Political Will -- Key to Protection of Marine Environment

Speech delivered by Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. during the first Conference of Coastal Municipalities, sponsored by the League of Municipalities, on May 27, 1999 at 9:30a.m., Manila Midtown Hotel

aving written for the Supreme Court three major decisions on the protection of the environment, namely: Oposa v. Factoran, 224 SCRA 792 [1993]; Mustang Lumber v. The Court of Appeals, 257 SCRA 430 [1996], and Tano v. Socrates, 278 SCRA 154 [1997], and having espoused the principle of preferential option for the environment during the seminar~workshop sponsored by the Coastal Resource Management Project on the Development of a Legal Arsenal for Fisheries Management and Protection on 28 May 1998 in Cebu City, I did not hesitate to accept the invitation of Mayor Estrada to join you in this conference. In Tano v. Socrates, the Supreme Court upheld the power of local government units to pass ordinances designed to protect their marine environment. That case involved the power of the Provincial Government of Palawan and the City of Puerto Princesa to enact ordinances to prohibit the shipment of certain species of live fish from their localities. The Court ruled therein that:

In light then of the principles of decentralization and devolution enshrined in the LGC [Local Government Code] and the powers granted therein to local government units under Section 16 (the General Welfare clause), and under Sections 149, 447(a)(1)(vi), 4,58(a)(1)(vi), and 468(a)(1)(vi), which unquestionably involve the exercise of police power, the validity of the questioned Ordinances cannot doubted.

What is significant, however, is what the Court said in its concluding paragraph, and I quote:

"In closing, we commend the Sangguniang Panglungsod of the City of Puerto Princesa and Sangguniang Panlalawigan of the Province of Palawan for exercising the requisite political will to protect and enhance the marine environment, thereby sharing in Herculean task of arresting the tide of ecological destruction. We hope that other local government units shall now be roused from their lethargy and adopt a more vigilant stand in the battle against the decimation of our legacy to future generations. At this time, the repercussions of any further delay in their response may prove disastrous, if not, irreversible."

I underscore the words political will and irreversible.

Allow me then to dwell on those words this morning on a topic which I have chosen to be: Political Will - Key to the Protection of the Marine Environment. I find this very relevant to your convention's theme: "Empowering Municipal LGUs for Integrated Coastal Management," and to the topic which your President has assigned to me in his invitation, to wit: Towards a More Responsive Judicial System in Coastal Law Enforcement.

We all know of the importance of our marine environment to our everyday lives. On a local level, it is a source of livelihood for the masses of our people and on a global level it helps regulate the earth's fragile climate. The Philippines is perhaps among the most fortunate in terms of the biological biodiversity contained in its seas. With an expanse of territorial waters covering some 220 million hectares, our land area of 30 million hectares, is therefore, but a fraction of our marine resources. We are told that out of the 500 known species of corals, the Philippines has some 488 of them, and out of the 8 known kinds of marine turtles, our country is home to five. Those of us who have seen the coral formations underneath the surface of the sea, which are the shelters and sources of food for much of marine life, can only stare in utter amazement at wondrous gifts of nature that our country has been endowed with. Coming from a small coastal town in southern Cebu known for its beaches and coral reefs, I am quite familiar with the exuberance of underwater life, although I was born and grew up in a remote hinterland barangay, removed from the poblacion (municipal capital) by about eighteen kilometers.

It is perhaps the tragic fate of humankind that abundance always leads to abuse and waste. The scientists tell us that out of the 2.7 million hectares of coral reefs in the country, only 5% remain intact and in a pristine condition, while the rest, all of the 2.6 million hectares, is in varying stages of damage, a result of destructive human activities. We are all paintfully aware of the various destructive methods some of our brothers have been using -- dynamite and other explosives, cyanide, superlights, and even the most wasteful practice of breaking and uprooting corals just to get the marine life underneath. Then, too, there is the siltation and pollution brought about by people's habit of dumping their wastewaters and solid waste into the sea as if it had a limitless capacity to absorb the change brought about by this alteration in chemical balance. For the last three decades, the sea has been used as septic tank and dumpsite rolled into one. What is more amazing is that we also use the very same sea as our source of food.

All these acts of abuse have contributed to the fact that, as scientists have pointed out, the productivity of our marine resources has been reduced by as much as 90 per cent. Yet our population continues to grow, the human population which we need to feed with the marine life that we derive from our seas. The spectre of scarcity is not only real. It is actually unfolding before our very eyes.

The law has not been wanting in its language and force. A multitude of laws are in place since as far back as we can remember. There are laws against fishing with the use of explosives; laws against the use of noxious substances; laws against the use of destructive fishing gear; laws against the catching of endangered species. Laws against the cutting of mangroves, which as we know serve as the habitat of spawning and breeding grounds of marine lives; laws against the destruction of coral reefs; laws allowing for a closed fishing season; and many, many more. More recently, the Fisheries Code of 1998 was passed consolidating these laws into a single document.

Indeed there has not been a lack of laws. What has been lacking however, is that single essential ingredient that makes for effectiveness of these laws, for these laws to achieve the policy objective of conserving and protecting and of sustainably using our once rich marine resources: the political will.

Having walked the paths of politics before entering the Judiciary, I am aware of the problems that politicians must face in enforcing these laws. For example, a fisherman usually caught blast-fishing has a wife and maybe 10 children to feed. Prosecuting him and putting him behind bars for five or ten years will only aggravate the poverty of this family, who will may well end up depending on the Municipal Mayors.

Besides, those are 11 potential votes to be lost. Law enforcement is only one of the ways of achieving the objective of the laws. Law enforcement is always a difficult, expensive, time-consuming and emotionally aggravating option, in addition to being politically unpalatable. As the political parents of your constituencies, you are more familiar with the approaches which may be effective in your localities taking into account the social and cultural characteristics of your people. After all, law is only one of the tools of behavioral change. Social and cultural tools such as the pakikiusap, pakikisama, utang na loob and hiya, when used constructively, achieve much more.

What is important, however, is that you as political leaders become aware of the problem at hand, and in your Hearts, develop that personal determination to address the present and future challenges. That, my friends, will mark the birth of that elusive phenomenon known as "political will". Many of you may have practiced that in your localities in the areas of drugs, cleanliness, criminality, and other areas of local governance. I urge you now to exercise that same political will in the area of marine protection. Those who have been able to exercise this political will in the marine protection deserve the plaudits and sincere congratulations of the nation and our leaders. May they share the lessons that they have learned with their fellow Mayors. It is here where Integrated Coastal Management may find true roots.

The Judiciary is at the end of the line in the series of enforcement events. It is only when an offense has been detected, apprehended, investigated, the case filed, prosecuted and tried can the judges then play a role. Judges are passive recipients of the evidence presented before them. Without the necessary evidence that reaches the level of moral certainty in the requirement of proof beyond reasonable doubt, the courts must dismiss the case or acquit the accused.

Let me stress, however, that the Supreme Court has not been wanting in political will. In a series of decisions involving questions on the environment, the Supreme Court has always exhibited what may be called a preferential option for the environment. To mention some, in LLDA v ne Court of Appeals, 251 SCRA 42 [1995], it upheld the power of the Laguna Lake Development Authority to demolish illegal structures and applied the ecosystem approach in considering the issues presented. And in Oposa v. Factoran, I earlier mentioned, the Court upheld the right of children and future generations to file an action against the government to protect the country's natural resources.

Judges, prosecutors and law enforcement personnel at a seminar-workshop on the Development of a Legal Arsenal for Fisheries Management and Protection: "The judicial and prosecutorial pillars of the legal enforcement mechanism are getting their act together."

Indeed the Judicial and prosecutorial pillars of the legal enforcement mechanism are getting their act together. I alluded earlier to a workshop in Cebu City a year ago today. It was attended by selected judges, prosecutors and law enforcement personnel from different regions of the country held under the auspices of the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice and the Coastal Resource Management Project. One of the results of the workshop was the collation and compilation of the legal forms necessary to properly initiate and successfully prosecute a legal action for violation of fisheries laws. I was informed by Atty. Oposa that an echo seminar was held in Cebu City for the entire Region 7 and on July 16, another one will be held in Davao for Region 11.

Last March 4-7 of this year -- under the auspices of the United Nations, and the Philippine Government through the Supreme Court and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) -- the country hosted a historic meeting of Supreme Court justices of all 10 Southeast Asian countries to discuss common issues on Environmental Law. During his keynote speech, His Excellency President Joseph Ejercito Estrada declared an all-out war against illegal fishing to ensure food security and environmental protection. The Supreme Court is seriously studying the possibility of designating some branches of our courts as special courts on the protection of marine resources, such as violations of fishery laws. In that same symposium, I declared in my closing remarks:

Needless to state, each Judiciary in Southeast Asia, by this symposium, finds itself at a defining moment in history. Accordingly, insofar as environmental laws are concerned, every Judiciary in the States of Southeast Asia can now redefine its role that must be felt most - as an active agent in ensuring the survival of humanity or in promoting intergenerational justice and equity.

This gathering is only the beginning of a noble mission , a great vision. As I salute your efforts and hard work for the last few days, I wish you the best of luck in the days, months and years ahead, as you grapple with the Herculean task of repairing within your judicial power what has been damaged by years of neglect and abuse. Let us seek the guidance of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Life and always pray that we be guided by the wisdom and spirit of Mother Earth and touched and moved by her cries and anguish.

Let me repeat that the Judiciary is at the end of the enforcement chain of events. The number of convictions and arrests may well rise dramatically as a result of the intensified law enforcement campaign. However, let us be clear in our thoughts that arrests and convictions do not represent success. On the contrary, they represent a failure, a failure to represent natural and national treasures that took hundreds and hundreds of years to grow. And in one instant, literally in a couple of seconds, a blast-fisherman or a cyanide-fisherman is able to permanently destroy a coral reef. It will take another half a century or more for that coral reef to grow back into a healthy condition.

The two branches of government, the legislature and the judiciary have done their part. The executive branch has done its part. But, there is still a gap. It is found in the local executives - who are in close touch with the people. Clearly, "requisite political will" then does not solely lie in the central government, not in Manila, not in the Office of the President, nor in the Cabinet departments of Interior and Local Government, of Environment and Natural Resources, or of Agriculture. It too lies in you, in the well-springs of your hearts. It is only with it that you expect to mobilize the political force of your office as the good fathers or mothers of your municipalities, to move men and machines and render aid in that Herculean task of repairing or protecting Mother Earth.

I remember the story of Mahatma Gandhi that great political leader and teacher from India. One day, Gandhi was asked by a mother for advice on how to stop her child from eating too much sugar. Gandhi asked the mother to return after two weeks after which, he said, he should be ready to give the advice.

Two weeks later, the mother came back. Before asking Gandhi for the advice, the mother asked him why he had to wait for two weeks just to be ready to give the advice. To that Gandhi said, "Madame, I had to make you wait for two weeks for the advice. For then, I would have the time to stop eating too much sugar myself." That was a story told years ago. We may not have the luxury of time, even for two weeks insofar as the plight of our coastal resources is concerned. Time, indeed, is of the essence. It is then my hope that the League of Municipalities through the able leadership of Mayor Estrada be able to forthwith design plans for an integrated coastal management to arrest the tide of ecological destruction; and implement them without delay. This is a crusade whose success would be the League's lasting legacy for all generations. If you fail, you would forever be condemned for contributing to the decimation of that legacy.

Thank you and may all have a successful convention. May God bless you all for serving His creation - in coastal resources.