1987 Constitution and the

Environmental Laws
May 9, 2014

Provisions in the 1987 Constitution

Article II

Section15providesthat the State shall protectand promotethe right to

health of the people and instill health conscious among them

Section 16 provides that the State shall protect and advance the right
of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the
rhythm and harmony of nature.

1987 Constitution

Article XIIentitled National Economy andPatrimony

that providesfor the efficient use and state ownership

of natural resources.

Local Government Code of 1991

Section 2 Declaration of Policy

(a) It is hereby declared the policy of the State that the
territorial and political subdivisions of the State shall enjoy
genuine and meaningful local autonomy to enable them to
attain their fullest development as self-reliant communities
and make them more effective partners in the attainment of
national goals. Toward this end, the State shall provide for a
more responsive and accountable local government structure
instituted through a system of decentralization whereby local
government units shall be given more powers, authority,
responsibilities, and resources. The process of
decentralization shall proceed from the national government
to the local government units.

LGC of 1991
Section 16- General Welfare

Every local government unit shall exercise the powers expressly

granted, those necessarily implied there from, as well as powers

necessary, appropriate, or incidental for its efficient and effective
governance, and those which are essential to the promotion of the
general welfare. Within their respective territorial jurisdictions,
local government units shall ensure and support, among other
things, the preservation and enrichment of culture, promote
health and safety, enhance the right of the people to a balanced
ecology, encourage and support the development of appropriate
and self-reliant scientific and technological capabilities, improve
public morals, enhance economic prosperity and social justice,
promote full employment among their residents, maintain peace
and order, and preserve the comfort and convenience of their
inhabitants.

LGC of 1991

Section 17.Basic Services and Facilities

(a) Local government units shall endeavor to be self-reliant and shall continue exercising the
powers and discharging the duties and functions currently vested upon them. They shall also
discharge the functions and responsibilities ofnational agencies and offices devolved to them
pursuant to this Code. Local government units shall likewise exercise such other powers and
discharge such other functions and responsibilities as are necessary, appropriate, or incidental to
efficient and effective provisions of the basic services and facilities enumerated herein

What are the Related Services

(1) ForBarangay:

(2) For a Municipality

(iii) Services and facilities related to general hygiene and sanitation,

beautification, and solid waste collection;

(vi) Solid waste disposal system or environmental management system

and services or facilities related to general hygiene and sanitation

Related Services

(3) For a Province:

(iii) Pursuant to national policies and subject to supervision, control and
review of the DENR, enforcement of forestry laws limited to communitybased forestry projects, pollution control law, small-scale mining law,
and other laws on the protection of the environment; and minihydroelectric projects for local purposes

Related Services

4) For a City:
All the services and facilities of the municipality
and province

LGC of 1991

Section 26. Duty of National Government Agencies

in the Maintenance of Ecological Balance
It shall be the duty of every national agency or government-owned or

controlled corporation authorizing or involved in the planning and

implementation of any project or program that may cause pollution,
climatic change, depletion of non-renewable resources, loss of crop
land, rangeland, or forest cover, and extinction of animal or plant
species, to consult with the local government units, nongovernmental
organizations, and other sectors concerned and explain the goals and
objectives of the project or program, its impact upon the people and
the community in terms ofenvironmental or ecological balance,
andthe measures that will be undertaken to prevent or minimize the
adverse effects thereof.

LGC of 1991

Section 27. Prior Consultations Required

No project or program shall be implemented by government authorities unless the consultations

mentioned in Sections 2 (c) and 26 hereof are complied

with, and prior approval of thesanggunianconcerned is obtained: Provided, That occupants in areas
where such projects are to be implemented shall not be evicted unless appropriate relocation
sites have
been provided, in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution

LGC of 1991

CHAPTER IV

Relations With People's and Non-Governmental Organizations

Section 34. Role of People's and Non-governmental
Organizations.-Local government units shall
promote the establishment and operation of people's and nongovernmental organizations to become active partners in the
pursuit of local autonomy.

LGC of 1991

Section 35. Linkages with People's and Non-governmental Organizations

Local government units may enter into joint ventures and such other cooperative
arrangements with people's and non-governmental organizations to engage in the
delivery of certain basic services, capability-building and livelihood projects, and to
develop local enterprises designed to improve productivity and income, diversity
agriculture, spur rural industrialization,promote ecological balance,and enhance the
economic and social well-being of the people.

LGC of 1991

Section 36. Assistance to People's and Non-governmental Organizations

A local government unit may, through its local chief executive and with
the concurrence of thesanggunianconcerned, provide assistance,
financial or otherwise, to such people's and non-governmental
organizations for economic, socially-oriented, environmental, or cultural
projects to be implemented within its territorial jurisdiction.

Local Officials to Implement the Environmental

Laws

Local Chief Executives (LCEs)

Local Legislative Bodies ( Province, City, Municipality
andBarangay)

Environmental and Natural Resources Officer of the

LGUs

Environmental Related Laws

RA 7942 (Philippine Mining Act of 1995)

DENR Administrative Order No. 99-34
RA 7076 (Peoples Small Scale Mining Act of)
PD 1899 (Establishing Small Scale Mining as a
new Dimension in Mineral Development

Environmental Laws

RA 7586 (National Integrated Protected Areas

System-NIPAS)

RA 8371 (Indigenous Peoples Rights Act)

RA 8435 (Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization
Act-AFMA)

EO 263 (Community-Based Forest Management

Environmental Laws

EO 481 (Promotion and Development of Organic Agriculture in the

Philippines)

PD 705 (Forestry Reform Code of the Philippines)

PD 701 (Amended Section 36 of PD 705)
PD 1151 (Philippine Environmental Policy)
PD 1152 (Philippine Environment Code)

Environmental Laws

RA 3844 (An Act to Ordain the Agricultural Reform Code and to Institute
Land Reforms in the Philippines)

RA 7907 (Amended RA 3844 or Code of Agrarian Reform of the

Philippines)

PD 1067 ( The Water Code of the Philippines)

PD1586 (Environmental Impact Assessment)

Environmental Laws

Proclamation No. 2146 (Proclaiming certain areas and types of projects

as environmentally

critical and within the scope of environmental

impact statement system established under PD 1586)

RA 7160 (Local Government Code of the Philippines)

Environmental Laws

R.A. 8749 (Clean Air Act of 1999)that moves for an effective air quality
management program that will mitigate the worsening problem of air
pollution in the country

R.A. 9003 (Solid Waste Management Act of 2000) that aimed at providing
a comprehensive solution to the countrys garbage problem

Environmental Laws

R.A. 9275 (Philippine Clean Water Act of 2004)that moves for

a comprehensive water quality management scheme

Administrative Order 171

issued in 2007 to create a

Presidential Task Force on Climate Change (PTFCC).

Environmental Laws

R.A. 9729 (Climate Change Act of 2009)which aims to

systematically integrate the concept of climate change

in the policy formulation and development plans of all
government agencies and units

Environmental Laws

EXECUTIVE ORDER 79, Series of 2012- Institutionalizing and

Implementing Reforms in the Philippine Mining Sector

Providing Policies and Guidelines to Ensure Environmental
Protection and Responsible Mining in the Utilization of Mineral
Resource

International Environmental Commitment

Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on

the Human Environment;

Rio deJanieroDeclaration on Environment and Development

(Agenda 21)

Vienna Convention on the Protection of the Ozone Layer

International Environmental Commitment

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the

Ozone Layer;

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate

Change

Kyoto Protocol to Global Climate Change Convention

International Environmental Commitment

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

Basel Convention on the Control of Trans boundary Movements
of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of

Wild Flora and Fauna