NOW, MORE than ever, the state of our environment is taking center stage in discussions around the world. The matter is existential. In the Philippines, one of the countries most prone to the adverse effects of climate change (rising sea levels, flooding, super typhoons, long droughts, etc.) the 18th Congress has the historic opportunity to advance a pro-ecology agenda with strong majority and minority support.
Environment issues must have strong multi-partisan backing across all political colors, so now is the time to finally enact meaningful laws on sustainable forest management, forest limits, land use, plastics regulation, marine resources protection and preservation, mining regulation, and climate change adaptation and disaster resilience.
This moment in our history is one we should not waste. There should be no reason why Congress cannot pass these badly needed ecology and environment laws within this term. These will be unforgettable legacies the 18th Congress can leave for present and future generations of Filipinos.
It is lamentable for example that since the 1987 Constitution was approved, Congress has yet to pass enabling laws on forest limits and land use. The Revised Forestry Code, which is circa 1975, will be 45 years old this 2020. This Presidential Decree 705 has been amended only on a piecemeal basis over the years, so it remains largely intact. It is a major reason for our country’s gross inability to stop illegal logging and save our forests.
We also do not have armed forest police protecting our forests. The forest rangers of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources are powerless against illegal loggers and illegal mining.
Too, our country has a plastics plague on land and at sea. The plastic crisis worsens everyday but the handful of progressive local government units seem to be waging a lonely battle against the problem as there is, to date, no national law banning and regulating the use of plastics.
This year could be a historic moment for ecology legislation. We hope our legislators won’t fail us.
