JUAN ANTONIO OPOSA, et al., vs. THE HONORABLE FULGENCIO S. FACTORAN, JR., et al.

G.R. No. 101083, 224 SCRA 792, July 30, 1993, J. Hilario Davide Jr.

Facts: An action was filed by several minors represented by their parents against the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources to cancel existing timber license agreements in the country and to stop issuance of new ones. It was
claimed that the resultant deforestation and damage to the environment violated their constitutional rights to a balanced
and healthful ecology and to health (Sections 16 and 15, Article II of the Constitution).   The petitioners asserted that they
represented others of their generation as well as generations yet unborn.

Issue: Whether or not the said petitioners have a valid cause of action?

Ruling: Yes.  The court stated that the petitioners were able to file a class suit both for others of their generation and for
succeeding generations as “the minors' assertion of their right to a sound environment constitutes, at the same time, the
performance of their obligation to ensure the protection of that right for the generations to come.” And also the court
minors duly joined by their respective parents, had a valid cause of action in questioning the continued grant of Timber
License Agreements (TLAs) for commercial logging purposes, because the cause focuses on a fundamental legal right:
the right to a balanced and healthful ecology.