BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—For the sake of endangered dolphins, whales and other marine mammals, the Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down as unconstitutional, a deal between the Department of Energy (DOE) and a Japanese firm for oil “exploration, development and exploitation” in Tañon Strait, an “environmentally critical area” between the islands of Cebu and Negros.
In a unanimous vote, the high court declared as null and void Service Contract No. 46 (SC 46) between the DOE and the Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. (Japex) for oil exploration activities in the protected waters that was signed in 2004.
The high court ruled that SC 46 was in violation of Republic Act No. 7586, or the National Integrated Protected Areas System Act of 1992 (Nipas), which deemed Tañon Strait to be a critical area.
According to the high tribunal, there were safeguards covering such service contracts in the Constitution but which SC 46 failed to comply with—authority by general law, a signature by the President and reporting to Congress.
“[B]ecause Tañon Strait is a Nipas area, the exploitation and utilization of this energy resource may be allowed only through a law passed by Congress,” court spokesperson Theodore Te told a press briefing here yesterday.
“[A]ny activity outside the scope of its management plan may only be implemented pursuant to an environmental compliance certificate secured after undergoing an environmental impact assessment to determine the effects of such activity on its ecological system,” the high court ruled.
Tañon Strait is a narrow body of water between Negros and Cebu islands which “harbors a rich biodiversity of marine life, including endangered species of dolphins and whales,” the high court said.
Former President Fidel Ramos declared the waters a “protected seascape” in 1998. President Joseph Estrada, who succeeded Ramos, issued an executive order “to ensure the optimum and sustained use of the resources in the area without threatening its marine life.”
Estrada also created a commission representing local government units where the waters lie. The commission was later abolished through an executive order by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The high court also said that while Presidential Decree
No. 87, a 1972 law, provides for “the discovery and production of indigenous petroleum,” the Nipas Act “specifically requires a law passed by Congress before exploitation in a Nipas area may be done.”
Te said the court “considered the legality of SC 46 in relation to Section 2, Article 12 of the 1987 Constitution,” which mandates the state “to protect the nation’s marine wealth.”
The provision also provides that only the President, with notification to Congress, may enter into development contracts with foreign firms “based on real contributions to the economic growth and welfare of the country.”
The ruling was in response to petitions separately filed through counsel by the Resident Marine Mammals of the Protected Seascape Tañon Strait—the marine mammals themselves—and the Central Visayan Fisherfolk Development Center against the then Secretary of Energy and Japex, among other respondents.
While it issued a favorable ruling, the court noted that “only humans have [the] personality to sue.”