Veering away from devastating BAU mind-set

BAU stands for Business-as-Usual, which, according to the Business Dictionary, “refers to the normal conduct of business regardless of current circumstances, especially difficult events which pose a potential negative impact.”

The mind-set is one big obstacle in the fight to restore sanity to our ecological and political landscape and in fighting climate change.

Despite the State’s clear duty in protecting the environment and the people’s rights to life, health and a healthful and balanced ecology, there is still an appalling impunity and clear disregard in the performance of such a mandate.

The oil spill that happened in Tañon Strait Protected Seascape last Friday is a clear example of a business-as-usual mentality that has to be changed. This incident compels the strict implementation of the Management Plan and the enforcement of our laws in the protected area.

For a megadiverse country like ours and the center of marine biodiversity in the world, at that, one would expect that our citizens, including public servants, would have that mind-set of stewardship over nature especially as we are given the privilege of hosting unique natural global heritage. We have species of flora and fauna that are not found in any part of the globe. More are still being discovered.

Our Supreme Court recognizes the rights of citizens to sue in behalf of nature. The Annotations to the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases, specifically in the Citizen suit provision, states that “To further encourage the protection of the environment, the Rules enable litigants enforcing environmental rights to file their cases as citizen suits. This provision liberalizes standing for all cases filed enforcing environmental laws and collapses the traditional rule on personal and direct interest, on the principle that humans are stewards of nature.”

In the landmark ruling of Resident Marine Mammals versus Reyes, which involved the offshore drilling for oil in Tañon Strait, of which this columnist and my colleague Liza Osorio were the stewards for the whales and dolphins in the area, the Supreme Court held that “the need to give the Resident Marine Mammals legal standing has been eliminated by our Rules, which allow any Filipino citizen, as a steward of nature, to bring a suit to enforce our environmental laws. It is worth noting here that the Stewards are joined as real parties in the Petition and not just in representation of the named cetacean species.”

The good news is we have citizens who deserve to be called genuine stewards of nature. Oceana Philippines, with partners Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, honored last week four steadfast defenders of our oceans. They are:

1. Norlan Pagal, of San Remigio, Cebu, whose staunch advocacy almost cost his life and left him paralyzed, in ensuring that our fisheries laws are enforced and his work continues.

2. Roberto Quigay of San Carlos City, Negros Occidental is a dynamic fisherfolk leader who has pushed for initiatives to protect our oceans and the livelihood of fisherfolk such as ordinances to establish marine protected areas.

3. Oliver Dayupay, a fisherfolk leader from Ayungon, Negros Oriental whose passion for the oceans was beyond measure. He religiously monitored marine protected areas and he was one of the volunteers to have a vessel monitoring device in his banca. His wife received the award as he passed away weeks back.

4. Vida Raunillo of Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental, a tireless woman leader who leads sea patrols, mangrove protection and livelihood activities.

Director Mundita Lim of the Biodiversity Management Bureau spoke about our awardees’ courage and determination and said that “…hope has never been lost. Day after day, they serve their purpose of consistently working for the protection of Tañon Strait. They fight against those who dare destroy and conduct illegal-fishing activities within the area which damages the habitats, as well as the marine organisms; and they act as a light to inspire individuals, groups and organizations toward sustainable management.” We need more Norlan, Roberto, Oliver and Vida in our midst. These selfless citizens inspire action on the part of dedicated enforcers who at times feel that they are alone in the battle to fight the destroyers of our planet.

It is a welcome development that more trainings are conducted to help capacitate our prosecutors, judges and even law professors to teach environmental law. Environmental education is compulsory in our country, in all courses, both formal and informal. Alas, there is still a dearth of faculty members who feel competent to teach it.

We thus welcome the move of the Asian Development Bank and its partnership with the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law in having the Training the Trainers initiative under the ‘Strengthening Capacity For Environmental Law In the Asia-Pacific: Developing Environmental Law Champions’ Program. As a result, there will be in-country trainings for the 14 countries, including the Philippines, to replicate what the trainees received when it was launched. The participants are expected to “play a critical role in strengthening environmental law and enforcement, addressing climate change, and establishing a regional knowledge sharing and collaboration network.”

Watch out for the announcement on the training of environmental law champions in the Philippines – soon.
With more environmental champions, we expect the BAU mentality in governance to disappear, casting the long-overdue sustainability mind-set in its place.