Protect the environment, protect life — Davide

Saying that environment protection is as important as the right to life, former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. called on members of the judiciary and the public to waste no time in saving what is left of Mother Nature.

“Humankind is in great peril, and the world is groaning in travail and torment because of the crisis we face today, perhaps unparalleled in terms of gravity, duration and rapid succession — an act of self-defense by an aggrieved Mother Earth which has been manipulated, abused, plundered and defiled by man,” he said.

The former chief justice said that supertyphoon Yolanda, the strongest typhoon that ever hit land, and floods are obvious manifestations of nature’s disgust over how it is being treated by people.

There’s no one else to blame for calamities but humans, whom he referred to as “the principal culprit of climate change”.

As a result, he said, calamities brought forth unquantifiable measures to food, energy, water crisis and diseases.

In “greening the judiciary”, Davide said judges and justices should see to it that justice is served for the environment as well as humanity.

Mainstreaming the environment, Davide explained, is putting it in “the middle of the stream where the current is strongest.”

Davide lauded environmentalist lawyer Antonio Oposa and other individuals who filed charges concerning the protection of the environment before the courts in an attempt to save nature.

He said it was Oposa and the dedicated group of environmentalists who provoked the High Court to be a “green court”.

Oposa filed a class suit in behalf of children against Fulgencio Facturan, then secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for the cancellation of Timber License Agreements.

In the landmark, Oposa vs Facturan, the Supreme Court, with Davide as the ponente recognized the right of children and future generations to a balanced and healthful ecology.

“They know that without a green judiciary, without courts that give preferential option for the environment, every effort of promoting and safeguarding environmental justice would hardly succeed,” he said.

Davide spoke at the opening of an environmental convention in Cebu City organized by the University Cebu College of Law and the German foundation Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.

The three-day event which carries the theme “Mainstreaming Environmental Justice through Science-based Participatory Governance and Effective Law Enforcement and Adjudication.”
Need to localize

Lawyer Grizelda Mayo-Anda of the Environmental Legal Assistance Center, Inc. (ELAC) said that while there are legal frameworks on climate change, there is still a pressing need to localize it.

She defined climate justice as a way of viewing climate change in a different perspective like on the human rights.

“At the end of the day, it’s the local fisherfolk, indigenous communities, farmers who bear the brunt of climate change impact. So it is important to localize it,” she said.

There is also a National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) for 2011 to 2028 which provides for “strategic priorities, outcomes and activities.”

A key activity under the plan was the implementation of a moratorium on polluting and extractive industries in protected areas, key biodiversity areas and other environmentally critical areas.

Private sector role

Dr. Rene Rollon of the UP Institute of Environmental Science and Meteorology cited the need for private companies dealing with the environment and natural resources to religiously consider the impact of their projects.

Rollon also sits in the DENR national office reviewing applications for Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC).

He lamented on how private companies just treat this as a mere requirement.

Yesterday’s environmental talks focused on integrating climate response in decision-making and integrated ecosystems approach in governance.