Sincerity in implementing the laws

News of toxic waste dumping by Glenn Defense Marine Asia, the Malaysia-based United States Navy contractor in Philippine waters was headline news the past days. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has scheduled a meeting today with the parties concerned. Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago is calling for a Senate investigation of the incident. A very effective environmental crusader, the EcoWaste Coalition, is pushing for a transparent investigation and the filing of a legal action, as warranted.

What is most appalling is the report  (PDI/Nov. 10) that since last year, the same contractor was already the subject of investigation by the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) for dumping waste not just in Subic Bay but in Manila Bay. The Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACOM) disallowed the inspection, a grave disrespect of the EMB’s visitorial power.

Roberto Sheen, a former director of the EMB Central Luzon, said in his report that the US officials’ view has been “that the husbanding agent (Glenn Defense) contracted by them is not exempt under the contract from complying with local laws.”

EMB Director Sheen should be commended for his report. But, why did DENR not pursue the matter further? DENR is given the authority to abate pollution. So is the Philippine Coast Guard for maritime pollution. All executive agencies in fact had been ordered by the Supreme Court to clean up Manila Bay since 2008 pursuant to its ruling in the case of Metro Manila Development Authority v. Residents of Manila Bay.

Secretary Ramon Paje should have talked with the President about VFACOM’s intransigence in not respecting its authority. Did he? Was he given the go-signal not to continue the investigation of the contractor? Indeed, Malacañang and the VFACOM executive director Edilberto Adan have a lot of explaining to do.

We call on the Ombudsman to conduct an independent investigation o this controversy.

If not for media’s exposure, the aforesaid toxic waste dumping in our waters would not have been given attention.

When will government prioritize our sacred right to a healthy environment and implement our world-class but so-empty environmental laws? Their almost nil enforcement is devastating, not just to our severely degraded ecosystems, but to the health, livelihood and well-being of our people.

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The residents of barangay Kasambagan in Cebu City are surprised and understandably angry that their area is targeted for another flyover project by, again, Congresswoman Cutie del Mar.

As with her inaction in the failed Gorordo and MJ Cuenco flyover projects, Rep. del Mar has not even consulted her constituents and  respected their sovereign right to participate in decision-making. The people have every right to demand that their voices be heard and to ask why she is bent on pursuing a clearly unsustainable, unresponsive and wasteful expenditure of taxpayers’ money.

Responsive projects are those that answer the needs of the people, not the wants of public officials. We deserve to have programs at this time that integrate the impacts of climate change and disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) to increase our resiliency and ecosystems to hazards. This is mandated by another- still-to-be-implemented RA 10121, the DRRM Law.

Under the Local Government Code (Code), a congressional representative is a compulsory member of the Barangay Development Council (BDC), which is the policy-making body of the barangay. Is the BDC of Kasambagan active? I hope so.

It is a matter of record that the Department of Interior and Local Government and the local chief executives have tolerated the non-existence of BDC’s for decades. It is a great disservice to our people that this mechanism for public participation is not given importance by our authorities.  Imagine if each BDC is working and the representative of Congress and other stakeholders were active. There will be no surprises and conflicts when it comes to project adoption and implementation. There will even be systematic monitoring and evaluation of these projects. The people would be happy knowing that they are part of the process.

In this era of calamities and disturbances, people should also not wait for BDCs to be constituted. They should participate actively in the affairs of society, which is a duty of each citizen. They can seek the intercession of the DILG, or even the courts, to make their BDC operational.

It is now a matter of survival that authentic BDCs exist. Under the DRRM Law, the BDCs act as the Local Risk Reduction and Management Council tasked to:

(1) Approve, monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Plans and regularly review and test the plan consistent with other national and local planning programs;

(2) Ensure the integration of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation into local development plans, programs and budgets as a strategy in sustainable development and poverty reduction;

(3) Recommend the implementation of forced or preemptive evacuation of local residents, if necessary; and

(4) Convene the local council once every three (3) months or as necessary.

Without a functioning BDC, it is still business as usual, where political authorities act as if their every word is law and where everything, including disasters, is left to chance.

Can we still afford to be complacent? The answer is yours to make.