1. Republic Act No. 8749The Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999.
9. j) "Hazardous substances" mean those substances which present
- Polluter’s must pay principle
a. Terms
Article
Definition of Terms
Section 5. Definitions. - As used in this Act:
a) "Air pollutant" means any matter found in the atmosphere other
than oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, and the inert
gases in their natural or normal concentrations, that is detrimental
to health or the environment, which includes but not limited to
smoke, dust, soot, cinders, fly ash, solid particles of any kind, gases,
fumes, chemical mists, steam and radio-active substances;
b) "Air pollution" means any alteration of the physical, chemical
and biological properties of the atmospheric air, or any discharge
thereto of any liquid, gaseous or solid substances that will or is
likely to create or to render the air resources of the country
harmful, detrimental, or injurious to public health, safety or welfare
or which will adversely affect their utilization for domestic,
commercial, industrial, agricultural, recreational, or other
legitimate purposes;
c) "Ambient air quality guideline values" mean the concentration
of air over specified periods classified as short-term and long-term
which are intended to serve as goals or objectives for the
protection of health and/or public welfare. These values shall be
used for air quality management purposes such as determining
time trends, evaluating stages of deterioration or enhancement of
the air quality, and in general, used as basis for taking positive
action in preventing, controlling, or abating air pollution;
d) "Ambient air quality" means the general amount of pollution
present in a broad area; and refers to the atmosphere's average
purity as distinguished from discharge measurements taken at the
source of pollution;
e) "Certificate of Conformity" means a certificate issued by the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources to a vehicle
manufacturer/assembler or importer certifying that a particular
new vehicle or vehicle type meets the requirements provided
under this Act and its rules and regulations;
f) "Department" means the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources;
g) "Eco-profile" means the geographic-based instrument for
planners and decision-makers which present an evaluation of the
environmental quality and carrying capacity of an area. It is the
result of the integration of primary and secondary data and
information on natural resources and anthropogenic activities on
the land which are evaluated by various environmental risk
assessment and forecasting methodologies that enable the
Department to anticipate the type of development control
necessary in the planning area;
h) "Emission" means any air contaminant, pollutant, gas stream or
unwanted sound from a known source which is passed into the
atmosphere;
i) "Greenhouse gases" mean those gases that can potentially or
can reasonably be expected to induce global warming, which
include carbon dioxide, methane, oxides of nitrogen,
chlorofluorocarbons, and the like;
either: (1) short-term acute hazards such as acute toxicity by
ingestion, inhalation, or skin absorption, corrosivity or other skin
or eye contact hazard or the risk of fire explosion; or (2) longterm
toxicity upon repeated exposure, carcinogenicity (which in some
Two
cases result in acute exposure but with a long latent period),
resistance to detoxification process such as biodegradation, the
potential to pollute underground or surface waters;
k) "Infectious waste" means that portion of medical waste that
could transmit an infectious disease;
l) "Medical waste" means the materials generated as a result of
patient diagnosis, treatment, or immunization of human beings or
animals;
m) "Mobile source" means any vehicle propelled by or through
combustion of carbon-based or other fuel, constructed and
operated principally for the conveyance of persons or the
transportation of property goods;
n) "Motor vehicle" means any vehicle propelled by a gasoline or
diesel engine or by any means other than human or animal power,
constructed and operated principally for the conveyance of
persons or the transportation of property or goods in a public
highway or street open to public use;
o) "Municipal waste" means the waste materials generated from
communities within a specific locality;
p) "New vehicle" means a vehicle constructed entirely from new
parts that has never been sold or registered with the DOTC or with
the appropriate agency or authority, and operated on the
highways of the Philippines, any foreign state or country;
q) "Octane Rating or the Anti-Knock Index(AKI)" means the rating
of the anti-knock characteristics of a grade or type of automotive
gasoline as determined by dividing by two (2) the sum of the
Research Octane Number (RON), plus the Motor Octane Number
(MON); the octane requirement, with respect to automotive
gasoline for use in a motor vehicle or a class thereof, whether
imported, manufactured, or assembled by a manufacturer, shall
refer to the minimum octane rating of such automotive gasoline
which such manufacturer recommends for the efficient operation
of such motor vehicle, or a substantial portion of such class,
without knocking;
r) "Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS)" means those substances
that significantly deplete or otherwise modify the ozone layer in a
manner that is likely to result in adverse effects of human health
and the environment such as, but not limited to,
chloroflourocarbons, halons and the like;
s) "Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)" means the organic
compounds that persist in the environment, bioaccumulate
through the food web, and pose a risk of causing adverse effects
to human health and the environment. These compounds resist
photolytic, chemical and biological degradation, which shall
include but not be limited to dioxin, furan, Polychlorinated
Biphenyls (PCBs), organochlorine pesticides, such as aldrin,
dieldrin, DDT, hexachlorobenzene, lindane, toxaphere and
chlordane;
t) "Poisonous and toxic fumes" means any emissions and fumes
which are beyond internationally - accepted standards, including
but not limited to the World Health Organization (WHO) guideline
values;
 u) "Pollution control device" means any device or apparatus used
to prevent, control or abate the pollution of air caused by
emissions from identified pollution sources at levels within the air
pollution control standards established by the Department;
v) "Pollution control technology" means the pollution control
devices, production process, fuel combustion processes or other
means that effectively prevent or reduce emissions or effluent;
w) "Standard of performance" means a standard for emissions of
air pollutant which reflects the degree of emission limitation
achievable through the application of the best system of emission
reduction, taking into account the cost of achieving such
reduction and any non-air quality health and environmental
impact and energy requirement which the Department
determines, and adequately demonstrates; and
x) "Stationary source" means any building or immobile structure,
facility or installation which emits or may emit any air pollutant.
Section 31. Greenhouse Gases. - The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical
and Astronomical Service
Administration (PAGASA) shall regularly monitor meteorological factors
affecting environmental conditions including ozone depletion and
greenhouse gases and coordinate with the Department in order to
effectively guide air pollution monitoring and standard-setting activities.
The Department, together with concerned agencies and local government
units, shall prepare and fully implement a national plan consistent with the
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and other
international agreements, conventions and protocols on the reduction of
greenhouse gas emissions in the country.
Section 32. Persistent Organic Pollutants. - The Department shall, within
a period of two (2) years after the enactment of this Act, establish an
inventory list of all sources of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the
country. The Department shall develop short-term and long-term national
government programs on the reduction and elimination of POPs such as
dioxins and furans. Such programs shall be formulated within a year after the
establishment of the inventory list.

Section 33. Radioactive Emissions. - All projects which will involve the use
of atomic and/or nuclear energy, and will entail release and emission of
b. Classification of pollutants radioactive substances into the environment, incident to the establishment
or possession of nuclear energy facilities and radioactive materials, handling,
?
transport, production, storage, and use of radioactive materials, shall be
regulated in the interest of public health and welfare by the Philippine

c. Other technical terms Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), in coordination with Department and
other appropriate government agencies.

Section 20. Ban on Incineration. - Incineration, hereby defined as the

burning of municipal, biomedical and hazardous waste, which process emits
poisonous and toxic fumes is hereby prohibited; Provided, however, That the
prohibition shall not apply to traditional small-scale method of
community/neighborhood sanitation "siga", traditional, agricultural, cultural,
health, and food preparation and crematoria; Provided, Further, That existing
incinerators dealing with a biomedical wastes shall be out within three (3)
years after the effectivity of this Act; Provided, Finally, that in the interim,
such units shall be limited to the burning of pathological and infectious
wastes, and subject to close monitoring by the Department.

Local government units are hereby mandated to promote, encourage and

implement in their respective jurisdiction a comprehensive ecological waste
management that includes waste segregation, recycling and composting.

With due concern on the effects of climate change, the Department shall
promote the use of state-of-the-art, environmentally-sound and safe non-
burn technologies for the handling, treatment, thermal destruction,
utilization, and disposal of sorted, unrecycled, uncomposted, biomedical and
hazardous wastes.

Section 30. Ozone-Depleting Substances. - Consistent with the terms and

conditions of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone
Layer and other international agreements and protocols to which the
Philippines is a signatory, the Department shall phase out ozone-depleting
substances.

Within sixty (60) days after the enactment of this Act, the Department shall
publish a list of substances which are known to cause harmful effects on the
stratospheric ozone layer.
 2. Solid waste management act
REPUBLIC ACT 9003 January 26, 2001
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR AN ECOLOGICAL SOLID WASTE
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM, CREATING THE NECESSARY
INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS AND INCENTIVES, DECLARING
CERTAIN ACTS PROHIBITED AND PROVIDING PENALTIES,
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
a. Mandates on lgu’s
Section 10. Role of LGUs in Solid Waste Management - Pursuant to the
relevant provisions of R.A. No. 7160, otherwise known as the Local
government code, the LGUs shall be primarily responsible for the
implementation and enforcement of the provisions of this Act within their
respective jurisdictions.
Segregation and collection of solid waste shall be conducted at the barangay
level specifically for biodegradable, compostable and reusable
wastes: Provided, That the collection of non-recyclable materials and special
wastes shall be the responsibility of the municipality or city.
b. Definition of terms
Article 2
Definition of Terms
Section 3. Definition of Terms - For the purposes of this Act:
(a) Agricultural waste shall refer to waste generated from planting
or harvesting of crops, trimming or pruning of plants and wastes
or run-off materials from farms or fields;
(b) Bulky wastes shall refer to waste materials which cannot be
appropriately placed in separate containers because of either its
bulky size, shape or other physical attributes. These include large
worn-out or broken household, commercial, and industrial items
such as furniture, lamps, bookcases, filing cabinets, and other
similar items;
(c) Bureau shall refer to the Environmental Management Bureau;
(d) Buy-back center shall refer to a recycling center that purchases
of otherwise accepts recyclable materials from the public for the
purpose of recycling such materials;
(e) Collection shall refer to the act of removing solid waste from
the source or from a communal storage point;
(f) Composting shall refer to the controlled decomposition of
organic matter by micro-organisms, mainly bacteria and fungi,
into a humus-like product;
(g) Consumer electronics shall refer to special waste that includes
worn-out, broken, and other discarded items such as radios,
stereos, and TV sets;
(h) Controlled dump shall refer to a disposal site at which solid
waste is deposited in accordance with the minimum prescribed
standards of site operation;
(i) Department shall refer to the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources;
(j) Disposal shall refer to the discharge, deposit, dumping, spilling,
leaking or placing of any solid waste into or in an land;
(k) Disposal site shall refer to a site where solid waste is finally
discharged and deposited;
(l) Ecological solid waste management shall refer to the systematic
administration of activities which provide for segregation at
source, segregated transportation, storage, transfer, processing,
treatment, and disposal of solid waste and all other waste
management activities which do not harm the environment;
(m) Environmentally acceptable shall refer to the quality of being
re-usable, biodegradable or compostable, recyclable and not toxic
or hazardous to the environment;
(n) Generation shall refer to the act or process of producing solid
waste;
(o) Generator shall refer to a person, natural or juridical, who last
uses a material and makes it available for disposal or recycling;
(p) Hazardous waste shall refer to solid waste management or
combination of solid waste which because of its quantity,
concentration or physical, chemical or infectious characteristics
may:
(1) cause, or significantly contribute to an increase in
mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or
incapacitating reversible, illness; or
(2) pose a substantial present or potential hazard to
human health or the environment when improperly
treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or
otherwise managed;
(q) Leachate shall refer to the liquid produced when waste
undergo decomposition, and when water percolate through solid
waste undergoing decomposition. It is contaminated liquid that
contains dissolved and suspended materials;
(r) Materials recovery facility - includes a solid waste transfer
station or sorting station, drop-off center, a composting facility,
and a recycling facility;
(s) Municipal waste shall refer to wastes produced from activities
within local government units which include a combination of
domestic, commercial, institutional and industrial wastes and
street litters;
(t) Open dump shall refer to a disposal area wherein the solid
wastes are indiscriminately thrown or disposed of without due
planning and consideration for environmental and Health
standards;
(u) Opportunity to recycle shall refer to the act of providing a place
for collecting source-separated recyclable material, located either
at a disposal site or at another location more convenient to the
population being served, and collection at least once a month of
source-separated recyclable material from collection service
customers and to providing a public education and promotion
program that gives notice to each person of the opportunity to
recycle and encourage source separation of recyclable material;
(v) Person(s) shall refer to any being, natural or judicial, susceptible
of rights and obligations, or of being the subject of legal relations;
(w) Post-consumer material shall refer only to those materials or
products generated by a business or consumer which have served
their intended end use, and which have been separated or
diverted from solid waste for the purpose of being collected,
processed and used as a raw material in the manufacturing of
recycled product, excluding materials and by-products generated
from, and by-products generated from, and commonly used
within an original manufacturing process, such as mill scrap;
(x) Receptacles shall refer to individual containers used for the
source separation and the collection of recyclable materials;
(y) Recovered material shall refer to material and by products that
have been recovered or diverted from solid waste for the purpose
of being collected, processed and used as a raw material in the
manufacture of a recycled product;
(z) Recyclable material shall refer to any waste material retrieved
from the waste stream and free from contamination that can still
be converted into suitable beneficial use or for other purposes,
including, but not limited to, newspaper, ferrous scrap metal, non-
ferrous scrap metal, used oil, corrugated cardboard, aluminum,
glass, office paper, tin cans and other materials as may be
determined by the Commission;
(aa) Recycled material shall refer to post-consumer material that
has been recycled and returned to the economy;
(bb) Recycling shall refer to the treating of used or waste materials
through a process of making them suitable for beneficial use and
for other purposes, and includes any process by which solid waste
materials are transformed into new products in such a manner that
the original product may lose their identity, and which maybe used
as raw materials for the production of other goods or
services: Provided, That the collection, segregation and re-use of
previously used packaging material shall be deemed recycling
under this Act;
(cc) Resource conversation shall refer to the reduction of the
amount of solid waste that are generated or the reduction of
overall resource consumption, and utilization of recovered
resources;
(dd) Resources recovery shall refer to the collection, extraction or
recovery of recyclable materials from the waste stream for the
purpose of recycling, generating energy or producing a product
suitable for beneficial use: Provided, That such resource recovery
facilities exclude incineration;
(ee) Re-use shall refer to the process of recovering materials
intended for the same or different purpose without the alteration
of physical and chemical characteristics;
(ff) Sanitary landfill shall refer to a waste disposal site designed,
constructed, operated and maintained in a manner that exerts
engineering control over significant potential environment
impacts arising from the development and operation of the
facility;
(gg) Schedule of Compliance shall refer to an enforceable
sequence of actions or operations to be accomplished within a
stipulated time frame leading to compliance with a limitation,
prohibition or standard set forth in this Act or any rule of
regulation issued pursuant thereto;
(hh) Secretary landfill shall refer to the Secretary of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources;
(ii) Segregation shall refer to a solid waste management practice
of separating different materials found in solid waste in order to
promote recycling and re-use of resources and to reduce the
volume of waste for collection and disposal;
(jj) Segregation at source shall refer to a solid waste management
practice of separating, at the point of origin, different materials
found in solid waste in order to promote recycling and re-use of
resources and to reduce the volume of waste for collection and
disposal;
(kk) Solid waste shall refer to all discarded household, commercial
waste, non-hazardous institutional and industrial waste, street
sweepings, construction debris, agricultural waste, and other non-
hazardous/non-toxic solid waste.
Unless specifically noted otherwise, the term "solid waste" as used
in this Act shall not include:
(1) Waste identified or listed as hazardous waste of a
solid, liquid, contained gaseous or semisolid form which
may cause or contribute to an increase in mortality or in
serious or incapacitating reversible illness, or
acute/chronic effect on the health of persons and other
organisms;
(2) Infectious waste from hospitals such as equipment,
instruments, utensils, and fomites of a disposable
nature from patients who are suspected to have or have
been diagnosed as having communicable diseases and
must therefore be isolated as required by public health
agencies, laboratory wastes such as pathological
specimens (i.e. all tissues, specimens of blood elements,
excreta, and secretions obtained from patients or
laboratory animals) and disposable fomites that may
harbor or transmit pathogenic organisms, and surgical
operating room pathologic materials from outpatient
areas and emergency rooms; and
(3) Waste resulting from mining activities, including
contaminated soil and debris.
(ll) Solid waste management shall refer to the discipline associated
with the control of generation, storage, collection, transfer and
transport, processing, and disposal of solid wastes in a manner
that is in accord with the best principles of public health,
economics, engineering, conservation, aesthetics, and other
environmental considerations, and that is also responsive to public
attitudes;
(mm) Solid waste management facility shall refer to any resource
recovery system or component thereof; any system, program, or
facility for resource conservation; any facility for the collection,
source separation, storage, transportation, transfer, processing,
Section 17. The Components of the Local Government Solid Waste
treatment, or disposal of solid waste;
Management Plan - The solid waste management plan shall include, but not
limited to, the following components:
(nn) Source reduction shall refer to the reduction of solid waste
before it enters the solid waste stream by methods such as
(a) City or Municipal Profile - The plan shall indicate the following
product design, materials substitution, materials re-use and
background information on the city or municipality and its
packaging restrictions;
component barangays, covering important highlights of the
distinct geographic and other conditions:
(oo) Source separation shall refer to the sorting of solid waste into
some or all of its component parts at the point of generation;
(1) Estimated population of each barangay within the
city or municipality and population project for a 10-year
(pp) Special wastes shall refer to household hazardous wastes such period;
as paints, thinners, household batteries, lead-acid batteries, spray
canisters and the like. These include wastes from residential and
(2) Illustration or map of the city/municipality, indicating
commercial sources that comprise of bulky wastes, consumer
locations of residential, commercial, and industrial
electronics, white goods, yard wastes that are collected separately,
centers, and agricultural area, as well as dump, landfills
batteries, oil, and tires. These wastes are usually handled
and other solid waste facilities. The illustration shall
separately from other residential and commercial wastes;
indicate as well, the proposed sites for disposal and
other solid waste facilities;
(qq) Storage shall refer to the interim containment of solid wastes
after generation and prior to collection for ultimate recovery or
(3) Estimated solid waste generation and projection by
disposal;
source, such as residential, market, commercial,
industrial, construction/ demolition, street
(rr) Transfer stations shall refer to those facilities utilized to receive waste,agricultural, agro-industrial, institutional, other
solid wastes, temporarily store, separate, convert, or otherwise waste; and
process the materials in the solid wastes, or to transfer the solid
wastes directly from smaller to larger vehicles for transport. This
(4) Inventory of existing waste disposal and other solid
term does not include any of the following:
waste facilities and capacities.

(1) a facility whose principal function is to receive, store,

separate, convert or otherwise process in accordance
with national minimum standards, manure;
(2) a facility, whose principal function is to receive, store,
convert, or otherwise process wastes which have already
been separated for re-use and are intended for
disposals, and
(3) the operations premises of a duly licensed solid
waste handling operator who is receives, stores,
transfers, or otherwise processes wastes as an activity
incidental to the conduct of a refuse collection and
disposal business.
(ss) Waste diversion shall refer to activities which reduce or
eliminate the amount of solid waste from waste disposal facilities;
(tt) White goods shall refer to large worn-out or broken
household, commercial, and industrial appliances such as stoves,
refrigerators, dishwashers, and clothes washers and dryers
collected separately. White goods ate usually dismantled for the
recovery of specific materials (e.g., copper, aluminum, etc.);
(b) Waste characterization - For the initial source reduction and
recycling element of a local waste management plan, the LGU
waste characterization component shall identify the constituent
materials which comprise the solid waste generated within the
jurisdiction of the LGU. The information shall be representative of
the solid waste generated and disposed of within the area. The
constituent materials shall be identified by volume, percentage in
weight or its volumetric equivalent, material type, and source of
generation which includes residential, commercial, industrial,
governmental, or other materials. Future revisions of waste
characterization studies shall identify the constituent materials
which comprise the solid waste disposed of at permitted disposal
facilities.
(c) Collection and Transfer - The plan shall take into account the
geographic subdivisions to define the coverage of the solid waste
collection area in every barangay. The barangay shall be
responsible for ensuring that a 100% collection efficiency from
residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural sources, where
necessary within its area of coverage, is achieved. Toward this end,
the plan shall define and identify the specific strategies and
activities to be undertaken by its component barangays, taking
into account the following concerns:

(1) Availability and provision of properly designed

(uu) Yard waste shall refer to wood, small or chipped branches,
containers or receptacles in selected collection points
leaves, grass clippings, garden debris, vegetable residue that is
for the temporary storage of solid waste while awaiting
recognized as part of a plant or vegetable and other materials
collection and transfer to processing sites or to final
identified by the Commission.
disposal sites;

(2) Segregation of different types of solid waste for re-

use, recycling and composting;

c. Components of a 10 year solid waste

 (3) Hauling and transfer of solid waste from source or
collection points to processing sites or final disposal
sites;
(4) Issuance and enforcement of ordinances to
effectively implement a collection system in the
barangay; and
(5) Provision of properly trained officers and workers to
handle solid waste disposal.
The plan shall define and specify the methods and systems for the
transfer of solid waste from specific collection points to solid
waste management facilities.
(d) Processing - The Plan shall define the methods and the facilities
required to process the solid waste, including the use of
intermediate treatment facilities for composting, recycling,
conversion and other waste processing systems. Other
appropriate waste processing technologies may also be
considered provided that such technologies conform with
internationally-acceptable and other standards set in other
standards set in other laws and regulations.
(e) Source reduction - The source reduction component shall
include a program and implementation schedule which shows the
methods by which the LGU will, in combination with the recycling
and composting components, reduce a sufficient amount of solid
waste disposed of in accordance with the diversion requirements
of Sec. 20.
The source reduction component shall describe the following:
(1) strategies in reducing the volume of solid waste
generated at source;
(2) measures for implementing such strategies and the
resources necessary to carry out such activities;
(3) other appropriate waste reduction technologies that
may also be considered, provided that such
technologies conform with the standards set pursuant
to this Act;
(4) the types of wastes to be reduced pursuant to Sec.
15 of this Act;
(5) the methods that the LGU will use to determine the
categories of solid wastes to be diverted from disposal
at a disposal facility through re-use, recycling and
composting; and
(6) new facilities and expansion of existing facilities
which will be needed to implement re-use, recycling
and composting.
The LGU source reduction component shall include the evaluation
and identification of rate structures and fees for the purpose of
reducing the amount of waste generated, an other source
reduction strategies, including but not limited to, programs and
economic incentives provided under Sec. 46 of this Act to reduce
the use of non-recyclable materials, replace disposable materials
and products with reusable materials and products, reduce
packaging, and increase the efficiency of the use of paper,
cardboard, glass, metal, and other materials. The waste reduction
activities of the community shall also take into account, among
others, local capability, economic viability, technical requirements,
social concerns' disposition of residual waste and environmental
impact: Provided, That, projection of future facilities needed and
estimated cost shall be incorporated in the plan.
(f) Recycling - The recycling component shall include a program
and implementation schedule which shows the methods by which
the LGU shall, in combination with source reduction and
composting components, reduce a sufficient amount of solid
waste disposed of in accordance with the diversion requirements
set in Sec .20.
The LGU recycling component shall describe the following:
(1) The types of materials to be recycled under the
programs;
(2) The methods for determining the categories of solid
wastes to be diverted from disposal at a disposal facility
through recycling; and
(3) New facilities and expansion of existing facilities
needed to implement the recycling component.
The LGU recycling component shall described methods for
developing the markets for recycled materials, including, but not
limited to, an evaluation of the feasibility of procurement
preferences for the purchase of recycled products. Each LGU may
determine and grant a price preference to encourage the purchase
of recycled products.
The five-year strategy for collecting, processing, marketing and
selling the designated recyclable materials shall take into account
persons engaged in the business of recycling or persons otherwise
providing recycling services before the effectivity of this Act. Such
strategy may be base upon the results of the waste composition
analysis performed pursuant to this Section or information
obtained in the course of past collection of solid waste by the local
government unit, and may include recommendations with respect
to increasing the number of materials designated for recycling
pursuant to this Act.
The LGU recycling component shall evaluate industrial,
commercial, residential, agricultural, governmental and other
curbside, mobile, drop-off and buy-back recycling programs,
manual and automated materials recovery facilities, zoning,
building code changes and rate structures which encourage
recycling of materials. The Solid Waste Management Plan shall
indicate the specific measures to be undertaken to meet the waste
diversion specified under Sec. 20 of this Act.
Recommended revisions to the building ordinances, requiring
newly-constructed buildings and buildings undergoing specified
alterations to contain storage space, devices or mechanisms that
facilitate source separation and storage of designated recyclable
materials to enable the local government unit to efficiently collect,
process, market and sell the designated materials. Such
recommendations shall include, but shall not be limited to
separate chutes to facilitate source separation in multi-family
dwellings, storage areas that conform to fire and safety code
regulations, and specialized storage containers.
The Solid Waste Management Plan shall indicate the specific
measures to be undertaken to meet the recycling goals pursuant
to the objectives of this Act.
(g) Composting - The composting component shall include a
program and implementation schedule which shows the methods
by which the LGU shall, in combination with the source reduction
and recycling components, reduce a sufficient amount of solid
waste disposed of within its jurisdiction to comply with the
diversion requirements of Sec. 20 hereof.
The LGU composting component shall describe the following:
(1) The types of materials which will be composted
under the programs;
(2) The methods for determining the categories of solid
wastes to be diverted from disposal at a disposal facility
through composting; and
(3) New facilities, and expansion of existing facilities
needed to implement the composting component.
The LGU composting component shall describe methods for
developing the markets for composted materials, including, but
not limited to, an evaluation of the feasibility of procurement
preferences for the purchase of composted products. Each LGU
may determine and grant a price preference to encourage the
purchase of composted products.
(h) Solid waste facility capacity and final disposal - The solid waste
facility component shall include, but shall not be limited to, a
projection of the amount of disposal capacity needed to
accommodate the solid waste generated, reduced by the
following:
(1) Implementation of source reduction, recycling and
composting programs required in this Section or
through implementation of other waste diversion
activities pursuant to Sec. 20 of this Act;
(2) Any permitted disposal facility which will be available
during the 10-year planning period; and
(3) All disposal capacity which has been secured
through an agreement with another LGU, or through an
agreement with a solid waste enterprise.
The plan shall identify existing and proposed disposal sites and
waste management facilities in the city or municipality or in other
areas. The plan shall specify the strategies for the efficient disposal
of waste through existing disposal facilities and the identification
of prospective sites for future use. The selection and development
of disposal sites shall be made on the basis of internationally
accepted standards and on the guidelines set in Sec. 41 and 42 of
this Act.
Strategies shall be included to improve said existing sites to
reduce adverse impact on health and the environment, and to
extent life span and capacity. The plan shall clearly define
projections for future disposal site requirements and the
estimated cost for these efforts.
Open dump sites shall not be allowed as final disposal sites. If an
open dump site is existing within the city or municipality, the plan
shall make provisions for its closure or eventual phase out within
the period specified under the framework and pursuant to the
provisions under Sec. 37 of this Act. As an alternative, sanitary
landfill sites shall be developed and operated as a final disposal
Section 16. Local Government Solid Waste Management Plans - The
site for solid and, eventually, residual wastes of a municipality or
province, city or municipality, through its local solid waste management
city or a cluster of municipality and/or cities. Sanitary landfills shall
be designed and operated in accordance with the guidelines set
under Secs. 40 and 41 of this Act.
(i) Education and public information - The education and public
information component shall describe how the LGU will educate
and inform its citizens about the source reduction, recycling and
composting programs.
The plan shall make provisions to ensure that information on
waste collection services, solid waste management and related
health and environmental concerns are widely disseminated
among the public. This shall be undertaken through the print and
broadcast media and other government agencies in the
municipality. The DECS and the Commission on Higher Education
shall ensure that waste management shall be incorporated in the
curriculum of primary, secondary and college students.
(j) Special Waste - The special waste component shall include
existing waste handling and disposal practices for special wastes
or household hazardous wastes, and the identification of current
and proposed programs to ensure the proper handling, re-use,
and long-term disposal of special wastes;
(k) Resource requirement and funding - The funding component
includes identification and description of project costs, revenues,
and revenue sources the LGU will use to implement all
components of the LGU solid waste management plan;
The plan shall likewise indicate specific projects, activities,
equipment and technological requirements for which outside
sourcing of funds or materials may be necessary to carry out the
specific components of the plan. It shall define the specific uses
for its resource requirement s and indicate its costs. The plan shall
likewise indicate how the province, city or municipality intends to
generate the funds for the acquisition of its resource
requirements. It shall also indicate if certain resource requirements
are being or will be sourced from fees, grants, donations, local
funding and other means. This will serve as basis for the
determination and assessment of incentives which may be
extended to the province, city or municipality as provided for in
Sec. 45 of this Act.
(l) Privatization of solid waste management projects - The plan
shall likewise indicate specific measures to promote the
participation of the private sector in the management of solid
wastes, particularly in the generation and development of the
essential technologies for solid waste management. Specific
projects or component activities of the plan which may be offered
as private sector investment activity shall be identified and
promoted as such. Appropriate incentives for private sector
involvement in solid waste management shall likewise be
established and provided for in the plan, in consonance with Sec.
45 hereof and other existing laws, policies and regulations; and
(m) Incentive programs - A program providing for incentives, cash
or otherwise, which shall encourage the participation of concerned
sectors shall likewise be included in the plan.
d. management plan
boards, shall prepare its respective 10-year solid waste management plans
consistent with the national solid waste management framework: Provided,
That the waste management plan shall be for the re-use, recycling and
composting of wastes generated in their respective
jurisdictions: Provided, further, That the solid waste management plan of the
LGU shall ensure the efficient management of solid waste generated within
its jurisdiction. The plan shall place primary emphasis on implementation of
all feasible re-use, recycling, and composting programs while identifying the
amount of landfill and transformation capacity that will be needed for solid
waste which cannot be re-used, recycled, or composted. The plan shall
contain all the components provided in Sec. 17 of this Act and a timetable
for the implementation of the solid waste management program in
accordance with the National Framework and pursuant to the provisions of
this Act: Provided, finally, That it shall be reviewed and updated every year
by the provincial, city or municipal solid waste management board.
For LGUs which have considered solid waste management alternatives to
comply with Sec. 37 of this Act, but are unable to utilize such alternatives, a
timetable or schedule of compliance specifying the remedial measure and
eventual compliance shall be included in the plan.
All local government solid waste management plans shall be subjected to
the approval of the Commission. The plan shall be consistent with the
national framework and in accordance with the provisions of this Act and of
the policies set by the Commission; Provided, That in the province of
Palawan, the local government solid waste management plan shall be
approved by the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, pursuant to
R.A. No. 7611.
e. Classification and characterization of solid wastes
Section 19. Waste characterization - The Department in coordination with
the LGUs, shall be responsible for the establishment of the guidelines for the
accurate characterization of wastes including determination of whether or
not wastes will be compatible with containment features and other wastes,
and whether or not wastes are required to be managed as hazardous wastes
under R.A. 6969, otherwise known as the Toxic Substance and Hazardous
and Nuclear Wastes Control Act.
f. Methods in waste management
Section 21. Mandatory Segregation of Solid Wastes - The LGUs shall
evaluate alternative roles for the public and private sectors in providing
collection services, type of collection system, or combination of systems, that
best meet their needs: Provided, That segregation of wastes shall primarily
be conducted at the source, to include household, institutional, industrial,
commercial and agricultural sources: Provided, further; That wastes shall be
segregated into the categories provided in Sec. 22 of this Act.
For premises containing six (6) or more residential units, the local
government unit shall promulgate regulations requiring the owner or person
in charge of such premises to:
(a) provide for the residents a designated area and containers in
which to accumulate source separated recyclable materials to be
collected by the municipality or private center; and
(b) notify the occupants of each buildings of the requirements of
this Act and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto.
Section 22. Requirements for the Segregation and Storage of Solid Waste -
The following shall be the minimum standards and requirements for
segregation and storage of solid waste pending collection:
(a) There shall be a separate container for each type of waste from
all sources: Provided, That in the case of bulky waste, it will suffice
that the same be collected and placed in a separate designated
area; and
(b) The solid waste container depending on its use shall be
properly marked or identified for on-site collection as
"compostable", "non-recyclable", "recyclable" or "special waste",
or any other classification as may be determined by the
Commission.
Article 3
Collection and Transport of Solid Wastes
Section 23. Requirements for Collection of Solid Wastes - The following
shall be the minimum standards and requirements for the collection of solid
waste:
(a) All collectors and other personnel directly dealing with
collection of solid waste shall be equipped with personal
protective equipment to protect them from the hazards of
handling wastes;
(b) Necessary training shall be given to the collectors and
personnel to ensure that the solid wastes are handled properly
and in accordance with the guidelines pursuant to this Act; and
(c) Collection of solid waste shall be done in a manner which
prevents damage to the container and spillage or scattering of
solid waste within the collection vicinity.
Section 24. Requirements for the Transport of Solid Waste - The use of
separate collection schedules and/or separate trucks or haulers shall be
required for specific types of wastes. Otherwise, vehicles used for the
collection and transport of solid wastes shall have the appropriate
compartments to facilitate efficient storing of sorted wastes while in transit.
Vehicles shall be designed to consider road size, condition and capacity to
ensure the sage and efficient collection and transport of solid wastes.
The waste compartment shall have a cover to ensure the containment of
solid wastes while in transit.
For the purpose of identification, vehicles shall bear the body number, the
name, and the telephone number of the contractor/agency collecting solid
waste.
Section 25. Guidelines for Transfer Stations - Transfer stations shall be
designed and operated for efficient waste handling capacity and in
compliance with environmental standards and guidelines set pursuant to this
Act and other regulations: Provided, That no waste shall be stored in such
station beyond twenty-four (24) hours.
The siting of the transfer station shall consider the land use plan, proximity
to collection area, and accessibility of haul routes to disposal facility. The
design shall give primary consideration to size and space sufficiency in order
to accommodate the waste for storage and vehicles for loading and
unloading of wastes.
Article 4 any products in packaging which is not environmentally acceptable. The
Recycling Program
Section 26. Inventory of Existing Markets for Recyclable Materials - The DTI
shall within six (6) months from the effectivity of this Act and in cooperation
with the Department, the DILG and other concerned agencies and sectors,
publish a study of existing markets for processing and purchasing recyclable
materials and the potential steps necessary to expand these markets. Such
study shall include, but not be limited to, an inventory of existing markets
for recyclable materials, product standards for recyclable and recycled
materials, and a proposal, developed in conjunction with the appropriate
agencies, to stimulate the demand for the production of products containing
post consumer and recovered materials.
Section 27. Requirement for Eco-Labeling - The DTI shall formulate and
implement a coding system for packaging materials and products to
facilitate waste and recycling and re-use.
Section 28. Reclamation Programs and Buy-back Centers for Recyclables
and Toxics - The National Ecology Center shall assist LGUs in establishing
and implementing deposit or reclamation programs in coordination with
manufacturers, recyclers and generators to provide separate collection
systems or convenient drop-off locations for recyclable materials and
particularly for separated toxic components of the waste stream like dry cell
batteries and tires to ensure that they are not incinerated or disposed of in
a landfill. Upon effectivity of this Act, toxic materials present in the waste
stream should be separated at source, collected separately and further
screened and sent to appropriate hazardous waste treatment and disposal
plants, consistent with the provisions of R.A. No. 6969.
Section 29. Non-Environmentally Acceptable Products - Within one (1) year
from the effectivity of this Act, the Commission shall, after public notice and
hearing, prepare a list of nonenvironmentally acceptable products as defined
in this Act that shall be prohibited according to a schedule that shall be
prepared by the Commission: Provided, however, That non-environmentally
acceptable products shall not be prohibited unless the Commission first finds
that there are alternatives available which are available to consumers at no
more than ten percent (10%) greater cost than the disposable product.
Notwithstanding any other provisions to the contrary, this section shall not
apply to:
(a) Packaging used at hospitals, nursing homes or other medical
facilities; and
(b) Any packaging which is not environmentally acceptable, but
for which there is no commercially available alternatives as
determined by the Commission.
The Commission shall annually review and update the list of prohibited non-
environmentally acceptable products.
Section 30. Prohibition on the Use of Non-Environmentally Acceptable
Packaging - No person owning, operating or conducting a commercial
establishment in the country shall sell or convey at retail or possess with the
intent to sell or convey at retail any products that are placed, wrapped or
packaged in or on packaging which is not environmentally acceptable
packaging: Provided, That the Commission shall determine a phaseout
period after proper consultation and hearing with the stakeholders or with
the sectors concerned. The presence in the commercial establishment of
non-environmentally acceptable packaging shall constitute a rebuttable
presumption of intent to sell or convey the same at retail to customers.
Any person who is a manufacturer, broker or warehouse operator engaging
in the distribution or transportation of commercial products within the
country shall file a report with the concerned local government within one
(1) year from the effectivity of this Act, and annually thereafter, a listing of
Commission shall prescribe the form of such report in its regulations.
A violation of this Section shall be sufficient grounds for the revocation,
suspension, denial or non-renewal of any license for the establishment in
which the violation occurs.
Section 31. Recycling Market Development - The Commission together with
the National Ecology Center, the DTI and the Department of Finance shall
establish procedures, standards and strategies to market recyclable materials
and develop the local market for recycle goods, including but not limited to:
(a) measures providing economic incentives and assistance
including loans and grants for the establishment of privately-
owned facilities to manufacture finished products from post-
consumer materials;
(b) guarantees by the national and local governments to purchase
a percentage of the output of the facility; and
(c) maintaining a list of prospective buyers, establishing contact
with prospective buyers and reviewing and making any necessary
changes in collecting or processing the materials to improve their
marketability.
In order to encourage establishments of new facilities to produce goods
from post-consumer and recovered materials generated within local
government units, and to conserve energy by reducing materials
transportation, whenever appropriate, each local government unit may
arranged for long-term contracts to purchase a substantial share of the
product output of a proposed facility which will be based in the jurisdiction
of the local government unit if such facility will manufacture such finished
products form post-consumer and recovered materials.
Section 32. Establishment of LGU Materials Recovery Facility. - There shall
be established a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in every barangay or
cluster of barangays. The facility shall be established in a barangay-owned
or -leased land or any suitable open space to be determined by the barangay
through its Sanggunian. For this purpose, the barangay or cluster of
barangays shall allocate a certain parcel of land for the MRF. The MRF shall
receive mixed waste for final sorting, segregation, composting, and recycling.
The resulting residual wastes shall be transferred to a long term storage or
disposal facility or sanitary landfill.
Section 33. Guidelines for Establishment of Materials Recovery Facility -
Materials recovery facilities shall be designed to receive, sort, process and
store compostable and recyclable material efficiently and in an
environmentally sound manner. The facility shall address the following
considerations:
(a) The building and/or land layout and equipment must be
designed to accommodate efficient and safe materials processing,
movement, and storage; and
(b) The building must be designed to allow efficient and safe
external access and to accommodate internal flow.
Article 5
Composting
Section 34. Inventory of Markets of Composts - Within six (6) months after
the effectivity of this Act, the DA shall publish an inventory of existing
markets and demands for composts. Said inventory shall thereafter be
updated and published annually: Provided, That the composting of
agricultural wastes and other compostable materials, including but not
limited to garden wastes, shall be encouraged.
Section 35. Guidelines for Compost Quality - Compost products intended
to be distributed commercially shall conform with the standards for organic
fertilizers set by the DA. The DA shall assist the compost producers to ensure
that the compost products conform to such standards.
urban areas, twenty (20) meters in agricultural areas and forty (40) meters in
forest areas, along their margins are subject to the easement of public use
in the interest of recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing and salvage. No
person shall be allowed to stay in this zone longer than what is necessary for
recreation, navigation, floatage, fishing or salvage or to build structures of
any kind.

Others:

g. Concept of citizen’s suit Article 20. The measure and limit of appropriation of water shall be
beneficial use.

Section 52. Citizens Suits - For the purposes of enforcing the provisions of
this Act or its implementing rules and regulations, any citizen may file an
appropriate civil, criminal or administrative action in the proper
courts/bodies against:
(a) Any person who violates or fails to comply with the provisions
of this Act its implementing rules and regulations; or
Beneficial use of water is the utilization of water in the right amount during
the period that the water is needed for producing the benefits for which the
water is appropriated.
Article 44. Drainage systems shall be so constructed that their outlets are
rivers, lakes, the sea, natural bodies of water, or such other water course as
may be approved by the proper government agency.

Article 45. When a drainage channel is constructed by a number of persons

(b) The Department or other implementing agencies with respect for their common benefit, the cost of construction and maintenance of the
to orders, rules and regulations issued inconsistent with this Act; channel shall be borne by each in proportion to the benefits drived.
and/or

Article 57. Any person may erect levees or revetments to protect his
(c) Any public officer who willfully or grossly neglects the property from flood, encroachment by the river or change in the course of
performance of an act specifically enjoined as a duty by this Act or the river, provided that such constructions does not cause damage to the
its implementing rules and regulations; or abuses his authority in property of another.
the performance of his duty; or, in any many improperly performs
his duties under this Act or its implementing rules and
Article 58. When a river or stream suddenly changes its course to traverse
regulations; Provided, however, That no suit can be filed until after
private lands, the owners of the affected lands may not compel the
thirty-day (30) notice has been given to the public officer and the
government to restore the river to its former bed; nor can they restrain the
alleged violator concerned and no appropriate action has been
government from taking steps to revert the river or stream to its former
taken thereon.
course. The owners of the land thus affected are not entitled to
compensation for any damage sustained thereby. However, the former
The Court shall exempt such action from the payment of filing fees and owners of the new bed shall be the owners of the abandoned bed in
statements likewise, upon prima facieshowing of the non-enforcement or proportion to the area lost by each.
violation complained of, exempt the plaintiff from the filing of an injunction
bond for the issuance of preliminary injunction.
The owners of the affected lands may undertake to return the river or stream
to its old bed at their own expense; Provided, That a permit therefor is
In the event that the citizen should prevail, the Court shall award reasonable secured from the Secretary of Public Works, Transportation and
attorney's fees, moral damages and litigation costs as appropriate. Communication and work pertaining thereto are commenced within two
years from the change in the course of the river or stream.
Section 53. Suits and Strategic Legal Action Against Public Participation
(SLAPP) and the Enforcement of this Act - Where a suit is brought against a
person who filed an action as provided in Sec. 52 of this Act, or against any
person, institution or government agency that implements this Act, it shall
be the duty of the investigating prosecutor or the Court, as the case may be,
to immediately make a determination not exceeding thirty (30) days whether
said legal action has been filed to harass, vex, exert undue pressure or stifle
such legal recourses of the person complaining of or enforcing the
provisions of this Act. Upon determination thereof, evidence warranting the
same, the Court shall dismiss the complaint and award the attorney's fees
and double damages.

This provision shall also apply and benefit public officers who are sued for
acts committed in their official capacity, there being no grave abuse of
authority, and done in the course of enforcing this Act.

3. Art 51 of the water code on easement

Article 51. The banks of rivers and streams and the shores of the seas and
lakes throughout their entire length and within a zone of three (3) meters in

4. Forestry
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 705
May 19, 1975
REVISING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 389, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
THE FORESTRY REFORM CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
a. Definition of terms
Section 3. Definitions.
(a) Public forest is the mass of lands of the public domain which
has not been the subject of the present system of classification for
the determination of which lands are needed for forest purposes
and which are not.
(b) Permanent forest or forest reserves refer to those lands of the
public domain which have been the subject of the present system
of classification and determined to be needed for forest purposes.
(c) Alienable and disposable lands refer to those lands of the
public domain which have been the subject of the present system
of classification and declared as not needed for forest purposes.
(d) Forest lands include the public forest, the permanent forest or
forest reserves, and forest reservations.
(e) Grazing land refers to that portion of the public domain which
has been set aside, in view of the suitability of its topography and
vegetation, for the raising of livestock.
(f) Mineral lands refer to those lands of the public domain which
have been classified as such by the Secretary of Natural Resources
in accordance with prescribed and approved criteria, guidelines
and procedure.
(g) Forest reservations refer to forest lands which have been
reserved by the President of the Philippines for any specific
purpose or purposes.
(h) National park refers to a forest land reservation essentially of
primitive or wilderness character which has been withdrawn from
settlement or occupancy and set aside as such exclusively to
preserve the scenery, the natural and historic objects and the wild
animals or plants therein, and to provide enjoyment of these
features in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future
generations.
(i) Game refuge or bird sanctuary refers to a forest land designated
for the protection of game animals, birds and fish and closed to
hunting and fishing in order that the excess population may flow
and restock surrounding areas.
(j) Marine parks refers to any off-shore area inhabited by rare and
unique species of marine flora and fauna.
(k) Seashore park refers to any public shore area delimited for
outdoor recreation, sports fishing, water skiing and related
healthful activities.
(l) Watershed reservation is a forest land reservation established
to protect or improve the conditions of the water yield thereof or
reduce sedimentation.
(m) Watershed is a land area drained by a stream or fixed body of
water and its tributaries having a common outlet for surface run-
off.
(n) Critical watershed is a drainage area of a river system
supporting existing and proposed hydro-electric power and
irrigation works needing immediate rehabilitation as it is being
subjected to a fast denudation causing accelerated erosion and
destructive floods. It is closed from logging until it is fully
rehabilitated.
(o) Mangrove is a term applied to the type of forest occurring on
tidal flat along the sea coast, extending along streams where the
water is brackish.
(p) Kaingin is a portion of the forest land, whether occupied or not,
which is subjected to shifting and/or permanent slash-and-burn
cultivation having little or no provision to prevent soil erosion.
(q) Forest product means timber, pulpwood, firewood, bark, tree
top, resin, gum, wood, oil, honey, beeswax, nipa, rattan, or other
forest growth such as grass, shrub, and flowering plant, the
associated water, fish, game, scenic, historical, recreational and
geologic resources in forest lands.
(r) Dipterocarp forest is a forest dominated by trees of the
dipterocarp species, such as red lauan, tengile, tiaong, white lauan,
almon, bagtikan and mayapis of the Philippine mahogany group,
apitong and the yakals.
(s) Pine forest is a forest composed of the Benguet Pine in the
Mountain Provinces or the Mindoro pine in Mindoro and
Zambales provinces.
(t) Industrial tree plantation is any tract of forest land purposely
and extensively planted to timber crops primarily to supply the
raw material requirements of existing or proposed processing
plants and related industries.
(u) Tree farm refers to any tract of forest land purposely and
extensively planted to trees of economic value for their fruits,
flowers, leaves, barks, or extractives, but not for the wood thereof.
(v) Multiple-use is the harmonized utilization of the numerous
beneficial uses of the land, soil, water, wildlife, recreation value,
grass and timber of forest lands.
(w) Selective logging means the systematic removal of the mature,
over-mature and defective trees in such manner as to leave
adequate number and volume of healthy residual trees of the
desired species necessary to assure a future crop of timber, and
forest cover for the protection and conservation of soil and water.
(x) Seed tree system is partial clearcutting with seed trees left to
regenerate the area.
(y) Healthy residual is a sound or slightly injured tree of the
commercial species left after logging.
(z) Sustained-yield management implies continuous or periodic
production of forest products in a working unit with the aid of
achieving at the earliest practicable time an approximate balance
between growth and harvest or use. This is generally applied to
the commercial timber resources and is also applicable to the
water, grass, wildlife, and other renewable resources of the forest.
(aa) Processing plant is any mechanical set-up, machine or
combination of machine used for the processing of logs and other
forest raw materials into lumber, veneer, plywood, wallboard,
block-board, paper board, pulp, paper or other finished wood
products.
(bb) Lease is a privilege granted by the State to a person to occupy
and possess, in consideration of a specified rental, any forest land
of the public domain in order to undertake any authorized activity
therein.
(cc) License is a privilege granted by the State to a person to utilize
forest resources as in any forest land, without any right of
occupation and possession over the same, to the exclusion of
others, or establish and operate a wood-processing plant, or
conduct any activity involving the utilization of any forest
resources.
(dd) License agreement is a privilege granted by the State to a
person to utilize forest resources within any forest land with the
right of possession and occupation thereof to the exclusion of
others, except the government, but with the corresponding
obligation to develop, protect and rehabilitate the same in
accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in said
agreement.
(ee) Permit is a short-term privilege or authority granted by the
State to a person to utilize any limited forest resources or
undertake a limited activity with any forest land without any right
of occupation and possession therein.
(ff) Annual allowable cut is the volume of materials, whether of
wood or other forest products, that is authorized to be cut
regularly from the forest.
(gg) Cutting cycle is the number of years between major harvests
in the same working unit and/or region, within a rotation.
(hh) Ecosystem means the ecological community considered
together with non-living factors and its environment as a unit.
(ii) Silviculture is the establishment, development reproduction
and care of forest trees.
(jj) Rationalization is the organization of a business or industry
using scientific business management principles and simplified
procedures to obtain greater efficiency of operation.
(kk) Forest officer means any official or employee of the Bureau
who, by the nature of his appointment or the function of the
position to which he is appointed, is delegated by law or by
competent authority to execute, implement or enforce the
provisions of this Code, other related laws, as well as their
implementing regulations.
(ll) Primitive tribe is a group of endemic tribe living primitively as
a distinct portion of a people from a common ancestor.
(mm) Private right means or refers to titled rights of ownership
under existing laws, and in the case of primitive tribes, to rights of
possession existing at the time a license is granted under this
Code, which possession may include places of abode and worship,
burial grounds, and old clearings, but excludes production forest
inclusive of logged-over areas, commercial forests and established
plantations of forest trees and trees of economic value.
(nn) Person includes natural as well as juridical person.
Section 54. Pasture in forest lands. No forest land 50% in slope or over may
be utilized for pasture purposes.
Forest lands which are being utilized for pasture shall be maintained with
sufficient grass cover to protect soil, water and other forest resources.
If grass cover is insufficient, the same shall be supplemented with trees or
such vegetative cover as may be deemed necessary.
The size of forest lands that may be allowed for pasture and other special
uses shall be determined by rules and regulations, any provision of law to
the contrary notwithstanding.
b. Environmental principles
5. Fisheries
a. Definition of terms
Section 4. Definition of Terms. - As used in this Code, the following terms
and phrases shall mean as follows:
1. Ancillary Industries - firms or companies related to the supply,
construction and maintenance of fishing vessels, gears, nets and
other fishing paraphernalia; fishery machine shops; and other
facilities such as hatcheries, nurseries, feed plants, cold storage
and refrigeration, processing plants and other pre-harvest and
post-harvest facilities.
2. Appropriate Fishing Technology - adaptable technology, both
in fishing and ancillary industries, that is ecologically sound, locally
source-based and labor intensive.
3. Aquaculture - fishery operations involving all forms of raising
and culturing fish and other fishery species in fresh, brackish and
marine water areas.
4. Aquatic Pollution - the introduction by human or machine,
directly or indirectly, of substances or energy to the aquatic
environment which result or is likely to result in such deleterious
effects as to harm living and non-living aquatic resources, pose
potential and/or real hazard to human health, hindrance to aquatic
activities such as fishing and navigation, including
dumping/disposal of waste and other marine litters, discharge of
petroleum or residual products of petroleum or carbonaceous
materials/substances, and other, radioactive, noxious or harmful
liquid, gaseous or solid substances, from any water, land or air
transport or other human-made structure. Deforestation, unsound
agricultural practices such as the use of banned chemicals and
excessive use of chemicals, intensive use of artificial fish feed,
and wetland conversion, which cause similar hazards and
deleterious effects shall also constitute aquatic pollution.
5. Aquatic Resources - includes fish, all other aquatic flora and
fauna and other living resources of the aquatic environment,
including, but not limited to, salt and corals.
6. Artificial Reefs - any structure of natural or man-made materials
placed on a body of water to serve as shelter and habitat, source
of food, breeding areas for fishery species and shoreline
protection.
7. Catch Ceilings - refer to the annual catch limits allowed to be
taken, gathered or harvested from any fishing area in
consideration of the need to prevent overfishing and harmful
depletion of breeding stocks of aquatic organisms.
8. Closed Season - the period during which the taking of specified
fishery species by a specified fishing gear is prohibited in a
specified area or areas in Philippine waters.
9. Coastal Area/Zone - is a band of dry land and adjacent ocean
space (water and submerged land. in which terrestrial processes
and uses directly affect oceanic processes and uses, and vice
versa; its geographic extent may include areas within a landmark
limit of one (1. kilometer from the shoreline at high tide to include
mangrove swamps, brackish water ponds, nipa swamps,
estuarine rivers, sandy beaches and other areas within a seaward
limit of 200 meters isobath to include coral reefs, algal flats,
seagrass beds and other soft-bottom areas.
10. Commercial Fishing - the taking of fishery species by passive
or active gear for trade, business & profit beyond subsistence or
sports fishing, to be further classified as:
(1) Small scale commercial fishing - fishing with passive
or active gear utilizing fishing vessels of 3.1 gross tons
(GT) up to twenty (20) GT;
(2) Medium scale commercial fishing - fishing utilizing
active gears and vessels of 20.1 GT up to one hundred
fifty (150) GT; and
(3) Large commercial fishing - fishing utilizing active
gears and vessels of more than one hundred fifty (150)
GT.
11. Commercial Scale - a scheme of producing a minimum
harvest per hectare per year of milkfish or other species including
those raised in pens, cages, and tanks to be determined by the
Department in consultation with the concerned sectors;
12. Coral - the hard calcareous substance made up of the skeleton
of marine coelenterate polyps which include reefs, shelves and
atolls or any of the marine coelenterate animals living in colonies
where their skeletons form a stony mass. They include: (a.
skeletons of anthozoan coelenterates characterized as having a
rigid axis of compact calcareous or horny spicules, belonging to
the genus corallium as represented by the red, pink, and white
corals which are considered precious corals; (b. skeletons of
anthozoan coelenterates characterized by thorny, horny axis such
as the antipatharians represented by the black corals which are
considered semi-precious corals; and (c. ordinary corals which are
any kind of corals that are not precious nor semi-precious.
13. Coral Reef - a natural aggregation of coral skeleton, with or
without living coral polyps, occurring in intertidal and subtidal
marine waters.
14. Demarcated Areas - boundaries defined by markers and
assigned exclusively to specific individuals or organizations for
certain specified and limited uses such as:
(a) Aquaculture, sea ranching and sea farming;
(b) Fish aggregating devices;
(c) Fixed and passive fishing gears; and
(d) Fry and fingerlings gathering.
15. Department - shall mean the Department of Agriculture.
16. Electrofishing - the use of electricity generated by batteries,
electric generators and other source of electric power to kill,
stupefy, disable or render unconscious fishery species, whether
or not the same are subsequently recovered.
17. Endangered Rare and/or Threatened Species - aquatic plants,
animals, including some varieties of corals and sea shells in
danger of extinction as provided for in existing fishery laws, rules
and regulations or in the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau of
the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR.
and in the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered
Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES).
18. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ. - an area beyond and
adjacent to the territorial sea which shall not extend beyond 200
nautical miles from the baselines as defined under existing laws.
19. FARMCs - the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Management
Councils.
20. Farm-to-Market Roads - shall include roads linking the
fisheries production sites, coastal landing points and other post-
harvest facilities to major market and arterial roads and highways.
21. Fine Mesh Net - net with mesh size of less than three
centimeters (3 cm.. measured between two (2. opposite knots of
a full mesh when stretched or as otherwise determined by the
appropriate government agency.
22. Fish and Fishery/Aquatic Products - include not only finfish but
also mollusks, crustaceans, echinoderms, marine mammals, and
all other species of aquatic flora and fauna and all other products
of aquatic living resources in any form.
23. Fish Cage - refers to an enclosure which is either stationary or
floating made up of nets or screens sewn or fastened together and
installed in the water with opening at the surface or covered and
held in a place by wooden/bamboo posts or various types of
anchors and floats.
24. Fish Corral or "Baklad" - a stationary weir or trap devised to
intercept and capture fish consisting of rows of bamboo stakes,
plastic nets and other materials fenced with split blood mattings or
wire mattings with one or more enclosures, usually with easy
entrance but difficult exit, and with or without leaders to direct the
fish to the catching chambers, purse or bags.
25. Fish fingerlings - a stage in the life cycle of the fish measuring
to about 6-13 cm. depending on the species.
26. Fish fry - a stage at which a fish has just been hatched usually
with sizes from 1-2.5 cm.
27. Fish pen - an artificial enclosure constructed within a body of
water for culturing fish and fishery/aquatic resources made up of
poles closely arranged in an enclosure with wooden materials,
screen or nylon netting to prevent escape of fish.
28. Fisherfolk - people directly or personally and physically
engaged in taking and/or culturing and processing fishery and/or
aquatic resources.lawphi1™
29. Fisherfolk Cooperative - a duly registered association of
fisherfolk with a common bond of interest, who have voluntarily
joined together to achieve a lawful common social or economic
end, making equitable contribution to the capital requirement and
accepting a fair share of the risks and benefits of the undertakings
in accordance with universally accepted cooperative principles.
30. Fisherfolk Organization - an organized group, association,
federation, alliance or an institution of fisherfolk which has at least
fifteen (15. members, a set of officers, a constitution and by-laws,
an organizational structure and a program of action.
31. Fisheries - refers to all activities relating to the act or business
of fishing, culturing, preserving, processing, marketing,
developing, conserving and managing aquatic resources and the
fishery areas, including the privilege to fish or take aquatic
resource thereof.
32. Fish Pond - a land-based facility enclosed with earthen or
stone material to impound water for growing fish.
33. Fishing Boat/Gear License - a permit to operate specific types
of fishing boat/gear for specific duration in areas beyond municipal
waters for demersal or pelagic fishery resources.
34. Fishery Management Areas - a bay, gulf, lake or any other
fishery area which may be delineated for fishery resource
management purposes.
35. Fishery Operator - one who owns and provides the means
including land, labor, capital, fishing gears and vessels, but does
not personally engage in fishery.
36. Fishery Refuge and Sanctuaries - a designated area where
fishing or other forms of activities which may damage the
ecosystem of the area is prohibited and human access may be
restricted.
37. Fishery Reserve - a designated area where activities are
regulated and set aside for educational and research purposes.
38. Fishery Species - all aquatic flora and fauna including, but not
restricted to, fish, algae, coelenterates, mollusks, crustaceans,
echinoderms and cetaceans.
39. Fishing - the taking of fishery species from their wild state of
habitat, with or without the use of fishing vessels.
40. Fishing gear - any instrument or device and its accessories
utilized in taking fish and other fishery species.
(a) Active fishing gear - is a fishing device characterized
by gear movements, and/or the pursuit of the target
species by towing, lifting, and pushing the gears,
surrounding, covering, dredging, pumping and scaring
the target species to impoundments; such as, but not
limited to, trawl, purse seines, Danish seines, bag nets,
paaling, drift gill net and tuna longline.
(b) Passive fishing gear - is characterized by the
absence of gear movements and/or the pursuit of the
target species; such as, but not limited to, hook and line,
fishpots, traps and gill nets across the path of the fish.
41. Fishing vessel - any boat, ship or other watercraft equipped to
be used for taking of fishery species or aiding or assisting one (1.
or more vessels in the performance of any activity relating to
fishing, including, but not limited to, preservation, supply, storage,
refrigeration, transportation and/or processing.
42. Fishing with Explosives - the use of the dynamite, other
explosives or other chemical compounds that contain combustible
elements or ingredients which upon ignition by friction,
concussion, percussion or detonation of all or parts of the
compound, will kill, stupefy, disable or render unconscious any
fishery species. It also refers to the use of any other substance
and/or device which causes an explosion that is capable of
producing the said harmful effects on any fishery species and
aquatic resources and capable of damaging and altering the
natural habitat.
43. Fishing with Noxious or Poisonous Substances - the use of
any substance, plant extracts or juice thereof, sodium cyanide
and/or cyanide compounds or other chemicals either in a raw or
processed form, harmful or harmless to human beings, which will
kill, stupefy, disable or render unconscious any fishery species
and aquatic resources and capable of damaging and altering the
natural habitat.
44. Fishworker - a person regularly or not regularly employed in
commercial fishing and related industries, whose income is either
in wage, profit-sharing or stratified sharing basis, including those
working in fish pens, fish cages, fish corrals/traps, fishponds,
prawn farms, sea farms, salt beds, fish ports, fishing boat or
trawlers, or fish processing and/or packing plants. Excluded from
this category are administrators, security guards and overseers.
45. Food Security - refers to any plan, policy or strategy aimed at
ensuring adequate supplies of appropriate food at affordable
prices. Food security may be achieved through self-sufficiency
(i.e. ensuring adequate food supplies from domestic production),
through self-reliance (i.e. ensuring adequate food supplies
through a combination of domestic production and importation), or
through pure importation.
46. Foreshore Land - a string of land margining a body of water;
the part of a seashore between the low-water line usually at the
seaward margin of a low tide terrace and the upper limit of wave
wash at high tide usually marked by a beach scarp or berm.
47. Fully-developed Fishpond Area - a clean leveled area
enclosed by dikes, at least one foot higher than the highest
floodwater level in the locality and strong enough to resist
pressure at the highest flood tide; consists of at least a nursery
pond, a transition pond, a rearing pond or a combination of any or
all said classes of ponds, and a functional water control system
and producing in a commercial scale.
48. Gross Tonnage - includes the underdeck tonnage,
permanently enclosed spaces above the tonnage deck, except for
certain exemptions. In broad terms, all the vessel's 'closed-in'
spaces expressed in volume terms on the bases of one hundred
cubic feet (that equals one gross ton).
49. Inland Fishery - the freshwater fishery and brackishwater
fishponds.
50. Lake - an inland body of water, an expanded part of a river, a
reservoir formed by a dam, or a lake basin intermittently or
formerly covered by water.
51. Limited Access - a fishery policy by which a system of
equitable resource and allocation is established by law through
fishery rights granting and licensing procedure as provided by this
Code.
52. Mangroves - a community of intertidal plants including all
species of trees, shrubs, vines and herbs found on coasts,
swamps, or border of swamps.
53. Maximum Sustainable Yield (MSY. - is the largest average
quantity of fish that can be harvested from a fish stocks/resource
within a period of time (e.g. one year. on a sustainable basis under
existing environmental conditions.
54. Migratory species - refers to any fishery species which in the
course of their life could travel from freshwater to marine water or
vice versa, or any marine species which travel over great
distances in waters of the ocean as part of their behavioral
adaptation for survival and speciation:
 (a) Anadromous species - marine fishes which migrate
to freshwater areas to spawn;
(b) Catadromous species - freshwater fishes which
migrate to marine areas to spawn.
55. Monitoring, control and surveillance -
regardless of their breadth and dimensions, the territorial sea, the
sea beds, the insular shelves, and all other waters over which the
Philippines has sovereignty and jurisdiction including the 200-
nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zone and the continental shelf.
65. Post-harvest facilities - these facilities include, but are not
limited to, fishport, fishlanding, ice plants and cold storages, fish
processing plants.

(a) Monitoring - the requirement of continuously

66. Purse Seine - a form of encircling net having a line at the
observing: (1) fishing effort which can be expressed by
bottom passing through rings attached to the net, which can be
the number of days or hours of fishing, number of
drawn or pursed. In general, the net is set from a boat or pair of
fishing gears and number of fisherfolk; (2)
boats around the school of fish. The bottom of the net is pulled
characteristics of fishery resources; and (3) resource
closed with the purse line. The net is then pulled aboard the fishing
yields (catch);
boat or boats until the fish are concentrated in the bunt or fish bag.

(b) Control - the regulatory conditions (legal framework)

67. Resource Rent - the difference between the value of the
under which the exploitation, utilization and disposition
products produced from harvesting a publicly owned resource less
of the resources may be conducted; and
the cost of producing it, where cost includes the normal return to
capital and normal return to labor.
(c) Surveillance - the degree and types of observations
required to maintain compliance with
68. Sea farming - the stocking of natural or hatchery-produced
regulations.lawphi1™ALF
marine plants or animals, under controlled conditions, for
purposes of rearing and harvesting, but not limited to
56. Municipal fisherfolk - persons who are directly or indirectly commercially-important fishes, mollusks (such as pearl and giant
engaged in municipal fishing and other related fishing activities. clam culture), including seaweeds and seagrasses.

57. Municipal fishing - refers to fishing within municipal waters 69. Sea ranching - the release of the young of fishery species
using fishing vessels of three (3. gross tons or less, or fishing not reared in hatcheries and nurseries into natural bodies of water for
requiring the use of fishing vessels. subsequent harvest at maturity or the manipulation of fishery
habitat, to encourage the growth of the wild stocks.
58. Municipal waters - include not only streams, lakes, inland
bodies of water and tidal waters within the municipality which are 70. Secretary - the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture.
not included within the protected areas as defined under Republic
Act No. 7586 (The NIPAS Law), public forest, timber lands, forest
71. Superlight - also called magic light, is a type of light using
reserves or fishery reserves, but also marine waters included
halogen or metal halide bulb which may be located above the sea
between two (2. lines drawn perpendicular to the general coastline
surface or submerged in the water. It consists of a ballast,
from points where the boundary lines of the municipality touch the
regulator, electric cable and socket. The source of energy comes
sea at low tide and a third line parallel with the general coastline
from a generator, battery or dynamo coupled with the main
including offshore islands and fifteen (15. kilometers from such
engine.
coastline. Where two (2. municipalities are so situated on opposite
shores that there is less than thirty (30. kilometers of marine
waters between them, the third line shall be equally distant from 72. Total Allowable Catch (TAC. - the maximum harvest allowed
opposite shore of the respective municipalities. to be taken during a given period of time from any fishery area, or
from any fishery species or group of fishery species, or a
combination of area and species and normally would not exceed
59. Non-governmental organization (NGO. - an agency,
the MSY.
institution, a foundation or a group of persons whose purpose is
to assist peoples organizations/associations in various ways
including, but not limited to, organizing, education, training, 73. Trawl - an active fishing gear consisting of a bag shaped net
research and/or resource accessing. with or without otter boards to open its opening which is dragged
or towed along the bottom or through the water column to take
fishery species by straining them from the water, including all
60. Payao - a fish aggregating device consisting of a loating raft
variations and modifications of trawls (bottom, mid-water, and
anchored by a weighted line with suspended materials such as
baby trawls) and tow nets.
palm fronds to attract pelagic and schooling species common in
deep waters.

61. Pearl Farm Lease - public waters leased for the purpose of
producing cultured pearls. RA 10654

62. People's Organization - a bona fide association of citizens with (44) Fishing Gear – refers to any instrument or device and its accessories
demonstrated capacity to promote the public interest and with utilized in taking fish and other fishery species.
identifiable leadership, membership and structure. Its members
belong to a sector/s who voluntarily band themselves together to
(a) Active Fishing Gear – is a fishing device characterized by the
work for and by themselves for their own upliftment, development
pursuit of the target species by towing, pushing the gears,
and greater good.
surrounding, covering, dredging, and scaring the target species to
impoundments; such as, but not limited to, trawl, purse seines,
63. Person - natural or juridical entities such as individuals, Danish seines, paaling and drift gill net.
associations, partnership, cooperatives or corporations.
(b) Passive Fishing Gear – is characterized by the absence of
64. Philippine waters - include all bodies of water within the pursuit of the target species; such as, but not limited to, hook and
Philippine territory such as lakes, rivers, streams, creeks, brooks, line, fishpots, traps and gill nets set across the path of the fish.
ponds, swamps, lagoons, gulfs, bays and seas and other bodies
of water now existing or which may hereafter exist in the
(45) Fishing Light Attractor – refers to a fishing aid which employs lights
provinces, cities, municipalities, and barangays and the waters
using, among others, mercury vapor, high pressure sodium vapor, standard
around, between and connecting the islands of the archipelago
tungsten, tungsten halogen, fluorescent or light-emitting diode, that are
attached to a structure above water or suspended underwater to attract both
fish and members of their food chain to specific areas in order to harvest
them.
(54) Harvest Control Rules – refers to actions or set of actions to be taken
to achieve a medium or long term target reference point while avoiding
reaching or breaching a limit reference point.
(55) Illegal Fishing – means fishing activities conducted by Philippine fishing
vessels operating in violation of Philippine laws, Regional Fisheries
Management Organization resolutions, and laws of other coastal states.
(60) Marine Protected Area – means a defined area of the sea established
and set aside by law, administrative regulation, or any other effective means
in order to conserve and protect a part of or the entire enclosed environment
through the establishment of management guidelines. It is considered a
generic term that includes all declared areas governed by specific rules or
guidelines in order to protect and manage activities within the enclosed area.
(83) Superlight – also called magic light, refers to a type of light using
halogen or metal halide bulb which may be located above the sea surface
or submerged in the water. It consists of a ballast, regulator, electric cable
and socket. The source of energy comes from a generator, battery or
dynamo coupled with the main engine.
(85) Transhipment – refers to the transfer of all or any fish or fishery product
from one fishing vessel to another.
(87) Unregulated Fishing – refers to fishing activities conducted by:
(a) Vessels without nationality but operated by Filipino and/or
Filipino corporation;
(b) Philippine flagged fishing vessels operating in areas managed
by RFMOs to which the Philippines is not a party to; or
(c) Philippine flagged fishing vessels operating in areas or fish
stocks where there are no applicable conservation and
management measures.
(88) Unreported Fishing – refers to fishing activities which have not been
reported, or have been misreported to the Department, in contravention of
national laws and regulations of the Philippines, or undertaken in the area of
competence of a relevant RFMO which have not been reported or have been
misreported, in contravention of the reporting procedures of that
organization and further elaborated by regulations to be promulgated by the
Department."
b. Environmental principles
-RA 10654 (amended RA 8550) : (f) To adopt the precautionary principle x x
x recommended the approval of JAPEX's application for an ECC.
- applicable in all Philippine waters: Philippines has ---sovereignty,
jurisdiction, within 200 nautical mile (EEZ), and continental shelf
6. Mead vs argel
Donald Mead vs. Hon. Manuel Argel, CFI
July 20, 1982
FACTS:
Petitioner Donald Mead assailed the legal personality of the Provincial Fiscal
to file an information against him for his alleged violation of RA No. 3931 or
An Act Creating a National Water and Air Pollution Control Commission.
Petitioner averred that the National Water and Air Pollution Control
Commission created under the said law has the authority to hear cases
involving violations under the same.
ISSUES:
Whether or not the filing of the information by the provincial fiscal was proper.
RULING:
The filing by the Provincial Fiscal of the case was premature sans the
findings of the Commission on the matter.
Petitioner was being sued for the offense of allegedly causing pollution of a
waterway (highway canal)(Sec 9). The Court held that the exclusive
authority to determine whether or not ‘pollution’ did exist is vested in the
Commission, who is in better position to determine the same for such
requires specialized knowledge of technical and scientific matters which are
not ordinarily within the competence of Fiscals or of those sitting in a court
of justice (Sec 8).
Unless the case involves that of nuisance under the Civil Code or until there
is a ruling by the Commission on the alleged act of pollution, no court action
shall be initiated (Sec8).
Without a prior determination or finding by the Commission that the
provisions of the subject law had been violated, the provincial Fiscal lacked
the authority to file the case against petitioner.
7. Resident marine mammals vs reyes
Resident Marine Mammals v. Reyes
RESIDENT MARINE MAMMALS OF THE PROTECTED SEASCAPE TANON STRAIT v.
SEC. ANGELO REYES, (G)
G.R. No. 180771, 21 April 2015
FACTS:
June 13, 2002, the Government of the Philippines, acting through the DOE, entered
into a Geophysical Survey and Exploration Contract-102 (GSEC-102) with JAPEX.
This contract involved geological and geophysical studies of the Tañon Strait.
May 9 to 18, 2005, JAPEX conducted seismic surveys in and around the Tañon
Strait. A multi-channel sub-bottom profiling covering approximately 751
kilometers was also done to determine the area's underwater composition.
January 31, 2007, the Protected Area Management Board of the Tañon Strait
(PAMB-Tañon Strait) issued Resolution No. 2007-001, wherein it adopted the Initial
Environmental Examination (IEE) commissioned by JAPEX, and favorably
March 6, 2007, the EMB of DENR Region VII granted an ECC to the DOE and JAPEX
for the offshore oil and gas exploration project in Tañon Strait. Months later, on
November 16, 2007, JAPEX began to drill an exploratory well, with a depth of 3,150
meters, near Pinamungajan town in the western Cebu Province. This drilling lasted
until February 8, 2008.
Petitioners then applied to this Court for redress, via two separate original
petitions both dated December 17, 2007, wherein they commonly seek that
respondents be enjoined from implementing SC-46 for, among others, violation of
the 1987 Constitution.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the service contract is prohibited on the ground that there is no
general law prescribing the standard or uniform terms, conditions, and
requirements for service contracts involving oil exploration and extraction.
jurisprudence “moves towards simplification of procedures and facilitating court
access in environmental cases.” Id., p. 15. Instead, the Court explained, “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.” Id., p. 16-17.

HELD:
No, the disposition, exploration, development, exploitation, and utilization of
indigenous petroleum in the Philippines are governed by Presidential Decree No.
87 or the Oil Exploration and Development Act of 1972. This was enacted by then
President Ferdinand Marcos to promote the discovery and production of
indigenous petroleum through the utilization of government and/or local or
foreign private resources to yield the maximum benefit to the Filipino people and
the revenues to the Philippine Government.
The Court then held that while SC-46 was authorized Presidential Decree No. 87 on
oil extraction, the contract did not fulfill two additional constitutional
requirements. Section 2 Article XII of the 1987 Constitution requires a service
contract for oil exploration and extraction to be signed by the president and reported
to congress. Because the JAPEX contract was executed solely by the Energy
Secretary, and not reported to the Philippine congress, the Court held that it was
unconstitutional. Id., pp. 24-25.

Contrary to the petitioners' argument, Presidential Decree No. 87, although
enacted in 1972, before the adoption of the 1987 Constitution, remains to be a
valid law unless otherwise repealed.
Moreover, in cases where the statute seems to be in conflict with the Constitution,
but a construction that it is in harmony with the Constitution is also possible, that
construction should be preferred. This Court, in Pangandaman v. Commission on
Elections expounding on this point, pronounced: It is a basic precept in statutory
construction that a statute should be interpreted in harmony with the Constitution
and that the spirit, rather than the letter of the law determines its construction;
for that reason, a statute must be read according to its spirit and intent.
In addition, the Court also ruled that the contract violated the National Integrated
Protected Areas System Act of 1992 (NIPAS Act), which generally prohibits
exploitation of natural resources in protected areas. In order to explore for resources
in a protected area, the exploration must be performed in accordance with an
environmental impact assessment (EIA). The Court noted that JAPEX started the
seismic surveys before any EIA was performed; therefore its activity was unlawful.
Id., pp. 33-34. Furthermore, the Tanon Strait is a NIPAS area, and exploration and
utilization of energy resources can only be authorized through a law passed by the
Philippine Congress. Because Congress had not specifically authorized the activity
in Tañon Strait, the Court declared that no energy exploration should be permitted
in that area. Id., p. 34.

Note that while Presidential Decree No. 87 may serve as the general law upon
which a service contract for petroleum exploration and extraction may be
authorized, as will be discussed below, the exploitation and utilization of this
energy resource in the present case may be allowed only through a law passed by
Congress, since the Tañon Strait is a NIPAS area.

-------------------------------

Resident Marine Mammals of the Protected Seascape Tañon Strait v. Secretary

Angelo Reyes
Resident Marine Mammals of the Protected Seascape Tañon Strait v. Secretary
Angelo Reyes, G.R. No. 180771 (April 21, 2015)
Supreme Court of the Philippines

Two sets of petitioners filed eparate cases challenging the legality of Service
Contract No. 46 (SC-46) awarded to Japan Petroleum Exploration Co.
(JAPEX). The service contract allowed JAPEX to conduct oil exploration in the
Tañon Strait during which it performed seismic surveys and drilled one exploration
well. The first petition was brought on behalf of resident marine mammals in the
Tañon Strait by two individuals acting as legal guardians and stewards of the marine
mammals. The second petition was filed by a non-governmental organization
representing the interests of fisherfolk, along with individual representatives from
fishing communities impacted by the oil exploration activities. The petitioners filed
their cases in 2007, shortly after JAPEX began drilling in the strait. In 2008, JAPEX
and the government of the Philippines mutually terminated the service contract and
oil exploration activities ceased. The Supreme Court consolidated the cases for the
purpose of review.

In its decision, the Supreme Court first addressed the important procedural point of
whether the case was moot because the service contract had been terminated. The
Court declared that mootness is “not a magical formula that can automatically
dissuade the courts in resolving a case.” Id., p. 12. Due to the alleged grave
constitutional violations and paramount public interest in the case, not to mention
the fact that the actions complained of could be repeated, the Court found it
necessary to reach the merits of the case even though the particular service contract
had been terminated. Id.

Reviewing the numerous claims filed by the petitioners, the Supreme Court
narrowed them down to two: 1) whether marine mammals, through their stewards,
have legal standing to pursue the case; and 2) whether the service contract violated
the Philippine Constitution or other domestic laws. Id., p. 11.

As to standing, the Court declined to extend the principle of standing beyond natural
and juridical persons, even though it recognized that the current trend in Philippine
 8. Army and Navy Club vs CA

G.R. No. 110223.

April 8, 1997
Army And Navy Club Of Manila, Inc.
Vs. Honorable Court Of Appeals

Facts:

The City of Manila is the owner of a parcel of land located at South

Boulevard corner
Manila Bay, Manila.

The Army and Navy Club of Manila is occupying the above described land
and the Army and Navy Club Building by virtue of a Contract of Lease.

In violation of the agreement between the parties, the club has failed
and/or refused to construct a modern multi-storied hotel.

The club also reneged on its rental obligation notwithstanding the City’s
demand to pay, for its use and occupancy of the City’s property

Furthermore, the defendant also violated its undertaking to pay the taxes
due on the land and improvement

As a result, the City rescinded their Contract of Lease and demanded the
Club to vacate

The MTC rendered judgment in favor of the City of Manila and ordered it to
vacate and surrender the premises and to pay all with legal interest thereon,
its rental arrearages

On appeal, the Regional Trial Court affirmed in toto the summary
judgment of the
Metropolitan Trial Court.

Petitioner elevated the case to the Court of Appeals wherein the latter
dismissed.

Petitioner filed the instant petition
Issues:
1)whether the respondent courts gravely erred in upholding the ouster
of herein petitioner from the disputed premises which is a clear
transgression of the formal declaration of the site of herein petitioner as a
historical landmark

2)whether the property, subject matter of this case, is of public domain and
therefore, the contract of lease executed by the city of manila infavor of
petitioner is void

Held:

1)No, The country's artistic and historic wealth is a proper subject for the
exercise of police power which the State may regulate. This is a function
of the legislature and once regulation comes in, due process also comes
into play. Petitioner is merely a lessee of the property.
By virtue of the lease contract, petitioner had obligations to fulfill.

Petitioner can not just hide behind some recognition bestowed upon it
in order to escape from its obligation or remain in possession. It violated
the terms and conditions of the lease contract.
Thus, petitioner's eviction from the premises is inevitable.

2)No, after herein petitioner has dealt with the private respondent as the
owner of the leased premises and obtained benefits from said
acknowledgment of such ownership for almost half a century, herein
petitioner cannot be permitted to assume an inconsistent position by denying
said private respondent's ownership of the leased premises when the
situation calls for it

9. De Guzman vs Escalona
FIRST DIVISION
[ G.R. No. L-51773, May 16, 1980 ]
LT. COL. RODRIGO S. DE GUZMAN AND PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES,
PETITIONERS, VS. MUNICIPAL CIRCUIT JUDGE MARCELINO M.
ESCALONA, FLORENTINO RODRIGO, AND MARIANO DAYDAY,
RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
MELENCIO-HERRERA, J.:
In this original Petition for Certiorari, which was given due course in our
Resolution of February 6, 1980, the sole question to be resolved is whether
or not respondent Municipal Circuit Court Judge, in Criminal Case No.
2450-D, had jurisdiction to try the offense charged and render judgment
although the criminal Complaint which was filed before him was only for
preliminary investigation.
The Complaint charged the accused Florentino Rodrigo and Mariano
Dayday with "Illegal Possession of Explosive locally known as 'dinamita'
(P.D. No. 1058)" before the Third Municipal Circuit Court at Daanbantayan,
Medellin, Cebu (Crim. Case No. 2450-D), and reads as follows:
"That on the 20th day of July, 1979 at around 9:00 o'clock in the morning,
more or less, at Sitio Suba, Bgy Maya, Municipality of Daanbantayan,
Province of Cebu, Philippines, and within the Preliminary Jurisdiction of
this Honorable Court, the above-named accused while in the seawaters of
the above-mentioned place, confederating and mutually helping with one
another, without authority of the law and without proper permit from autho-
rities, did then and there willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously possess, keep
an explosive, locally known as 'DINAMITA' in their banca purposely for use
of illegal fishing in which case, three (3) bottles of explosives, two (2)
paddles, two (2) fishnets locally known as "SIBOT" and one (1) banca were
recovered from their possession and control, which acts of the above-named
accused is a gross violation of PD No. 1058.
"All contrary to law."[1] (Emphasis ours)
The Complaint was precipitated by the fact, as disclosed by the Sworn
Statements of CIC Carlos Dosdos and Sgt. Jose Andales[2] that when they
conducted a seaborne patrol along Daanbantayan, Cebu, in the morning of
July 20, 1979, they spotted the accused Florentino Rodrigo and Mariano
Dayday aboard a banca. As they approached the banca, Rodrigo attempted
to light a bottle of dynamite but which they succeeded in stopping. Both
accused were arrested and three bottles of dynamite and two fishnets were
confiscated from them.
Instead of conducting a preliminary investigation, respondent Judge motu
propriotreated the Complaint as one for Violation of Act 3023 [3] and,
therefore, within its jurisdiction, since the offense charged did not warrant
prosecution under Presidential Decree No. 9 relating to crimes against
national security. He then proceeded to arraign the accused both of whom
pleaded guilty, and rendered judgment on August 6, 1979, quoted in full
hereunder:
"DECISION
"This case was originally filed in violation of Section 2 of PD No. 9, but is
prosecuted under Act 3023 upon suggestion of the Court, for under the facts
and circumstances of this case the interests of justice require that this
offense be prosecuted under Act 3023 inasmuch as the possession is not in
connection with subversion or insurrection and that the quantity and quality
of the homemade explosive do not come to the level of destructiveness
contemplated under PD No. 9.
"Upon arraignment, both accused entered a plea of guilty. In view thereof,
the Court hereby renders a decision finding and declaring above two accused
GUILTY beyond reasonable doubt of the offense of Illegal Possession of
Explosive at the time and place stated in the complaint, in violation of Act
3023, and they are thereby sentenced to suffer a penalty consisting of
imprisonment for four (4) months and fine of P1,000.00 each, in accordance
with the penal provisions of said Act, and to pay the costs.
"Apprehended explosives contained in two (2) beer bottles are confiscated
and ordered turned over to the 342nd PC Company, Bogo, Cebu, for proper
disposal.
"SO ORDERED."[4]
Both the accused have served their sentence.
Contesting the course of action taken and the judgment rendered by
respondent Judge, herein petitioner Lt. Col. Rodrigo S. De Guzman, PC
Provincial Commander/Integrated National Police Superintendent at Camp
Sotero Cabahug, Cebu City, instituted these Certiorari proceedings alleging
mainly that the offense charged was one for possession of explosives
intended for illegal fishing under Presidential Decree No. 704, as amended
by Presidential Decree No. 1058, and not for violation of Act 3023 which had
long been repealed by several laws and decrees; that the penalty provided for
by current legislation is one which falls within the exclusive original
jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance; and that respondent Judge's
Decision has no legal basis.
For his part, respondent Judge submits that only possession of explosives in
connection with subversion is covered by Presidential Decree No. 9, thus,
the old law on illegal possession of explosives, Act 3023, has not been
completely repealed; that having found that the possession by the two
accused of two bottles of home-made explosives was solely for fishing
purposes and had no connection with subversion, the illegal act should fall
not under Presidential Decree No. 9 but under Act 3023; that having arrived
at said conclusion there was nothing irregular in his assuming original
jurisdiction and not merely conducting the second stage of the preliminary
investigation, for under Section 87(c) of the Judiciary Act the Municipal
Court has jurisdiction over illegal possession of explosives. Respondent
Judge further justifies his course of action as being in the interest of the
speedy and inexpensive administration of justice.
The accused, Florentino Rodrigo and Mariano Dayday, whom we ordered
impleaded as party respondents, filed their Comment on the Petition, stating
that they freely and voluntarily entered a plea of guilty with the able
assistance of counsel; that before handing down the Decision, respondent
Judge made them understand the nature and gravity of their crime; that
even the state prosecutors showed their conformity and appreciation for the
wisdom and practicality of the judgment of respondent Judge; and that they
appreciated the sentence imposed on them because they did not contemplate
to commit so grave an offense, the two bottles of confiscated explosives being
adulterated and not of genuine quality, and considering that they are
illiterates and ignorant of the destructive use of these explosives.
Significantly, the Solicitor General representing the People of the
Philippines and whom we likewise ordered impleaded as party petitioner,
has joined petitioner De Guzman in assailing the validity of the action taken
by respondent Judge in the criminal case before him.
We find this Petition, indeed, impressed with merit and that respondent
Judge exceeded his jurisdiction when he rendered the questioned Decision
of August 6, 1979.
The complaint filed against the two accused specifically alleged that they
wilfully and unlawfully possessed in their banca explosives locally known as
"dinamita" purposely intended for use in illegal fishing in violation of
Presidential Decree No. 1058.
Presidential Decree No. 1058 is an amendatory decree, which increased the
penalties for certain forms of illegal fishing and for other acts made
punishable under Presidential Decree No. 704 or the "Fisheries Decree of
1975". The pertinent portion of Section 33 of Presidential Decree No. 704,
as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1058 reads:
"SECTION 33. Illegal fishing; illegal possession of explosives intended for
illegal fishing; dealing in illegally caught fish or fishery/aquatic products. -
It shall be unlawful for any person to catch, take or gather or cause to be
caught, taken or gathered fish or fishery/aquatic products in Philippine
waters with the use of explosives, obnoxious or poisonous substance, or by
the use of electricity as defined in paragraphs (1), (m) and (d), respectively,
of Section 3 hereof: Provided, that possession of such explosives with intent
to use the same for illegal fishing as herein defined shall be punishable as [1] p. 4, Rollo.
hereinafter provided: x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x ."
(Italics supplied). [2] pp. 6-9, Rollo.

Section 38, subsection a(1) of Presidential Decree No. 704, as amended by An Act to amend Act Numbered Twenty-two hundred and fifty-five,
[3]

Presidential Decree No. 1058, correspondingly provides: entitled "An Act prohibiting the manufacture, possession and sale of
dynamite and other explosives without a special permit, providing a penalty
therefor, and for other purposes."
"(1) By the penalty of imprisonment ranging from twelve (12) years to
twenty-five (25) years in the case of mere possession of explosives intended [4] p. 5, Rollo.
for illegal fishing; x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x ." (Italics ours).
[5] Presidential Decree No. 1058
As correctly pointed out by the Solicitor General in the Comment he filed for
petitioner People of the Philippines, respondent Judge's reference to
Presidential Decree No. 9 is misplaced for, indeed, there is no mention at all
of, nor any reference to, Presidential Decree No. 9 in the Complaint. "Sec. 5. Jurisdiction. - The Military Tribunals created under Presidential
Decree No. 39, as amended, shall exercise exclusive jurisdiction to try cases
Jurisdiction over cases involving illegal possession of explosives intended for involving illegal fishing by the use of explosives, illegal possession of
illegal fishing and certain other acts prohibited under Presidential Decree explosives intended for illegal fishing, and trawl fishing as prohibited under
No. 704, which was vested by Section 5 of Presidential Decree No. 1058 upon Sections 33, 35 and 38 of Presidential Decree No. 704, as hereby amended."
Military Tribunals created under Presidential Decree No. 39, as
amended,[5] is now within the exclusive original jurisdiction of Courts of
First Instance by virtue of Letter of Instructions No. 772 dated November 27,
[6] Letter of Instructions No. 772
1978, issued by the President of the Philippines,[6] and the Rules and
Regulations implementing LOI No. 772 promulgated in the Joint Circular,
dated April 1, 1979, issued by the Minister of National Defense[7], in relation "1. All criminal cases to be filed by the Judge Advocate General or by any
to the Judiciary Act of 1948 as amended, in view of the penalty involved. personnel of the Ministry of National Defense and/or the military
establishment shall be referred in the first instance to the Civil Courts and
Since the purpose of preliminary investigation proper is to determine no longer to the Military Commission."
whether or not the accused should be released or held for trial before the
competent Court[8]the only jurisdiction of a Municipal Judge at the
preliminary investigation proper, where the offense charged does not fall [7] Joint Circular, April 1, 1979, Rules and Regulations
within the jurisdiction of the Municipal Court, is either to elevate the case
to the proper Court with his findings on preliminary investigation or, in the
absence of probable cause to believe an accused guilty, to dismiss the
"2. Cases to be filed with and tried by the Civil Courts/Detention and Release
case. He cannot decide the case on the merits and if he does, he acts without
of Accused - Criminal cases under the jurisdiction of the military tribunals
jurisdiction.[9] The duty of a Municipal Judge conducting the preliminary
pursuant to General Order No. 59, dated June 24, 1977, as amended by
investigation when the offense charged does not fall within his Court's
General Order No. 63, dated August 8, 1978, which have not yet been
jurisdiction is only to determine whether or not the evidence presented
referred by the Judge Advocate General to the military tribunals as of the
support prima facie the allegations of fact contained in the complaint, but he
effectivity of Letter of Instructions No. 772, shall be referred by him to the
has no legal authority to determine the character of the crime and his
proper civil authorities. x x x x x x x x x x x x."
declaration upon that point can only be regarded as an expression of opinion
in no wise binding on the trial Court.[10]
[8]Biron vs. Cea, 73 Phil 673 (1942), citing Hashim vs. Boncan, 71 Phil 216
Therefore, it was erroneous for respondent Judge at the preliminary (1941); People vs. Sabio Sr., 86 SCRA 568 (1978) citing Ngo Hoc vs. Aquino,
investigation of the criminal complaint filed before him for the specific 72 Phil 90 (1941), U.S. vs. Banzuela, 31 Phil 564 (1915), and Biron vs. Cea,
offense of illegal possession of explosives intended for illegal fishing under supra).
Presidential Decree No. 704, as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1058,
to have rendered judgment and to have convicted the accused for illegal See Ngo Hoc Chef vs. Aquino, 72 Phil 90 (1941), cited in Martin, Rules of
[9]
possession of explosives under Act No. 3023 considering that his Court had Court in the Philippines, Third Edition, Vol. 4, pp. 207-208.
no jurisdiction over the offense charged in the Complaint, and, hence, was
bereft of authority to determine the character of the crime committed. His [10] People vs. Gorospe, 53 Phil 960 (1928).
only jurisdiction was to elevate or dismiss the case. He could not decide the
case on the merits. U.S. vs. Jayme, 24 Phil 90 (1913); People vs. Bautista, 67 Phil 518
[11]

(1939); People vs. Araquel, 106 Phil. 677 (1959).

Considering that the Municipal Circuit Court lacked competent jurisdiction
over the subject matter of the criminal complaint against the accused
respondents, we agree with the Solicitor General that no jeopardy may be
deemed to have attached by virtue of the erroneous and void judgment of
conviction rendered by respondent Judge as to bar a subsequent indictment
and trial of the case in the proper Court with jurisdiction over the offense.[11]

WHEREFORE, we hereby set aside the Decision of August 6, 1979

rendered by respondent Judge Marcelino M. Escalona of the Municipal
Circuit Court of Medellin, Cebu, and remand this case to him for preliminary
investigation in accordance with law and the Rules.

Without costs.

SO ORDERED.

Teehankee, (Chairman), Makasiar, Fernandez, Guerrero, and De Castro,

JJ., concur.