Marcos signs new law requiring ecological accounting

PPA POOL

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed into law Republic Act No. 11995, or the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (Pencas) law.

Pencas law provides the government with mechanisms to account for the country’s natural resources.

READ: PENCAS bill gets Senate nod on final reading

The law is more than just a law that adds another layer of bureaucracy since it supports the National Integrated Protected Areas System and requires economic accounting frameworks under international standards.

The Pencas law tasks the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to implement the law through an interagency working group.

The Department of Agriculture will assist the PSA in generating the National Capital Accounting information, while the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will report on associated ecosystems. —Melvin Gascon