By Anabelle E. Plantilla
The Manila Times

THE Philippines has several centers of diversity and endemism, and its biological richness is described as “Galapagos times ten” (Heaney and Regalado in Ong, et al., 2002). It is also considered as one of the 20 mega-diversity countries in the world (WRI, 2003) and boasts of about 52,177 described species, more than half of which can only be found in the Philippines (Ong, et al., 2002).

The country is considered the only large country in the world with almost all of its territory included as an Endemic Bird Area (EBA), or sites with at least two restricted-range bird species entirely confined to them (Haribon-BirdLife, 2001). However, there remains less than 6 percent of the country’s original forest cover (Ong, et al., 2002), while 409 species are listed on the 2003 IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List of Threatened Species, thus making the country one of 25 global biodiversity hot spots.

Among the greatest threats to the country’s biological resources are logging, mining, illegal methods of fishing and other land-conversion activities. Today, over 18 million Filipinos who live in the overlogged uplands are directly affected by this loss of forest cover. Among them are most of the approximately 3.5 million to 4.5 million indigenous peoples of the Philippines.

Many of them are struggling for survival, demanding recognition of their ancestral domain rights, which includes rights to lands lost. (Broad and Cava­naugh, 1993) Being an archipelagic country, the Philippine coastline used to boast of beautiful coral reefs and thick mangrove forests.

But in the past 15 years 70 percent of the Philippine reefs have been destroyed—thanks to a combination of siltation from denuded mountains, tailings from mines and harmful fishing techniques.

These last include gargantuan drift nets used by foreign fishing fleets, dynamite blasting by fishers in search of quick-and-easy catches, and cyanide squirted into the reefs to stun and catch the exotic tropical fish about half of which will end up inhabiting aquariums in US homes.

Foreign demand for pieces of the coral reef takes its toll as well and the US market also accounts for more than half of these illegal exports of ornamental coral.

On the other hand, mangroves, which once bordered much of the country’s coastal areas creating rich breeding grounds and shelters for fish, are now unusual to find. According to Philippine government statistics, 92 percent of the virgin mangrove swamps that existed in 1920 had been destroyed by 1985; victims of coastal development, local demand for firewood and increasingly, “fishpondification,” that is conversion to commercial fishponds and prawn farms. (Broad and Cavanaugh, 1993)

In spite of the various environmental laws and ordinances that have been enacted, implementation sadly falls short of what is expected.

Given the very scarce resources of the government that can hardly provide for protection measures for protected areas and similar biologically important areas, the wheels of justice grind very slowly for the victims, if not stopping altogether in favor of the environmental violators.

Early this year Haribon, in cooperation with the Philippine Judicial Academy (PhilJa), headed by Dean Sedfrey Candelaria and Justice Portia Hormachuelos of the International Visitor Program-Philippines Alumni Foundation and with the support from the United Nations Development Programme-Global Environment Fund-Small Grants Programme (UNDP-GEF-SGP) and the Kingdom of the Netherlands, organized and conducted an environmental law seminar for selected judges in the Sierra Madre. Being well received by the participants, funding has now been made available for seminars to be held for judges in Cebu, Palawan, Bohol, Panay, Negros Island and Caraga.

As in most places in our country, these areas have forest and marine ecosystems that are highly threatened.

The seminar focuses on the following laws: Revised Forestry Code, Chainsaw Act, Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, National Caves and Cave Resource Management and Protection Act, National Integrated Protected Areas System Act, Philippine Fisheries Code, Philippine Mining Act, People’s Small-Scale Mining Act and Indigenous People’s Rights Act.

During the seminar, the judges have workshops with actual case studies to be resolved by them through the application of the environmental laws. Next year Haribon will publish and distribute an annotated reference of environmental laws taken up in the seminar.

This reference will cite court decisions on these laws to easily provide examples for judges should they encounter similar cases in their salas. Ms. Angelita Cunanan of the UNDP-GEF-SGP has proudly said that this project is their first in the world to work in partnership with judges for environmental protection and management.

Dean Candelaria mentioned the need for the creation of “green benches” and Haribon hopes that these seminars will bring out champions for the environment from our judicial system.

SOURCE: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2005/dec/03/yehey/opinion/20051203opi4.html