CRIMES against the environment, which lead to the destruction of forest and coastal ecosystems, often go unpunished in the Philippines. Environmentalists blame this on the poor enforcement of environmental laws.
An environmental advocate, Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez, wants this changed.
Last week taking the cudgel and standing side-by-side with various government and law-enforcement agencies, the country’s chief steward of the environment and natural resources, vowed to go after environmental offenders and stop what she described as social and environmental injustice.
Lopez is pinning her hope on the creation of the National Anti-environmental Crimes Task Force, or Task Force ng Kalikasan, “to respond quickly to verified reports” of environmental crimes from affected communities.
The members of the task force are the departments of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Interior and Local Government (DILG), Transportation (DOTr), National Defense (DND) and Justice (DOJ); the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Signing the agreement on August 8 at the DENR central office in Quezon City were Lopez, Interior Secretary Ismael D. Sueño, Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade, Defense Undersecretary Eduardo D. del Rosario and Defense Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, representing AFP chief Gen. Ricardo R. Visaya, and PNP chief Director General Ronald “Bato” M. de la Rosa.
The agreement includes a Declaration of Cooperation between members of the task force.
As the agency mandated to protect the environment and manage the country’s natural resources, the DENR is the designated head of the task force.
Mining problem
Lopez has ordered the suspension of at least seven mining companies as part of an ongoing mining audit to stop environmental destruction and people’s suffering in mining-affected areas. So far, the DENR, through the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), has issued preventive suspension orders against two nickel-mining companies in Zambales, two in Palawan; one on Manicani Island in Eastern Samar; and one in Surigao del Norte.
Just last week, DENR chief also ordered the suspension of the country’s only iron-producing mine operating in Bulacan.
Large-scale mining, however, is not the only problem. A bigger problem confronting the minerals-development sector involves the environmental destruction and pollution caused by small-scale mining operations.
Small-scale miners use toxic-heavy metals, like mercury, to separate and purify the gold and indiscriminately dump wastewater that end up in water bodies.
There are around 300,000 small-scale mining companies and operators in the Philippines. Most of these companies operate outside the declared Minahang Bayan, which is in violation of existing environmental laws and policies.
There are only five Minahang Bayan all over the country. The MGB is currently in the process of “fixing” the problem by identifying more Minahang Bayan.
DENR Senior Undersecretary Leo L. Jasareno said the task force would deal with the problem of illegal-mining operations, as well.
Illegal logging, fishing,wildlife trafficking
Besides illegal mining, the task force now targets illegal-logging, wildlife-trafficking and illegal-fishing activities, which Lopez consider as heinous environmental crimes.
“When you do illegal logging and illegal fishing, the people suffer,” Lopez said.
Lopez added that environmental protection and conservation is a key strategy in the fight against poverty in the rural areas.
The DENR, she said, is fighting these environmental crimes by addressing poverty in rural areas.
Illegal activities common in many areas include cutting and harvesting of trees banned by Executive Order [EO] 23; commercial fishing in municipal waters that result in overfishing; and use of illegal- and destructive-fishing methods that destroy coastal and marine environment prohibited under the Republic Act 8550, or the Philippine Fisheries Code of 1998
The campaign against illegal logging under the six-year Aquino administration achieved relative success. From the 197 illegal logging hot spots identified by the DENR in 2010, only 23 remains.
These remaining illegal-logging hot spots are high-risk areas, as those engaged in illegal logging are heavily armed.
Illegal fishing continues to be a major problem in many areas. Besides foreign fishing vessels encroaching in the country’s territory to raid fishing grounds, the use of illegal and destructive fishing methods by local commercial and small fishers aggravate the already sorry-state of the country’s marine environment.
Lopez lamented the dwindling fish catch, making life harder for small fishers who represent the poorest of the poor sector in the Philippines.
Illegal wildlife trade and the destruction of ecosystems, including protected areas, continue to threaten the country’s rich biodiversity, as well.
Alternative livelihood
In response to growing concerns of local mine workers affected by the ongoing audit, Lopez said the DENR would provide alternative livelihood.
The DENR chief said the agency could tap the displaced workers for the National Greening Program (NGP) as part of the agency’s move to shift focus from being a regulatory arm to a more development-driven agency that will utilize its resources to pave the way for sustainable development.
She said upland dwellers, including indigenous people, such as the lumad of Mindanao, would benefit more from protecting the forest and coastal areas against destructive activities, promising them government support.
“The bottom line is they need money. We will teach them how to make money without cutting the trees because that is for their own good. It is for their own protection.”
The DENR is eyeing other revenue streams as an alternative to mining, such as ecotourism, to boost income in rural areas to ease human pressure on their local environment and natural resources.
“We will work with the tourism and agriculture departments, as well as with the trade industry [department], to help jump-start the economy using the country’s resources in an approach that is inclusive,” Lopez said.
Stronger law enforcement
The poor enforcement of environmental laws remains a major challenge in the Philippines. While the country has an extensive line up of environmental laws, it has no specific unit dedicated to enforce the laws.
According to Lopez, the task force would ensure cooperation among concerned government agencies and their respective law-enforcement units to fight environmental crimes.
The DND has mandate and jurisdiction over the AFP; the DILG over the local government units and PNP; the DOTr over the PCG; and the DOJ taking charge of prosecution.
During the signing of the agreement, the signatories affirmed their support behind the DENR’s leadership of the task force.
Lopez is confident that the government would be able to carry out effectively measures to prevent and investigate environmental crimes, and arrest and prosecute offenders more effectively.
Under the agreement, each of the agencies would designate at least two representatives to form the core group of the task force.
Members of the task force are mandated to conduct an immediate assessment of law-enforcement needs and operations, form multisectoral law-enforcement teams based on the assessment of the requirements of each operation, conduct monthly action planning and ensure quick response to urgent calls from the DENR chief.
As part of the agreement, checkpoints and camps or stations manned by multisectoral teams in flashpoints and transit points of illegally harvested or hunted natural resources would be set up.
Intensified campaign
Lopez is expecting a positive outcome from an intensified campaign against environmental crimes within two weeks. DENR Undersecretary Arturo T. Valdez, Lopez’s designated head of the task force, said the campaign will be anchored on community support and cooperation.
“We will depend on the help of the communities. Before we strike, we will make sure that the information is verified. There will be complete staff work,” Valdez said.
Operations of the task force, he said, will be conducted in identified illegal-logging hot spots, as well as in areas where illegal fishing and use of destructive methods, such as dynamite and cyanide, are rampant.
Tawi-Tawi, he said, will be visited with the help of the AFP and the PCG. Palawan and the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, he said, will, likewise, be monitored for illegal logging and wildlife trafficking.
With the PNP, the AFP and the PCG backing the campaign, Lopez assured that the task force will work and strike hard.
“Now we have [PNP Director] General Bato the AFP and the PCG. I really feel this is going to [be] good [work],” Lopez said.
Environmental justice
Environmental groups under the Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) welcomee the creation of the task force. Clemente Bautista, the group’s national coordinator, expressed hope that the task force would lead to the protection of the environment, as well as the communities affected by destructive human activities.
However, more than environmental protection and shielding communities against harm, however, the group is batting for environmental justice. “We acknowledge the effort of Environement Secretary Lopez. We hope this will genuinely protect our communities and ecosystems from environmental criminals,” he said.
Seeking environmental justice should start first inside the DENR, particularly on its head office, Bautista said.
“Previous corrupt officials should be investigated and, if found liable, should be prosecuted, particularly those involved in the NGP reforestation fiasco,” Bausta said.
He said investigation should start with the involvement of former Environement Secretary Ramon Paje.
Kalikasan-PNE believes that administrative and executive orders, which allow and give consent to corporations to plunder the country’s resources, should be revoked, citing EO 79, and the Investment Defense Force, which allows regular military and paramilitary forces to be hired by private corporations, particularly mining and agricultural corporations.
“The task force will be an exercise in futility if these guidelines and laws remain the same,” he pointed out.
The creation of the Task Force ng Kalikasan offers renewed hope for stronger environmental protection. The DENR chief herself has expressed excitement and hopes of better days ahead.
Not the first time
This is not the first time that government agencies have come together to fight environmental crimes. Under the previous administration, the enforcement of EO 23 resulted in the filing of 1,370 cases in court and the conviction of close to 200 individuals involved in illegal-logging, -fishing and wildlife trade, a record the task force, hopefully, would surpass in the next six years.
Image credits: DENR Strategic Communication and Initiatives Service