MANILA, Philippines — A ranking House lawmaker is urging the Senate to also pass a law that would change how the country assesses the environmental impact of projects, following the House of Representatives’ recent approval of a similar bill.
In a statement, House ecology committee chair and Biñan Rep. Marlyn Alonte urged Senate President Francis Escudero, Senate committee on environment and natural resources chair Sen. Cynthia Villar, and Sen. Loren Legarda to “guide the legislative process” for House Bill No. 11093, or the proposed Philippine Environmental Assessment System Act, in the remaining days of the 19th Congress.
Over 200 lawmakers voted in favor of the bill during the plenary session last Dec. 17, 2024. If passed into law, it would create a system that requires both a Strategic Environmental Assessment for large plans and an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for specific projects.
These assessments aim to identify and address potential environmental and social impacts early on. Projects with significant environmental risks, such as large factories, major infrastructure, and mining operations, would need to obtain a certificate of proponent’s environmental commitment (CPEC) from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to ensure that the project will follow environmental protection measures.
Currently, the country already has an EIA System, which was established in 1978 through Presidential Decrees 1586 and 1151. This decree mandates that any person or entity undertaking environmentally critical projects or operating in critical areas must obtain an environmental compliance certificate before proceeding.
Broad strokes
However, Alonte noted that the presidential decrees “were mere broad strokes and left the details to the DENR. Since 1978 and 1979, the Environmental Impact System (EIS) is largely made up of DENR administrative issuances. We now have an outdated and incomplete EIS. It is long overdue that the EIS be overhauled and updated.”
There have been attempts since the 8th Congress to do so, but “all those attempts failed,” Alonte lamented.
“Without fanfare but with determination, the House committee on ecology worked on HB 11093,” she said. “We found the time and mustered the effort needed to get the bill passed at the House and sent to the Senate.”
In the Senate, the only counterpart bill so far is that of Legarda’s Senate Bill No. 2609. There are other environmental bills, but none of them are specifically about environmental assessments.
Speaker Martin Romualdez had hailed the bill as a “a necessary step in balancing progress with environmental stewardship.”
“With the EAS in place, we are institutionalizing a process that ensures environmental risks are mitigated before projects are implemented. We cannot afford to sacrifice the environment for the sake of progress,” he added.
Strict penalties
The bill includes strict penalties for those who violate environmental regulations. Companies that operate without the required CPEC could face fines of up to P20 million and may have their operations shut down.
Meanwhile, Strategic Environmental Assessments will help ensure that national and local development plans consider a project’s overall environmental impact, including the protection of biodiversity and the rights of indigenous communities.
Public participation is a key part of the assessment process. This includes the involvement of government agencies, local communities, and nongovernmental organizations in monitoring the project’s environmental impact.
The bill also requires project proponents to set aside funds to address any environmental damage that may occur, through mechanisms such as trust funds, insurance, or cash deposits.
The DENR will be responsible for creating a system to store and share information related to environmental assessments, allowing for greater transparency and public access to such information.