGC of 1991
• Section 27. Prior Consultations Required
• No project or program shall be implemented by
government authorities unless the consultations
mentioned in Sections 2 (c) and 26 hereof are complied
with, and prior approval of the sanggunian concerned
is obtained: Provided, That occupants in areas where
such projects are to be implemented shall not be
evicted unless appropriate relocation sites have
been provided, in accordance with the provisions of the
Constitution
 LGC of 1991
• CHAPTER IV
Relations With People's and Non-Governmental
Organizations
Section 34. Role of People's and Non-governmental
Organizations. - Local government units shall
promote the establishment and operation of
people's and non-governmental organizations to
become active partners in the pursuit of local
autonomy.
 LGC of 1991
• Section 35. Linkages with People's and Non-
governmental Organizations
• Local government units may enter into joint ventures
and such other cooperative arrangements with
people's and non-governmental organizations to
engage in the delivery of certain basic services,
capability-building and livelihood projects, and to
develop local enterprises designed to improve
productivity and income, diversity agriculture, spur
rural industrialization, promote ecological balance,
and enhance the economic and social well-being of the
people.
 LGC of 1991
• Section 36. Assistance to People's and Non-
governmental Organizations
• A local government unit may, through its local
chief executive and with the concurrence of the
sanggunian concerned, provide assistance,
financial or otherwise, to such people's and non-
governmental organizations for economic,
socially-oriented, environmental, or cultural
projects to be implemented within its territorial
jurisdiction.
 Local Officials to Implement the Envi
Laws
• Local Chief Executives (LCEs)
• Local Legislative Bodies ( Province, City,
Municipality and Barangay)
• Environmental and Natural Resources Officer
of the LGUs
 Environmental Related Laws
• RA 7942 (Philippine Mining Act of 1995)
• DENR Administrative Order No. 99-34
• RA 7076 (Peoples’ Small Scale Mining Act
of)
• PD 1899 (Establishing Small Scale Mining
as a new Dimension in Mineral
Development
 Environmental Laws
• RA 7586 (National Integrated Protected
Areas System-NIPAS)
• RA 8371 (Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act)
• RA 8435 (Agriculture and Fisheries
Modernization Act-AFMA)
• EO 263 (Community-Based Forest
Management)
 ENVI Laws
• EO 481 (Promotion and Development of
Organic Agriculture in the Philippines)
• PD 705 (Forestry Reform Code of the
Philippines)
• PD 701 (Amended Section 36 of PD 705)
• PD 1151 (Philippine Environmental Policy)
• PD 1152 (Philippine Environment Code)
 Envi Laws
• RA 3844 (An Act to Ordain the Agricultural
Reform Code and to Institute Land Reforms in
the Philippines)
• RA 7907 (Amended RA 3844 or Code of
Agrarian Reform of the Philippines)
• PD 1067 ( The Water Code of the Philippines)
• PD1586 (Environmental Impact Assessment)
 Envi Law
• Proclamation No. 2146 (Proclaiming certain
areas and types of projects as environmentally
critical and within the scope of environmental
impact statement system established under
PD 1586)
• RA 7160 (Local Government Code of the
Philippines)
 Environmental Laws
• R.A. 8749 (Clean Air Act of 1999) that moves
for an effective air quality management
program that will mitigate the worsening
problem of air pollution in the country
• R.A. 9003 (Solid Waste Management Act of
2000) that aimed at providing a
comprehensive solution to the country’s
garbage problem
 Envi Laws
• R.A. 9275 (Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004)
that moves for a comprehensive water quality
management scheme
• Administrative Order 171 issued in 2007 to
create a Presidential Task Force on Climate
Change (PTFCC).
 Envi Laws
• R.A. 9729 (Climate Change Act of 2009) which
aims to systematically integrate the concept of
climate change in the policy formulation and
development plans of all government agencies
and units
 Envi Laws
• EXECUTIVE ORDER 79, Series of 2012-
Institutionalizing and Implementing Reforms
in the Philippine Mining Sector Providing
Policies and Guidelines to Ensure
Environmental Protection and Responsible
Mining in the Utilization of Mineral Resource
 International Environmental
Commitment
• Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations
Conference on the Human Environment;
• Rio de Janiero Declaration on Environment
and Development (Agenda 21)
• Vienna Convention on the Protection of the
Ozone Layer
 International Environmental
Commitment
• Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete
the Ozone Layer;
• United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change
• Kyoto Protocol to Global Climate Change
Convention
 International Environmental
Commitment
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic
Pollutants
• Basel Convention on the Control of Trans
boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes
and their Disposal
• Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna