State of the Philippine Environment 2018

Business-As-Usual Plunder Under A New Administration

Center for Environmental Concerns – Philippines

State of the Philippine Environment:
Business-as-Usual Plunder Under a New Administration

Copyright © 2018 the Center for Environmental Concerns –

Philippines

ISBN No.: 978-621-8143-00-5

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted

without written permissions from the publisher.

Executive Director: Owen Fhem Migraso

Overall Coordinator: Lia Mai Alonzo
Editors: Rowena Boquiren, Frances Quimpo, Eileen Meneses
Research and Text: Lia Mai Alonzo and April Porteria
Lay-out: Ron Villegas
Cover: Samantha Pangilan

Printing: Southern Voices Printing Press

Published by: Center for Environmental Concerns – Philippines

Office Address: 26 Matulungin Street, Barangay Central, Diliman,

Quezon City 1100, Philippines
Telefax: (632) 356 2166
Website: www.cecphils.org
E-mail: info@cecphils.org
Table of Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 State of Natural Ecosystems 3

2.1 Upland Ecosystems 3
2.2 Freshwater Ecosystems 17
2.3 Agricultural Ecosystems 24
2.4 Urban Ecosystems 28
2.5 Coastal and Marine Ecosystems 32
2.6 Other Issues 41

3. Two Years under the Duterte Administration:

False Hopes, Failed Promises and the Need for Environmental Action 45
3.1  Resisting Plunder and Destruction 45
3.2  Defending Patrimony 48
3.3  Asserting Human Rights 52
3.4  Building a Sustainable Future 55

4. Conclusion 57

References 58

About us 68
1 INTRODUCTION
Nations or parties continue to make global
commitments to save the environment, halt
biodiversity loss and protect ecosystems
(Convention on Biological Diversity, n.d)
but the execution of actual steps to achieve
targets is hurdled by dynamics at the ground
level. For the Philippines, such commitments
confront an atmosphere of disregard for
environmental issues. Such seems the case
for most nations trapped in implementing
neoliberal policies.
As economic systems anchored on generating
profit prevail, they primarily serve the
interest of foreign investors, local big business,
technocrats and corrupt bureaucracies. No
amount of mainstreaming environmental
concerns in the system could effectively
reverse the trend of destruction and depletion.
Current environmental approaches also need
an urgent revision of the particularly myopic
practice. As things still stand, trees are seen for
forests, endemic and native species are easily
dispensed with, and exotic species are still
being propagated. Despite the adverse social
and environmental impacts, implementors
focus on species that yield direct market-
based benefits in a particular ecosystem.
It is prudent for governments and people
to recognize that the ecosystems –and their
supporting, provisioning, regulating, and
cultural services– need to be viewed in their
entirety so as to manage and utilize them
sustainably. However, this not is the situation
in many countries. The predicament worsens
as environmental defenders themselves are
exposed to risks on the job. The case of the
Philippines is no exception.
Our archipelagic country is endowed with
rich natural resources that can be tapped for
national development. Its various ecosystems
have directly provided people with food,
water and shelter. Its abundant and diverse
mineral resources bear the potential to
support strategic industries that we need.
Despite these, there have been rapid losses of
livelihood as we continually witness how flora
and fauna and their habitats have come to be
destroyed in the past years. Environmentally
destructive projects such as coal-fired
power plants, megadams, mining and
reclamation are relentlessly pursued. These
wanton development aggression in different
ecosystems have posed huge threats to life,
security, and the survival of present and future
generations.
The pervading neo-liberal policies legitimize
the foreign plunder and destruction of natural
resources. A classic example is the Mining Act
of 1995 that allows 100% foreign ownership
of operations. It is not even anchored on any
program to industrialize the country, such that
all minerals extracted from the country are
marked for export at the onset. The current
administration under Rodrigo Duterte hints
no sign of hope to amend or to scrap such
laws and programs that, for decades, have
destroyed the environment and even displaced
communities. An impending threat to seal
2 Introduction
this surrender of national control of strategic
resources is embodied in current proposals to
change the Philippine Constitution.
At the start of his term, even until his second
State of the Nation Address, President Duterte
declared that “the environment must be
top priority,” yet his economic and political
decisions indicate otherwise. He practically
stopped the former Environment Secretary’s
orders to suspend and cancel mining
tenements of errant companies. The president
also mustered foreign investments to pump
prime his “Build Build Build” and Public-
Private Partnership (PPP) projects gearing
for huge, fast-tracked infrastructures at the
expense of the environment and people’s
rights.
Actions speak louder than words, indeed,
as he turns a blind eye to China’s military
aggression, reclaiming and constructing in
islands and reefs within the Philippines’
exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West
Philippine Sea. President Duterte, who barely
listens to people’s grievances, has continued
to deny community participation as the past
governments did. Furthermore, protests are
dealt with an iron fist. In his two-years of
office further, 61 environmental defenders
were killed.
As much as we need to protect these
defenders of the environment, there is much
more to do in protecting the environment in
this country. Every environmentalist, every
Filipino citizen, each one is called upon to
take action and meet these challenges for the
welfare of current and future generations.
2 STATE OF NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS
2.1  UPLAND ECOSYSTEMS
Forest Wealth and Threats
Forests play an important role in providing
multiple ecosystem services. Apart from
providing timber, forests are sources of
food, medicine, fiber, firewood and other
bioproducts. They protect soil and water. They
maintain such ecological functions as cycling
water and stabilizing slope. Forests also store
carbon, cycle nutrients, purify water and air
and maintain wildlife habitat.
Philippine forests directly support
approximately 30% of the Filipino populace.
Of this population, indigenous peoples
comprise half of those whose lives depend
on the forests and whose culture is closely
integrated with their natural environment
(Philippine Clearing House Mechanism,
2016).
Both governments and people only come
to realize the worth of our forests when
tragedies, like typhoon, drought and famine,
strike. Otherwise, the services of forest
ecosystems remain invisible to many. It is
urgent, in these precarious times of economic
crisis and climate change, to restore the
forests’ effective role in conserving soil and
water, maintaining a healthy atmosphere,
housing a diversity of plant and animal life,
and catering to people’s needs.
Declining forest cover
The Philippine tropical forest today consists
of patches of primary growth and secondary
growth forests. These may still be found in
Northern and Southern Luzon, Eastern
Visayas and Mindanao (Food and Agriculture
Organization [FAO], n.d.).
Primary growth or old-growth forests are
untouched especially in the context of
logging activities. Therefore, they retain
their high level of biodiversity. They provide
unique habitats for endangered endemic
species and also serve as genetic reservoirs or
vital references in restoring degraded forests.
Secondary growth forests, on the other hand,
have regrown after timber harvest or any
major disturbance, natural or brought by
human activities.
The country was once a lush tropical forest.
This was reduced to an estimated 70% of the
total land area after three centuries of Spanish
colonization in 1900. It went down to 52%
in 1946, breaching the forest cover needed by
the country in just half a century of American
colonization. It went further down to 30% in
1974 for three decades of extended American
rights to exploit the country’s resources
via the Parity Amendment to the 1935
Constitution. It dove to 24% in more than
4  State of Natural Ecosystems
Figure 2.1 Forest Cover (1900-2015)
Source: Environmental Science for Social Change (n.d).; Tacio (2016) & Pulhin et al. (n.d.)
one decade of Marcos’ Martial Rule (Figure
2.1).
Forests were destroyed to clear lands for
resettlements and commercial agricultural
production for export under Spanish rule.
Trees were also felled to build churches
and infrastructure and for the thriving
shipbuilding activities at the height of the
Galleon Trade. The colonization brought
down old growth forests to 21 million
hectares before the United States (US)
colonizers took over in 1898.
Deforestation intensified under American
rule, to yield timber for export. US logging
companies had a heyday in selling high-
quality timber from dipterocarps, or what
came to be known as Philippine mahogany
(Vitug, 1993). Timber was also highly
demanded by the mining industry in the
1930s which had used them as posts and
source of fuel for the underground mining in
Benguet, for instance (Reyes-Boquiren, 1999).
Almost 12 million hectares of old growth
forest perished in barely half a century, leaving
roughly nine million hectares. American
colonization brought down the forest cover to
15 million hectares, as shown the chart below
(Reyes-Boquiren, 1999).
After the vaunted Philippine independence
from American colonizers in 1946, a sharper
decline occurred. American logging firms
never really left the country. They enjoyed
parity rights as Filipinos to further exploit
our resources, under the guise of various
agreements with the domestic governments
traditionally led by the elite. The US firms
had wangled their way into being allowed to
extensively profit from logging and mining in
the Philippines until the agreements expired
in 1974.
Under the Martial Law regime of President
Ferdinand Marcos, plunder of the forest
was unrivaled. His cronies, select families
of logging concessionaires, politicians, and
military officials, along with co-opted Moro
rebel-surrenderees, took over the logging
industry from the American corporations.
Timber production reached an all-time
high in 1976. In this same year, 350,000
hectares of land were deforested. It brought
the Philippine old growth forest to near
extinction.

By the 1990s to 2000s, the massive
deforestation forced the Philippine
government to implement policies on
moratorium and selective log ban. These
measures were prompted by a series of
landslides and disasters, as the country’s forest
cover depleted rapidly at a rate of more than
100,000 hectares per year. However, these did
not last long. The succeeding administrations
lifted the log bans, one after another one,
and opted to issue new forest concessions
and honor timber licenses, including those of
Marcos’ cronies and relatives.
Still, controversies hounded the reliability
of government data on forest cover. In an
extensive research on post-war Philippine
forestry, David M. Kummer (1992) notes
issues around the prevalence of missing
inventories, exaggerated guesswork and
manipulated statistics. He also casts doubts
on the results of foreign-funded studies by
the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) supposedly released in
2001 and 2003.
With no indication of aggressive efforts by
government or private firms, especially the
logging concessionaires which are obligated
to conduct on the ground reforestation, forest
cover statistics apparently spiked from 15%
to 23.9% in 2003. This has been disputed by
the Environment Science for Social Change
(ESSC), a research and training institute, as it
studied a comprehensive collection of land
satellite images of land cover, particularly
forests, and compared it with the last
comprehensive satellite images of 1987. The
results disproved government data and noted
continuing forest loss from 1987 to 2002
(ESSC, n.d.).
The DENR’s 2017 Philippine Forest Statistics
reports on Philippine forest cover estimated
at 7,014,154 hectares or 23.4% of the total
State of Philippine Environment  5
30-million the country’s land area (Forest
Management Bureau [FMB], 2017), still a far
cry from the 54% recommended coverage set
by experts as per vulnerable slope percentage
and the 40% forest cover required in
maintaining hydrological functions (Haribon
Foundation, 2011).
The data, however, uses the same disputed
2003 data and no further study has been
reported to have been undertaken beyond
2003 with published results. As DENR
helplessly grapples with its methodology
and processes to determine the true state
of the country’s forests, it has adopted a
redefinition of forests as articulated in DENR
Memorandum Circular 2005-05. It not
only adopts FAO ’s inclusion of plantation
and production forests (FAO, 2010) but also
accommodates crop plantations of coconuts,
other palms, and bamboo, forest nurseries as
well as logging roads and open spaces adjacent
to logging sites. This has led the ESSC (n.d.)
to express its dismay that “we not only lost
our forest but also our concept of what a
forest is.”
Disputable reforestation efforts
The National Greening Program (NGP)
coordinating office of the DENR reported
that, from 2011-2016, it was able to plant trees
on 1.7 million hectares of land, exceeding
its target by 200,000 hectares. It reportedly
planted 1.3 billion seedlings, which was 200
million below the target (Table 2.1). These
claims are widely disputed by nongovernment
organizations (NGOs), conservationists,
politicians, and community dwellers.
The current Duterte administration
continued its predecessor’s move to extend
this initiative until 2028 dubbed as the
expanded NGP. The program aims to
cover the remaining 7.1 million hectares
6  State of Natural Ecosystems
Table 2.1 Degree of Accomplishment of the National Greening Program
Year Area Planted
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Total
Source: (National Greening Program, n.d.)
of unproductive, denuded and degraded
forestlands nationwide (National Greening
Program, n.d.). However, the very framework
of its reforestation generates these lingering
questions.
Why does the project veer away from a
broader view to reforest and restore the
multiple functions of forest ecosystems?
Why has it remained fixed with replenishing
tree stocks for harvest in forest lands? Even
the Impact Assessment of the NGP by the
Philippine Institute for Development Studies
(Vista, Cororaton, Inocencio, Tiongco &
Manlang, 1996) merely reckoned the number
of seedlings and areas planted as indicators,
which is an old forest framework for assessing
the environmental impact of the program.
Procuring and producing of planting
materials of exotic species have no place in a
biodiversity-rich forestry ecosystem.
The NGP is acknowledged to have a diverse
set of goals, such as to reduce poverty, to
manage and sustain natural resources, provide
ecosystem services, particularly “achieving
carbon neutrality,” and promote public
awareness. It is imperative to assess NGP’s
strategies on how to achieve such goals
and target outcomes over time and if they
offer the best option toward these goals. As
proven by experience, these goals are not
Seedlings Planted
128,558 89,624,121
221,763 125,596,730
333,160 182,548,862
334,302 205,414,639
360,357 351,014,239
284,089 415,564,211
1,662,229 1,369,762,802
achieved by mere planting exotic species
while marginalizing native tree species. The
program should have adequately considered
the breakthroughs and best practices in
rainforestation initiated by NGOs seeking to
revive Philippine endemic and native forests.
Indeed, old reforestation frameworks have
failed the country for decades now.
Approaches to rainforestation and ecosystem
services are nothing new to the DENR; its
Biodiversity Management Bureau previously
implemented related projects. Even the
DENR Secretary cannot be oblivious to
these approaches, as cited in several DENR
department documents. The DENR central
office itself established a partnership with
civil society organizations (CSOs) at the
onset of this project to help achieve the NGP
objectives.
As DENR persists to use the much-criticized
exotic species like Gmelina, Mahogany and
rubber, so do graft and corruption red flags
arise, for favoring certain suppliers of planting
materials. Rather than availing of the services
of favored suppliers, the community would
have benefited more from incentivizing the
production of native planting materials, not
only in the actual planting, consistent with
the goal to reduce poverty.

Environmental advocates expressed doubts on
NGP’s integrity as a reforestation program,
that can also contribute to climate change
mitigation. They view its practice of planting
500 trees per hectare, with one to four species,
as inappropriate in establishing resilient
forest ecosystems that could more adaptive
to climate extremes. The current practice
does not adequately help forest ecosystems
withstand winds brought by strong typhoons,
nor does it enable them to hold much water
from rainfall or pest outbreaks in times of
drought.
Old growth rainforests have 3,000 trees
with 200 species per hectare according
to Raoul Geollegue, forester and former
regional executive director of the DENR
Region 10 (Mordeno, 2015). In addition, as
Rappler reported, more anomalies transpire
on the ground. The former DENR Secretary
Michael Defensor stated that only 30% of
reforestation projects succeeded (Tacio, 2013).
Issues of corruption mentioned in news
reports involve the deliberate burning of
reforested areas, in some areas, just to avail of
additional funds (Ranada, 2014).
Finally, the government continues to consent
to legal logging, which casts doubt on its
seriousness in achieving climate neutrality
through the NGP. Persistent logging activities
negate reforestation efforts. The harvesting
of trees itself releases stored carbon into the
atmosphere (Camacho, L. D., Camacho, S. C.
& Youn, 2010). The changes in forest land use
remain to be the greatest source of carbon
emissions in the country which could have
led to losing more than 8% of its carbon
storage potential by 2015 due to deforestation.
The NGP, under the Forest Management
Bureau (FMB), is the most generously funded
project of the DENR yet it proves to be a
waste of taxpayer’s money. Such a program
State of Philippine Environment  7
are better implemented by communities or
people’s movements that are more mindful
of common benefits to be gained in the
restoring forest ecosystems.
Relentless extraction
Despite the precarious state of forest
ecosystems, deforestation continues. The
government is observed to allow the
destruction of forests in the name of profit
from so-called development projects and
logging concessions. These are short-term
economic gains and do not benefit the
majority of the population. Historical land
classification indicates that less than 500
individuals or corporations hold access rights
to most of the country’s forest resources
(Tacio, 2016).
The high demand for extracting forest-
based product result from the aim to satisfy
the foreign market. Of these total products,
USD 3.18 billion worth catered to the
top countries that import Philippine forest
extracts, among them Japan (accounting
for USD 2.8 billion), USA, the United
Kingdom, China and the Netherlands (FMB,
2017). This huge amount does not measure
nor compare with the losses incurred in
ecosystem services due to logging activities.
Other such sources of income, aside from
these extractive industries, are agriculture
and various industries. Ultimately, the large-
scale, legalized, and indiscriminate practice of
logging, mining, infrastructure development,
and forestland conversions brought about the
widespread dire situation of Philippine forests.
Wealth in Biodiversity and Threats
Biological diversity or biodiversity refers
to the variability among living organisms.
It is commonly measured by the number
8  State of Natural Ecosystems

Table 2.2 New Species Discovered (2016-2018)

Common Name Scientific Name Location Date
(Official name to be
Tree-dwelling Mouse Luzon 2016
determined)
Northern Luzon giant
Phloeomys pallidus Luzon 2016
cloud rat
Philippine earthworm (Official name to be
Luzon 2016
mouse determined)
Orchid Dendrobium lydiae Bukidnon, Mindanao 2016
Philippine Hoya Hoya indaysarae Central Dinagat Islands 2017
Sundathelpusa Barangay Seloton, Lake Sebu,
Freshwater crab 2017
miguelito South Cotabato
Philippine lichen Parmotrema tinctorum Northern Luzon, Mindanao 2017
Verde Island Passage,
Philippines, West Pacific
Butterflyfish Roa rumsfeldi Ocean / Puerto Galera, 2017
Oriental Mindoro / Bauan,
Batangas
Coffee plant Discospermum reyesii Argao, Cebu 2017
Palawanosorex
Palawan Moss shrew Mt. Mantalingahan, Palawan 2018
muscorum
Source: Field Museum (2016); Deutsche Welle (2016); Agence France-Presse (2016); Capistrano (2018);
Tantiangco (2017); Gopilan (2017); News Staff (2017); Arriola, Valdez, Nievera & Alejandro (2018); & ABS-CBN
News (2018)

of species living within a particular area.
Ecosystems with high biodiversity are
generally more resistant to disaster.
Status and Threats
The Philippine rainforest –home to a
diverse range of birds, plants, animals, and sea
creatures– is deemed as one of the 10 most
biologically megadiverse countries as of 1998,
according to International Union for the
Conservation of Nature (IUCN) (RankRed.
com, 2015). The country has around 1,100
land vertebrate species, including over 100
mammal species and 170 bird species found
nowhere else on Earth. The Philippines
also prides itself with the highest rate of
discovery in the world, with 16 new species
of mammals discovered in the last ten years
(Table 2.2).
The country hosts more than 52,177
described species, about half of which are
endemic (Biodiversity Management Bureau
[BMB], 2017). More species are discovered
every year.Yet the Philippines fell from
the Top 10 megadiverse country in barely
two decades. Still considered among the
top countries in terms of the variety of
ecosystems, species and genetic resources, as
well as the level of endemism, it has ranked
24th worldwide, since 2016, in terms of
biodiversity (Butler, 2016). That the country
is now relegated to one of 25 tells so much
about how it lost at such an alarming rate and
starkly failed to protect its biodiversity wealth.
Table 2.3 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of
Threatened Species (2016-2018)
IUCN Red List Date of
Common Name Scientific Name Location
Category Declaration
Near Threatened
Palawan bearded Sus June 11,
Palawan (previously:
pig ahoenobarbus 2016
Vulnerable)
Cordillera ground-
October 1,
warbler, Rusty- Robsonius rabori Northern Luzon Vulnerable
2016
faced babbler
Palawan Fairy- October 1,
Irena tweeddalii Palawan Near Threatened
bluebird 2016
Mount Apo and
Chrysocorythus October 1,
Mindanao Serin Mount Kitanglad, Near Threatened
mindanensis 2016
Mindanao,
Philippine
Basilan and Least Concern
guardian frog, Limnonectes April 27,
other localities in (previously:
Philippine small- parvus 2017
Mindanao vulnerable)
disk frog
Balabac and Near Threatened
Palawan Horned- Megophrys May 2,
Palawan Islands, (previously:
frog ligayae 2017
Dumaran Island Endangered)
Mountains of Vulnerable
Hazel’s Wrinkled Platymantis May 24,
Negros and possibly (previously:
Ground Frog hazelae 2017
Masbate Islands Endangered)
White-striped
Flathead Toad, Vulnerable
Pelophryne May 25,
Palawan Dwarf Palawan (previously:
albotaeniata 2017
Toad, Palawan Endangered)
Toadlet
Mount Balabag,
Palawan Eastern Mantalingajan May 28,
Alcalus mariae Endangered
frog mountain range, 2017
Palawan
Palawan
Birdwing, Triangle Trogonoptera January
Palawan Near Threatened
Birdwing, Trojana trojana 25, 2018
Birdwing
Source: International Union for the Conservation of Nature (2018)
10  State of Natural Ecosystems
Conservation International also calls it the
“hottest” of the 25 biodiversity hotspots in
the world because of the rate of plant and
animal life destruction (Bengwayan, 2018). A
biodiversity hotspot denotes a biogeographic
region with significant levels of biodiversity
and threatened with destruction.
The IUCN Red List released in September
2017 noted that, of the 11,046 endangered
and extinct plant and animal species, 932 are
in the Philippines (International Union for
the Conservation of Nature, 2018) (Table 2.3).
This number accounts for nine percent of the
world’s total endangered and extinct species.
With regard to the number of combined
extinct and threatened plants and animals,
the Philippines tops the list in Southeast and
South Asia. Worldwide, it is second only to
Africa (Bengwayan, 2018).
Among the threats to Philippine biodiversity
is habitat destruction which leads to
species unsafe from new living conditions,
predation from other species and inaccessible
resources (Foundation for the Philippine
Environment [FPE], n.d.). Other such threats
include destructive industries like mining
and pollution from these industries. This
predicament mostly results from commercial
exploitation and weak governance, which in
turn arise from flaws in the policies and lack
of political will among government agencies.
All these largely contribute to biodiversity loss
(Bengwayan, 2018).
To cite a particular case, due to rapid
deforestation, the natural habitat of
the endemic and critically endangered
Philippine eagle (Figure 2.2) is destroyed
by infrastructure development and mining
operations. The 18 provinces vaunted to be
its habitat (BMB, n.d.) confront the following
threats: 16 approved mining permits as of June
2018, along with 22 exploration permits (EP),
Figure 2.2 Philippine Eagle
Source: Philippine Eagle Foundation
43 mineral production sharing agreements
(MPSA), and three financial and technical
assistance agreements (FTAA) (Mines
and Geosciences Bureau [MGB], 2015).
For instance, the MPSA of TVI Resource
Development Philippines, Inc. is within the
Siocon Resource Reserve.
Higher temperatures and changing rainfall
patterns also caused a change in migration
patterns, that render the species unable to
reproduce. Forced to seek new homes in
cooler and higher elevated habitat and leaving
behind their prey that did not migrate as fast
as they did, the species faced threats them
of extinction. The Philippine eagle is the
only blue-eyed bird of prey in the world
and has only 400 pairs remaining in the wild
(Philippine Eagle Foundation, n.d.).
On the other hand, the decline in the
population of the endemic and endangered
flame-templed babbler of Negros and
Panay and the striped babbler of Negros
continues. DENR’s Ecosystems Research and
Development Bureau (ERDB) attributed this
drop to habitat loss, conversion of forest to
agricultural commodities and human-induced
air pollution (Mayuga, 2017).

The babbler’s habitat, Mount Kanlaon Natural
Park is a protected area covered by the
National Integrated Protected Areas System
(NIPAS) Act of 1992 or RA 7586. Despite
the efforts to preserve the environment
under the NIPAS, DENR cited problems
in managing protected areas, constraints
in funding, lack of capacity and awareness
even among its employees. The department
acknowledged that much has to be done
to improve its work in protected areas
management. As one study also showed, only
36% of the key biodiversity spots became
established protected areas, which are also
not appropriately positioned to cover those
particularly important to biodiversity (Mallari,
Collar, McGowan & Marsden, 2016).
The NIPAS Act and the Indigenous
People’s Rights Act have inconsistencies
and overlaps. Between the two, they fail to
harmonize protecting of the environment and
recognizing the rights of indigenous people.
The procedure for establishing protected
areas is separate from recognizing and titling
ancestral domain. They also have different
approaches in governance structures (La Viña,
Kho & Caleda, 2010).
Lack of systematic data on the impact of
managing protected areas also impedes not
only improving their biophysical condition
but also the quality of life of communities
as well as potential benefits to the country
(Dizon, 2012). Indigenous people’s are
constrained to use the local resource, as cases
may indicate. For instance, the management of
the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park only
allowed the Agtas to engage in “traditional
resource utilization” without clearly defining
the term “traditional.” There are also issues
on participation and representation. Mostly,
State of Philippine Environment  11
the people did not know the park’s rules
and regulations. Many were not even
informed that the park existed. The Protected
Area Management Board consists of 36
members, only 12 of whom are indigenous
representatives (Minter, Ploeg, Pedrablanca,
Sunderland & Persoon, 2014).
Another issue pertains to the DENR
Administrative Order (DAO) No. 2007-
11. The DAO allows the DENR to issue
Special Use Agreement in Protected Areas
(SAPA), which proves to be incongruent
to its mandate to protect the environment
for its ecosystem services and not for its
commercial value. The agreement aims to
generate revenue to be used in operating
and managing protected areas. It seeks “to
reduce the financial burden on the national
government” and thus permits special uses
for agroforestry, forest plantation, ecotourism,
campsites, communication and power
facilities, irrigation canals and aquaculture.
In 2011, DENR suspended SAPA’s issuance,
citing a flimsy reason pertaining to the lack of
a standard rate on imposing the development
fees. However, by May 4, 2018, Duterte’s
newly-appointed Environment Secretary,
Roy Cimatu lifted the suspension via DAO
208-05. Having developed a standard rate,
the special agreements resumed in allowing
increased resource use under a profit-oriented
framework.
Environment advocates and defenders
denounced that these SAPAs contradict the
essence of declaring protected areas. SAPAs
disturb the areas designed for protection.
The critical habitats should not be seen as a
burden, as the law even deems these areas as
invaluable assets.
12  State of Natural Ecosystems
Figure 2.3 Mineral Production Value Generated
Source: Mines and Geosciences Bureau as cited from the Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment Report
(2017)
Mineral Wealth and Threats
Foreign Plunder and Liberalization
Around nine million hectares or 30% of the
Philippine territory contain high mineral
potential (MGB, 2017). The country lost this
wealth, amounting to PHP 1.59 trillion or
94% of the total mineral resources extracted
by the mining industry over the past 20 years
(1997-2017), to exportation (Figure 2.3).
Nickel production reached 500,000 metric
tons in 2016, making us the world’s top
producer (United States Geological Survey
[USGS], 2017). In cobalt production, we
rank eighth in the world (USGS, 2017). In
gold production, reaching 40.2 tons with
an additional 196.34 tons in reserve, we are
twenty-fourth globally (Padhy, 2017) and fifth
in Asia, as ranked by the GFMS Gold Survey
2016 (Inquirer.net, 2016).
The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 removed
trade barriers and ownership restrictions,
ushering in the influx of foreign investments
in the industry. Foreign firms that benefit
from the country’s mineral wealth are allowed
100% ownership, under the FTAA of the
current mining law. As of September 30,
2017, there are five existing FTAAs covering
100,136.0794 hectares and 36 applications
under process, according to the MGB. Most
of the minerals exported are raw ore with no
value added. They also generate fewer jobs,
as compared to minerals processed locally.
The country only has four processing plants/
smelters as of 2017 (MGB, 2017).
Both foreign and local companies amass huge
profits from mining. In addition, they are
even granted tax exemptions and tax holidays,
as the Philippine government views these
provisions as a means to encourage more
investments and operations. Meanwhile, the
country earns meager revenues from the
mining industry. It reportedly contributed
only 0.79% in Gross Domestic Product in
2016. Of jobs generated, the mining industry
contributes only 0.64% to employment,
in 2011-2015. Meanwhile, agriculture’s
contribution is 31.14% in the same period
(The Global Economy.com, n.d.).

The extent of Environmental Degradation
About half of the metallic mines that
currently operate often violate environmental
rules. Among them, there is a profound
failure to firmly enforce the mechanisms of
environmental protection and also hazardous
operations that spread fumes, dust, and mine
wastes not only to the mine workers but also
to entire communities and the environment
have led to disasters. In the past four years,
there were at least seven mining-related
disasters.
The biggest mining disaster in the Philippines
was the 2012 Philex mine spill in Benguet.
according to former MGB Director Jasareno
(Dinglasan, 2012). More than 20 million
metric tons of sediments flowed into water
channels, such as the Balog Creek, and into
the larger Agno River. The latter is a Class
A river and the lifeblood of communities of
indigenous peoples living nearby. Philex, the
country’s biggest gold producer with business
tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan at the helm,
spilled 10 times more than the volume of the
1996 Marcopper disaster in Marinduque in
1996, which also resulted in the “death” of
Boac River.
Aside from these disasters, mining companies
fall short in fulfilling the requirements to
rehabilitate the site. One such case involved
the Canadian-Australian mining giant,
OceanaGold. The company has operated
since 2013 in Didipio town, Nueva Vizcaya
under the FTAA permit. When investigated
in 2017, it turned out that each of its three
reforestation sites had no successful plantation.
Most of the trees were either dead, dying
or too small to survive (Broad & Cavanagh,
2018).
In Hinabangan town, Samar, the Bacay Mine
polluted the Taft River, one of the biggest
State of Philippine Environment  13
body of water in the province (Morales,
2008). By 2005, it manifested a build-up of
acid mine drainage, dilapidated structures,
and tailing dams that could potentially flood
the area with toxic sludge. Hinabangan is
a fourth class municipality, despite hosting
mining operations for 36 years. The successive
operations were: Marinduque Mine Industrial
Corporation, from 1956 to 1985, and
Philippine Pyrite Corporation, from 1986
to 1992. The former copper and pyrite mine
sprawls on the 2,672-hectare area.
Rehabilitation started in 2009 but, as of 2016,
only 42 hectares of the heavily-polluted area
was re-planted for phytoremediation by the
ERDB and MGB (Kritz, 2016). Only 1.572%
of the total mine site got cleaned up by far.
After seven years and huge loans worth PHP
37 million from the World Bank and PHP 29
million from MGB in local counterpart funds,
the rehabilitation lags on. This is just one of
the 31 mine sites slated to be rehabilitated
by the DENR under the term of Secretary
Cimatu (Teves, 2018). Abandoned, inactive or
closed, after mining corporations extracted
huge profits from them, what used to be
rich forests the now require considerable
government funds, indeed from taxpayers’
money, to clean up after the firms leave them.
Mining under Duterte
In 2016, President Duterte appointed Regina
Paz “Gina” Lopez, a known environmental
advocate, as the DENR Secretary. She
immediately conducted a mining audit,
based on mining law violations, apart
from destroyed or degraded watersheds. In
response, she moved to close down 23 mining
operations, suspend five mining operations,
and canceled 75 MPSAs. The mining
companies vehemently appealed the DENR
decision. Currently, none of the closures has
been executed and the Office of the President
14  State of Natural Ecosystems
has been silent on the decision regarding the
appeals.
During her term, Lopez released an
administrative order, DAO 2017-10, banning
prospective open pit mines (Miguel,
2017) and DAO 2017-04, giving the
DENR secretary sole authority to issue
Environmental Compliance Certificates
(ECCs) for both environmentally critically
projects (ECPs) and non-ECPs which are
within environmentally critical areas (ECAs)
(Department of Environment and Natural
Resources [DENR], 2017). The DAO 217-04
was said to eliminate corruption issues in the
regional offices.
Unfortunately, Sec. Lopez’s term was
short-lived. After 10 months in office, the
Commission on Appointments (CA) rejected
her appointment on May 3, 2017. Days after,
President Duterte appointed retired general
Roy Cimatu, former Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff. In 1994,
Cimatu commanded the 603rd Brigade of the
Philippine Army stationed in Mindanao and
created the Task Force Lumad composed of
personnel from the 641st Infantry Battalion
of the Philippine Army, the Davao del Norte
Provincial Police Command, and other
government units.
The Task Force Lumad watched over the
ALSONS’ logging tenement in Davao del
Norte while training Civilian Armed Force
Geographical Unit (CAFGU) paramilitaries
to protect the logging area. This was a
reaction to the tribal declaration of armed
defense or pangayaw by the Ata-Manobo
tribe leaders against the large-scale logging
operations of the Alcantara and Sons
(ALSONS) Company. The company is owned
by the local oligarchy of the Alcantara clan in
Mindanao where current Finance Secretary
Carlos Dominguez was known to work for
many years.
In 2011, Cimatu was linked to the AFP
‘pabaon’ corruption scandal wherein retiring
chiefs of staff were given ‘send-off money’. He
allegedly received PHP 80 million.
Under his term, DAO 2017-04 was reversed.
Moreover, the Mining Industry Coordinating
Council (MICC) cleared 23 of the 27 mining
companies that were earlier ordered closed or
suspended (Padin, 2018).
In addition, on May 2018, the joint House
committees on natural resources and
legislative franchises approved the measure
requiring mining companies to secure
legislative franchises before being allowed to
operate. This will serve merely as an added
layer of bureaucracy and an added layer of
lobby money where under-the-table deals
may be secured from district representatives
by prospective mining companies.
The ban of the export of raw ores was also
proposed by the DENR and was supported
by the National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) after the Chamber of
Commerce of the Philippine Islands presented
a proposal. No law has been passed to ensure
this yet. If ever this is seriously considered,
there should be ample government support
of local businesses for the development of
downstream industries that will process these
raw ores.
The myth that mining uplifts poverty has also
been debunked. In 2015, Agusan Del Sur,
Eastern Samar, and Masbate, three of the 13
provinces with mining operations (excluding
Dinagat Islands), ranked tenth, twelveth
and thirteenth among the provinces with
the highest poverty incidence respectively
(Philippine Statistics Authority [PSA], 2015).

The Caraga Region, host to 23 operating
mines, and the Eastern Visayas Region with
three operating mines (MGB, 2015) are the
top two and three regions with the highest
poverty rate respectively.
The lack of the long-term and genuine
promised development from mining
operations have cause communities to unite,
form organizations and oppose the mining
operations in different parts of the country.
This is faced with repression, with 38 killings
related to mining out of the 67 total killings
under the Duterte administration.
The lack of the long-term and genuine
promised development from mining
operations led communities to unite and
form organizations to oppose the mining
operations in different parts of the country.
The government responded with intensified
repression, as evidenced by 38 mining-related
killings under the Duterte administration.
The plight of the People
Expanded National Integrated Protected Areas
System (E-NIPAS)
The Expanded National Integrated Protected
Areas System (E-NIPAS), passed on July
16, 2018 to expand the coverage of the
erstwhile law, allowed for the creation of 94
new protected areas. It also included stiffer
fines and penalties for violators including
erring local government officials who may
be perpetually disqualified from public office
(Porcalla, 2018).
Despite its promise to protect key biodiversity
areas, the law does not provide guarantees to
solve the problems under the former NIPAS
Act. Conflicts in land use policy, funding
constraints, lack of capacity and awareness of
State of Philippine Environment  15
employees as well as systematic monitoring
of actual impacts persisted. There remained
to be no genuine and inclusive management
of protected areas nor genuine participation
of indigenous people communities to protect
their ancestral domains.
Human Rights Violations
In a speech regarding opening up indigenous
ancestral lands to investments, President
Duterte said wryly: “The government worked
hard, now you were given ancestral domain.
The problem is you didn’t use it.”
The statement not so much as sparked
concern and controversy as it dismayed
the indigenous people in Mindanao —the
lumads— who have persistently struggled for
self-determination. For many years, large-scale
development aggression has displaced them
and eroded their right to ancestral domain.
The impact of such development projects
takes a heavy toll on the lives of upland
settlers. In response, they have united and
organized themselves to defend their rights.
Figure 2.4 Victim of Extrajudicial Killings
Obillo Bay-ao from South Cotabato
Source: Ronalyn Olea, Bulatlat
16  State of Natural Ecosystems
Figure 2.5 Victim of Extrajudicial Killings
Fr. Mark Ventura from Cagayan Valley
Source: Inquirer.net
These social mobilizations become targets
of repression, both from the corporations
involved in these projects and the State
armed forces. Out of the 61 killings under
the Duterte administration, 53 killings were
related to mining, logging and plantations
(Figures 2.4-2.6).
Duterte’s foreign relations are built on
this objective to attract foreign investors
and sell the country’s pristine resources,
which according to him would create
jobs and opportunities among the Filipino
people. Even the proposed changes in the
Philippine Constitution states the removal of
protectionist policies on the economy, trade
and even social concerns thus, liberalizing
many assets and natural resources of the
country and provides an opening for further
foreign exploitation and plunder.
Figure 2.6 Victim of Extrajudicial Killings
Datu Victor Danyan of South Cotabato
Source: LRC-KSK, MindaNews
The indigenous people are the original
stewards of the forests. They protect the forests
since their lives depend on these invaluable
services. As such, they are among the most
affected sectors of deforestation. They are
losing their ancestral domain which is an
important aspect of their culture and their
identity.
The loss of natural resources has also pushed
them into greater poverty. The Batak people,
for example, are traditionally hunter-gatherers
in the rich forests of Northeast Palawan. But
today, the dwindling forest resources due to
concessionaires of forest products and mining
have left them malnourished and lacking in
access to clean water. They now have to work
for concessionaires by harvesting rattan poles,
earning only PHP 100 per week (Batak Craft,
2017).

2.2  FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEM
Freshwater Richness
The Philippines have 421 principal rivers
and river basins, 18 major rivers, 72 lakes and
extensive groundwater aquifers as of 2016
(Figure 2.7). River basins are watersheds
with a land area greater than 1,000 square
kilometers (River Basin Control Office, n.d.).
While principal river basins cover at least 40
square meters of drainage area, major river
basins extend to at least 1,400 square meters
among the principal river basins (Department
of Public Works and Highways & Japan
International Cooperation Agency, 2003). The
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
(BFAR) estimates that more than 100,000
fisherfolk who depend on freshwater sources
are spread across 58 provinces (Domingo,
2016).
As of 2014, water use was reported to be
alloted as follows: 79.36% for irrigation,
10.76% for industry, 7.89% for municipalities,
0.89% for fisheries, 0.308% for recreation,
0.022% for livestock, and 0.76% for others
(Migo,V.P., Mendoza, M.D., Alfafara, C.G.
& Pulhin, J.M., 2018). The National Water
Resources Board (NWRB) cited by Kritz,
B. (2016) said that the total volume of
freshwaters such as lakes and river basins and
groundwater amounts to 149.5 cubic meters
recorded per year.
Freshwater bodies are also home to numerous
aquatic invertebrates and plants, 43 of which
are endemic freshwater fishes (Guerrero, n.d.).
Among the endemic species is the pygmy
goby or Pandakapygmaea, the smallest fish
in the world, found in the Dagat-dagatan
Lagoon of Navotas, Rizal. Now on the brink
of extinction, the endemic freshwater species
have become endangered when exotic species
State of Philippine Environment  17
started to be introduced, with 13% of the
introductions considered as invasive and 7%
considered as potentially invasive. Its habitat
has also been converted and developed into a
housing project.
In the agricultural sector, according to the
NWRB, 85% of water is used for irrigation.
Nevertheless, only 57.33% or around 1.73
million out of three million hectares of
irrigatable lands can be irrigated. Out of the
1.73 million hectares, only approximately
754,000 hectares are covered by the National
Irrigation Authority.
World Health Organization (WHO) and
United Nations International Children’s
Emergency Fund (UNICEF) 2017 figures
indicate that 91% of the 100.7 million people
in the country can access basic water services,
but unequal distribution pervades. Based on
regional access to water, only 62% is covered.
Even up to now, approximately eight million
Filipinos nationwide do not have access to
clean water (Tumampos, S., 2017) and only
90% of the population in Metro Manila have
a supply of drinking water (Jalilov, S.M.,
2017).
Water scarcity in the Philippines is caused
not so much by the lack of water resources as
by the poor management of the resources as
well as the lack of facilities to bring water to
households and farms.
Threats to Freshwater Ecosystems
Pollution
DENR reported in 2017 that 180 out of
the 421 principal rivers are polluted, and
Figure 2.7 Major River Basins

Source: Forest Management Bureau (2017)


considered biologically dead are 50 rivers, five
of which in Metro Manila. The department
attributed the reason for degraded and
deteriorating river basin to water pollution
resulting from the “increase in population,
urbanization and industrial development.”
(Tuddao, Gonzales, & Uyaco, 2017).
Too many nutrients and minerals in bodies
of water cause uncontrolled growth of plants
and algae, resulting in decreased oxygen
in the water which is a process called
eutrophication (Energy&Environment, 2016).
Due to eutrophication, without the necessary
dissolved oxygen (DO), most bodies of water
in Metro Manila are tagged ‘biologically
dead’ as reported in a study conducted by
the United Nations University. The effects
of water pollution cost the economy around
PHP 67 billion (more than USD1.3 Billion)
losses.
Companies persistently violate the Philippine
Clean Water Act, leading to further water
pollution. In 2009, the three water firms
Manila Waterworks and Sewerage System
(MWSS), Maynilad, and Manila Water were
penalized for not installing and maintaining
water treatment facilities in Metro Manila.
In 2011, Cleveland Envirotech Solutions
Inc. and its sister company Skyline received
a cease and desist order for illegal disposal
of toxic and hazardous wastes into a creek.
Both treatment firms dispose of its waste in
Barangay Maharlika, Bulacan.
In 2018, in a flurry of issuing notice for a
violation to 57 establishments in the island
of Boracay, Crown Regency Prince Hotel
received a closure order specifically due to
illegal discharge of wastewater. Observers
pointed out that laws are “not implemented
efficiently and effectively”; no one has
been imprisoned because of environmental
violations.
State of Philippine Environment  19
In Laguna de Bay, as unregulated and
corporate aquaculture proliferate, pollution
poses a big problem covering 25% of the
90,000-hectare lake surface of the largest
inland water body in the country. A three-
year scientific endeavor by the Laguna Lake
Development Authority culminated in an
Environmental Health Report Card (EHRC)
in 2016. The overall score given to the
entire lake was a low passing mark of 76%
or C- (C minus). Class C waters are suitable
for fisheries and recreation. High phosphate
content in the lake, however, leads to
excessive chlorophyll or algal matter, .which
means that the lake water is highly eutrophic.
This excessive amount is detrimental to
fisheries.
The source of such high volume of nutrients
in the lake, aside from the houses in the lake’s
watershed, are primarily the aquaculture
facilities (mainly fish pens and fish cages),
agricultural run-offs and industrial wastes
around the lake (Figure 2.8). Consequently,
the lake fisheries performed way below the
desirable level. The EHRC report rated the
native fish composition 53%, zooplankton
ratio 68%, and catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE)
22%. Invasive fish species and resource use
competition also contributed to the failing
score.
National fisherfolk federation Pambansang
Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas
(PAMALAKAYA-Pilipinas) reported average
fish catch of small fisherfolk in the lake at
only 2-3 kilos a day as compared to 10-15
kilos three decades ago when the lake was
relatively healthy.
The results of this study demonstrate the
adverse impacts of aquaculture on the
species diversity of fish in localized areas, as
aquaculture depended largely on introduced
fish species at the expense of the natural
20  State of Natural Ecosystems
Figure 2.8 Sources of Water Pollution in Metro Manila
Source: Gonzales, E. & Tuddao, V. B. (2016)
fish population in the lake. Rather than
introducing such species, shifting focus on
culturing commercially important local
species will improve aquaculture in inland
waters without threatening biodiversity
(Cuvin-Aralar, 2016).
In Laguna de Bay, corporate aquaculture has
displaced the artisan fisherfolk for decades.
The groups PAMALAKAYA and the Save
Laguna Lake Movement thus called on the
authorities to bring back those common
fishing grounds monopolized by big
aquaculture firms and individuals. President
Duterte ordered to dismantle the large fish
pens and cages in 2016 in the lake. By January
and February 2017, DENR spearheaded the
series of demolitions that involved three fish
pen structures covering 25-50 hectares. The
owners of these structures were the Gozon
family, Seven Eleven Fishing Corporation.
and the Habagat Multipurpose Cooperative
(Pamalakaya-Pilipinas, 2017).
The DENR Board Resolution No. 518,
signed by then-Secretary Gina Lopez
in February 2017, the Laguna Lake
Development Authority (LLDA) aimed to
dismantle 4,000 hectares of such structures.
As of June 2017, 1,600 hectares of large fish
cages owned by huge corporations were
removed (UNTV News, 2017). The LLDA
declared a year-long moratorium on large fish
pen operations in favor of the small municipal
fisherfolk. Small fisherfolk, however, raised
concerns that their fish straps and corrals
might also be affected by the dismantling
operations.
Privatization
Privatization aggravates the people’s lack of
access to water. What was once a communal
and free resource, water has come to be
controlled in a business system by which
private companies operate the public utilities.
For example, local government officials
and a company owned by former Senator
Manny Villar, Prime Water Infrastructures
Corporation, that runs San Jose Del Monte
City Water District in Bulacan face an
injunction with temporary restraining
order. They were enmeshed in anomalous
transactions to railroad the privatization
process.
Often justified by the need to improve
water districts, privatization veers away
from encouraging support from the local
and national government. Instead, both
government levels to privatize more public
utilities such as Baguio Water District in
Benguet (Orias, 2018). The bidders for the
latter also included Prime Water, along with
Maynilad Water Services and the Ayala-led
Manila Water Company (Polonio, 2015).

Megadams
The Duterte administration has avidly
espoused megadam projects to solve the
problem of water scarcity.
The Tarlac Balog Balog Multipurpose Project
(TBBMP) is a PHP 3-B megadam project
with 560 million cubic meters storage
capacity. It will occupy 28, 076 hectares of
watersheds purportedly to irrigate 34,000
hectares of agricultural lands in the 10
municipalities in the province. This dam can
also produce 43.5 megawatts of electricity.
The government allocated PHP 7.9 billion
for the project, with PHP 5.86 billion
counterpart funds from a joint venture
between the Quezon City-based ITP
Construction and the Chinese firm Guangxi
Hydro-Electric Construction Bureau Ltd.
However, it is projected that the TBBMP
alone will displace 1,650 families of
Figure 2.9 New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project
Source: Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (2018)
State of Philippine Environment  21
indigenous Aeta from 29 sitios. Another 700
families from 14 sitios will be threatened by
flooding in their area.
The New Centennial Water Source
(NCWS)-Kaliwa Dam Project in Quezon
(Figure 2.9), another megadam project,
integrates the Kaliwa Dam and Laiban Dam
system with a hydropower component.
The specific project site at Kaliwa-Kanan-
Agos River Basin is located in Barangay
Pagsangahan, General Nakar and Barangay
Magsaysay in Infanta, Quezon Province
(Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage
System, 2018).
With a capacity of 600 million liters a day
(MLD), and 2,400 MLD for its water supply
tunnel The PHP 18.72 billion projects will be
financed by contractors from China through
the Official Development Assistance (ODA).
Among the companies named are the China
Engineering Co., Ltd., Power China Limited,
22  State of Natural Ecosystems
Figure 2.10 Upper Chico River Irrigation System in Tabuk City, Kalinga province
ource: Adolph Bravo, Inquirer.net
the Guandung Foreign Construction, Co.,
Ltd. Consortium, and Guandong Yuantian
Engineering Co., Ltd.
The megadam project will drive away 10,000
families of farmers and indigenous Dumagats
and Remontados, said the organization of
indigenous people named Bigkis at Lakas
ng mga Katutubo sa Timog Katagalugan
(BALATIK). The group opposes the project
that will submerge. The megadam will cover
20,000 hectares of indigenous people’s
land and will affect even the people living
downriver (Salamat, 2018).
In 2016, Karayan Hydropower Corporation
proposed a 52-megawatt Chico River Pump
Irrigation project (Figure 2.10). It will have a
reservoir storage of 14 million cubic meters
using 99.3 hectares of land in Barangays
Lucog, Naneng and Bagumbayan, Tabuk
City, Kalinga. To partly finance the project’s
total cost of PHP 4.37 billion, the Philippine
government loaned PHP 3.17 billion to
China CAMC Engineering Co. Ltd.
The National Commission for Indigenous
People (NCIP) recently approved the project
(Catajan, 2017). It can be recalled that in the
1980s, the Marcos administration sought to
initiate this same Chico River Dam, but it
was met with strong opposition by the locals.
It threatened to submerge the surrounding
communities (Cimatu, 2017). In the spate of
protests, the chieftain of Bugnay, Kalinga was
shot by the Philippine Army’s 4th Infantry
Division troopers. Macliing Dulag’s name has
since resonated as the resistance hero among
the Cordilleran indigenous peoples who carry
on to defend their ancestral land and right to
self-determination (Cruz, 2018).
The Chico River Pump Irrigation project,
as stated by the Karayan Hydropower
Corporation (2016), potentially leads to the
following hazards:
increase soil erosion due to clearing operation,
physical changes in soil, water and air
associated with excavation activity, muck
disposal, vegetation removal and loss of habitat,
threat to existence and/ or loss of important
local species, threat to abundance, frequency
and distribution of important species, minimal
increase in soil erosion and turbidity of river
flows particularly during construction phase,
minimal change in seasonal flow of the river,

decrease of nutrient transported downstream
and changes in water temperature.
As of February 28, 2018, NEDA posted that
the Duterte administration has approved three
megadam projects which are expected to be
finished after three to four years.
Competition with mining companies
Mining companies consume large amounts
of water for mineral processing, dust
suppression, slurry transport and employees’
use (Vella, 2013). Under the Mining Act of
1995, auxiliary rights awarded to mining
companies include water rights legitimizing
the companies’ control over the water sources
covered by their mining tenements.
The extraction of water especially in
underground mining deplete surface water
directly competing with nearby communities
depending on water sources and their services
for survival. The National Water Resources
Board can revoke a license if it grants a
permit for what it considers to be a more
beneficial purpose. This may result in a lack
of water supply for communities near the
mining operations if the mining operations
are prioritized by the NWRB.
State of Philippine Environment  23
Plight of People
Lack of Access
On February 2, 2018, President Duterte
signed RA 10960 or the Free Irrigation
Service Act. This exempts farmers with eight
hectares or less of landholdings from paying
irrigation service fees of systems administered
by the National Irrigation Administration
(NIA). It also condones these farmers of loans
and unpaid fees with NIA. This is a success
of the long struggle of peasant organizations
nationwide that have been calling
government support in their production.
On the other hand, the development and
expansion of more irrigation systems should
also be ensured as well as the continuous
maintenance of existing systems.
Costly
Megadams are supposed to make water,
electricity and irrigation services more
accessible. However, in Metro Manila which
is served by the Angat Dam, basic water
rates have increased more than 500 times.
In Caloocan, water supply remains unsteady
and yet 100,000 residents were still obliged
by Manila Water Systems Inc. to pay. In
2011, water rates in Manila are the fifth most
expensive compared to the major cities in Asia
(Padilla, 2012). In addition, the Philippine
electricity rates are still highest in Southeast
Asia as of 2016 according to the Department
of Energy (Department of Energy [DOE],
2017).
24  State of Natural Ecosystems
2.3  AGRICULTURAL ECOSYSTEM
Agricultural Wealth and Production
The gross output in agriculture, particularly
in crops, declined since 2015 (Figure
2.11). Farmers relate this to the prevailing
landlessness, lack of government support
and subsidy, and lack of technological
development in agricultural production.
In the first quarter of 2018, the National
Food Authority (NFA) announced that there
was a rice shortage but was later belied by
the Department Agriculture Secretary Manny
Piñol. Farmers under the organization KMP
claim that floating the news on rice shortage
was just a way for the cartel of rice dealers to
manipulate prices (Orias, 2018). Whether or
not there was a rice shortage, the importation
of rice is still standing as confirmed by
President Duterte, claiming that the country
could not be rice sufficient (Garcia, 2018).
KMP, on the other hand, sees that the
dependence on imports is not the solution
Figure 2.11 Gross Agricultural Output from 2008-2016 (in million pesos)
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority (2017)
to food security but to increase the support
to local farmers and procurement from local
farmers.
Soil degradation
Soil quality
According to the Global Assessment of Land
Degradation and Improvement of 1981 to
2003, 13.2 million hectares or 44.09% of
the country’s land is degraded. This affects
almost 33 million people or 14.75% of the
population (Bai, Dent, Olsson, & Schaepman,
2008). The National Action Plan for 2004
to 2010 states that 5.2 million hectares are
seriously degraded and this resulted to a 30
to 50% reduction in soil productivity (Asio,
2010).
According to the Land Degradation
Assessment of 2013, there is increasing soil

erosion in upland agricultural areas and a
declining fertility in rice-growing areas,
especially in lowland areas. The report stated
that the rapid conversion of agricultural
areas to residential and other land uses, and
increasing water pollution was to blame (Dar,
2017). Other factors affecting soil degradation
include deforestation, overgrazing, agricultural
practices, industrial activities, mining and
waste disposal (Asio, 2010).
Laws and regulations on soil protection
are lagging in the Philippines compared to
its neighboring countries. Although there
are environmental laws and certain aspects
of farming are subject to environmental
regulations, there is a lack of a comprehensive
agroenvironmental protection strategy and
framework (Cassou, Jaffee, & Ru, 2017).
The major environmental pollutants from
agriculture come from pesticides from fruit
and tobacco plantations in Mindanao, Ilocos
and Isabela; rice farms in Nueva Ecija and
Isabela; and drugs and other chemicals from
livestock and aquaculture (Cassou, Jaffee, &
Ru, 2017). The pesticides from the plantations
particularly in Mindanao are used by
multinational corporations.
The use of these pollutants has been in
practice since traditional farming practices
were converted to be dependent on
non-organic inputs by multinational and
transnational corporations since former
President Ferdinand Marcos followed the
Green Revolution program of the World
Bank. This involved the introduction of
new high-yielding varieties which require
large amounts of chemical fertilizers and
pesticides. However, poor farmers who are
unable to afford these inputs often have
lower yields compared to their traditional
species in addition to experiencing harmful
environmental impacts.
State of Philippine Environment  25
The intensive cultivation escalated the
removal of nutrients and the alteration of
the physical and chemical properties of
soil. High chemical usage may also lead to
soil degradation as indicated by nutrient
imbalance. In rice production, the slowdown
of rice yield growth is said to be caused
by soil nutrient imbalance and decreasing
nitrogen productivity. In banana plantations,
the reduction in yields is related to the
changing nutrient ratios in the soil (Briones,
2010).
Shrinking agricultural lands
There are laws that have allowed landowners
to keep their land intact and exempted
from land distribution through conversion
to non-agricultural use. Examples of
these laws are the National Tourism Act
of 2009 and the Special Economic Zones
Act (IBON Foundation, 2017). The
conversion of agricultural land is driven
by rapid urbanization, population growth
and speculation (Cabildo, Subingsubing,
& Reysio-Cruz, 2017). According to the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR),
98,939 hectares of land were approved for
conversion from 1988 to 2016 (Figure 2.12).
Land use conversion was seen to have led to
a decline in agricultural production, as seen
in the case of Western Visayas in the last four
years (Burgos, 2017).
Use of native varieties
and agricultural biodiversity
Agricultural biodiversity or agrobiodiversity
is important in agricultural ecosystems since
it provides ecosystem services such as pest
control, pollination, soil fertility, protection
of water courses against soil erosion and
the removal of excessive nutrients (Jackson,
Pascual, & Hodgkin, 2007).
26  State of Natural Ecosystems
Figure 2.12 Approved Land Conversion in Hectares by Province and Region (1988-
2016)
Source: Cabildo, Subingsubing & Reyes-Cruz (2017)
The Philippines have 5,500 traditional
varieties of rice, 224 accessions of coconut,
263 accessions of sugarcane, 90 varieties of
cultivated bananas, and many more minor
crops (Department of Agriculture Bureau of
Plant Industry, 2007).
The Green Revolution started in the
Philippines with the establishment of the
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
in 1966. This introduced high yielding
varieties (HYV) and high input cultivation
methods. From 10,000 varieties of rice,
farmers in Asia were only encouraged to use
five HYVs. These varieties were vulnerable
to diseases and pest attacks, expensive and
inferior in grain quality and taste (Pesticide
Action Network Asia and the Pacific, 2007).
Since then, other traditional crops that were
said to be “low yielding” were also replaced
in the drive to increase productivity. This
greatly affected agricultural biodiversity or
agrobiodiversity that provides ecosystem
services such as pest control, pollination, soil
fertility, protection of water courses against
soil erosion and the removal of excessive
nutrients (Jackson, Pascual, & Hodgkin, 2007).
Indigenous food plants (IFP) are a
component of agrobiodiversity which are also
disappearing at a fast rate. These local varieties
are well adapted to the local environment and
were, therefore, more resilient can provide
sustenance during lean months of harvest,
and give nutrients for good health. It was
documented that the older Tadian people in
Mountain Province who consumed IFPs such
as cereal grains, roots and tubers, vegetables,
legumes, seeds and nuts, and fruits were
sturdier than younger ones who consumed
less of these (Antonio, Utrera, Agustin, Jamias,
Badar, & Pascua, 2011).
According to The Fourth National Report
to the Convention on Biological Diversity,
there are no actual figures showing decline or
gain due to the absence of national indicators
and lack of monitoring. However, plant and
animal genetic resources reports prepared
for the Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations (UN) state that
there is a general recognition of the loss of
genetic resources important to agriculture
in the country. Site-specific researches
also point towards this such as the loss of
traditional upland rice varieties in Lake Sebu,

South Cotabato. The report also stated that
the decline in land area for agriculture will
compromise agrodiversity (DENR, 2009).
Achievements under a Progressive
Agrarian Reform Secretary
On July 5, 2016, President Duterte appointed
Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano as the DAR
secretary. Ka Paeng was a former Anakpawis
Partylist Representative and former president
of KMP. One of his priority campaigns
was the two-year moratorium on land use
conversion.
If this was approved, the conversion of
agricultural lands to other use such as
commercial or residential would be stopped.
The department order for the moratorium
did not push through however and remained
in the level of the Presidential Agrarian
Reform Council (Boone, 2017).
His achievements as the DAR secretary
included the issuance of certificates of
land ownership awards (CLOA) to more
than 31,000 farmers and the setting up of
118 irrigation systems (Olea, 2017). His
achievements also included the distribution of
land titles and ensuring that there was actual
physical possession of lands. Around 26,000
hectares were distributed to 12,000 agrarian
reform beneficiaries (ANC 24/7, 2017).
But his term was short-lived when the CA
rejected his appointment on September 6,
2017.
State of Philippine Environment  27
Plight of farmers
Rural poverty
The agriculture, hunting and forestry account
for 23.6% of the total employed persons as
of January 2018. The dire situation of the
agriculture sector is reflected in the poor
situation of the farmers. As of 2015, farmers
had the highest poverty incidence at 34.3%
(PSA, 2017).
Landlessness and lack
of government subsidy
A big factor of the low production and
employment in the agriculture sector is the
continuing landlessness of primary nurturers
of farmlands in the rural areas brought
about by the failure of the government’s
agrarian reform program. Nine out of ten
farmers are landless while large tracts of
land are concentrated on big landlords and
businesses (Mayuga, 2015). Less than a third of
landowners control over 80% of agricultural
lands in the country (IBON Foundation,
2017).
The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program (CARP) reported an 88%
accomplishment rate after almost three
decades of the implementation (1988 to
2009). This left a balance of 1.6 million
hectares of land undistributed to 1.2 million
farmer beneficiaries. This prompted an
extension program, Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program Extension with Reforms or
CARPER, to be enacted on August 7, 2009.
28  State of Natural Ecosystems
Even after the extension ended in 2014,
around 726,421 hectares of the CARP
balance was still undistributed. One of
the challenges was the opposition from
landlords that caused tension among
the farmer beneficiaries (Department of
Agrarian Reform, n.d.). According to KMP,
bureaucratic processes also slowed down
the process of land distribution and CLOAs
were being canceled due to the loopholes in
CARP.
The lack of government subsidy for
agrarian services has left their acquired lands
vulnerable to reacquisition. Among the farmer
beneficiaries, 76% are unable to amortize
the land granted to them and are at risk
of losing them (IBON Foundation, 2017).
2.4  URBAN ECOSYSTEM
The urban ecosystem concept introduced
the principles of ecosystems as a community
of living organisms (urban population)
interacting with the non-living environment
(supporting infrastructures) in a largely
human-built environment such as cities,
towns and urban strips.
In the Philippines, urban ecosystems are
mostly located in coastal environments
adapting to the country’s archipelagic
landscape. There are three defined
metropolitan areas in the country where
urban population are concentrated – Metro
Manila that is made up of 16 cities and one
municipality, Metro Cebu which is almost
twice the size of Metro Manila and is made
up of seven cities and six municipalities, and
Metro Davao that is made up of five cities
and three municipalities.
Furthermore, small landowners who did not
receive fertilizers, seedlings and irrigation
services ended up selling it back to the owner
because they were unable to afford the farm
inputs (Ranada, 2016).
Irrigated lands only cover 57.33% of the
total irrigable lands (Dar, 2017). The existing
irrigation systems have performed poorly
which is attributed to more than two decades
of inappropriate designs and difficulties
in operation and maintenance (Monthly
Agriculture, 2015). From 2011-2015, there
was only a 2.46% increase in the irrigated
lands (PSA, 2016). This is a small increase
based on the need of the country that relies
on rice, a water-intensive product, as the main
food source.
Rapid urbanization
The rise of rural to urban migration in
the recent decade has led to rapid urban
sprawl in major cities in the country. This is
due to problems cited above in the former
ecosystems resulting in landlessness and lack
of available economic opportunities in the
countryside.
The country has experienced rapid
urbanization since 2000 and still continues
to this day. A study by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) said that from
2000-2010, urban population increased at
an annual rate of 3.3% making the country
one of the fastest urbanizing countries in the
Asia-Pacific (United Nations Educational,
Scientific, and Cultural Organization, 2017).
The report added that in 2010, more than

45% of the country’s population lives in urban
areas.
The recent 2015 population census of the
Philippine Statistics Authority showed that
out of the country’s 18 administrative regions,
Region IV-A (CALABARZON) had the
biggest population with 14.41 million,
followed by the National Capital Region
(NCR) with 12.88 million, and Region III
(Central Luzon) with 11.22 million (PSA,
2016). The combined population of these
three regions accounted for about 38.1
percent of the Philippine population of
100,981,437 as of August 2015.
The NCR also recorded the highest
population density of 20,785 persons per
square kilometer (persons/km2) which is 60
times higher than the population density of
337 persons/km2 at the national level. The
population density of the NCR in 2000 was
16,032 persons/km2 (PSA, 2016).
The City of Manila also posted as the most
densely populated among the 16 highly
urbanized cities (HUCs) in NCR with
71,263 persons/km2 in 2015. This is followed
by the Mandaluyong City (41,580persons/
km2) and Pasay City (29, 815 persons/km2).
Outside NCR, Mandaue City in the Central
Visayas Region recorded the densest with
14,402 persons/km2 followed by Lapu-Lapu
City, also in the same region, with 7,024
persons/km2. In Mindanao HUCs, Cagayan
de Oro City is the highest with 1,637
persons/km2 followed by General Santos City
with 1,206 persons/km2.
Meanwhile, the city of Puerto Princesa is the
most sparsely populated HUC outside of the
NCR with only 107 persons/km2.
State of Philippine Environment  29
Solid Waste Management
According to the Solid Waste Management
Office of the Metropolitan Manila
Development Authority, 54,084.86 cubic
meters of garbage was collected per day as of
June 2017. Out of this number, 45.19% of the
garbage collected was not properly disposed
of (Badilla, 2017). Quezon City, Manila and
Caloocan were the biggest waste producers
(Badilla, 2017).
According to a report released by the World
Bank, municipal solid waste generated by
Philippine cities will increase 165% in 2025,
from 29,315 tons to 77,776 tons per day, as a
consequence of the projected 47.3% hike in
urban population (Ng, 2012).
Cities outside Metro Manila also has solid
waste management problems with the
increasing garbage generation. Cebu City
generates almost 600 tons of garbage per day
(Bunachita, 2017). Baguio City hauls 160 to
200 tons of garbage daily (Philippine News
Agency, 2017). Its mayor, Mauricio Domogan,
is not eying a 50-hectare property in Mount
Sto. Tomas to accommodate the increasing
amount of wastes. This mountain is beside
Mount Cabuyao, the site of one of Baguio
Water District’s reservoirs. The proximity of
the proposed sanitary landfill poses a threat
of contamination of the soil or water table
(Cimatu, 2017).
In Davao City, almost all barangays in 2016
failed to comply with the requirements of
the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act
of 2000 (Rappler.com, 2017). The Carmen
sanitary landfill in Tugbok, Davao City is set
to be closed in due to leachate and seepage
it has caused in the Pangi River but once an
alternative site is established (Mellejor, 2017).
30  State of Natural Ecosystems
While the Ecological Solid Waste
Management Act of 2000 mandates
the closing of open dumpsites and the
establishment of sanitary landfills, 790 open
dumpsites were still operating 10 years
after the law’s implementation. This caused
environmental issues not only in the location
of the dumpsites but also in other areas. For
instance, the leachate of the dumpsite in
Payatas leaked through the Marikina River
tributaries according to a study in 2012
(Tanchuling, Cayabyab & Takemura, 2014).
Air pollution
Inhabitants of urban areas are more exposed
to dangerous levels of air pollution. Examples
of these pollutants are sulfate, nitrates and
black carbon, all of which are dangerous to
human health. Particulate matter that is 2.5
micrometers (PM2.5) in size or smaller can
penetrate a person’s lungs and cardiovascular
system.
According to a statement of the DENR in
2017, the annual average of PM2.5 in Manila
is 17 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3),
70% more than the safe level which is 10 μg/
m3 according to WHO (DENR, 2017). It
was also mentioned in the same statement
that about one in four deaths in the country
is attributed to air pollution. Baguio City
reached its worst air quality on December
22, 2016 with 160 μg/m3 for PM 10 and
43 μg/m3 for PM 2.5. There was a slight
improvement on December 31, 2017, with
95 μg/m3 for particulate matter 10 and 33
μg/m3 for PM 2.5 but was still significantly
higher than the safe level (Comanda, 2018).
Destruction of green spaces
Green spaces in urban areas, such as parks or
protected areas, provide ecosystem services
such as filtering pollutants from the air,
provide shade and lower temperature, reduce
soil erosion and rainfall retention (Project
Evergreen, n.d.). It can also serve to protect
natural landscapes and wildlife as well as to
improve human health.
The Arroceros Forest Park is dubbed as the
“last lung” of Manila. It is a 21,428 square
meter forest on the south bank of the
Pasig River at the foot of Quezon Bridge
developed in 1993 by Winner Foundation
after signing a memorandum of agreement
(MOA) with the City of Manila.
The park used to have 150 existing old trees
before its development and was later on
planted with 3,500 saplings by the Manila
Seedling Bank. It now houses 61 different
species of trees, 8,000 ornamental plants and
10 species of birds (Roces, 2005). The Golden
Birdwing butterfly (troides rhadamantus) was
also seen, a species regulated under Appendix
II of CITES as “threatened with extinction if
population is not controlled.” (Soliman, 2018).
The MOA lapsed in 2013 requiring it to be
turned over to the City of Manila. The City
School Board plans to build a gymnasium in
a 2,000-square meter portion of the property
for education purposes posing a threat to the
existence of the forest (Aberia, 2017).
In Baguio City, citizens are protesting the
planned construction of an underground
parking area in Burnham Park. It was opposed
for possibly affecting an aquifer which are
sources of groundwater. The construction will
further shrink the green spaces in the city
(Ongpin, 2018). Citizens still remember the
clearing of 60 trees in Luneta Hill to make

way for the expansion of the SM Shopping
Mall (Canlas, 2015).
Plight of urban poor under the Duterte
Administration
Urban poor communities are faced with
habitation challenges with a growing number
of informal settler families (ISFs) due to rising
urban population and inadequate socialized
housing. Because of this, many families are
forced to build their houses in unfavorable
locations. Nationwide, the National Housing
Authority (NHA) report stated the there were
1.5 million ISFs wherein 52% were living in
dangerous areas. According to the Housing
and Urban Development Coordination
Council (HUDCC), the number of ISFs
increased 2.2 million as of 2015. This means
that 5.7 million houses need to be built to
accommodate this number, or 2,602 homes
per day in the next six years (Sarmiento,
2016).
There is also a lack of access to basic
services such as water, sanitation and waste
management. According to the East Asia
Pacific Report in 2017, 21% of the urban
population does not have access to improved
sanitation (Baker & Gadgil, 2017). These
reflect the lack of urban planning that is
affecting the quality of lives of the urban
population.
State of Philippine Environment  31
Disaster survivors also experience inadequate
housing and other services. Four years after
Typhoon Yolanda hit the country, many
survivors still have not received the promised
housing units as of 2017. One of the strongest
hit was Tacloban City. According to the NHA,
only 33% of the target 205,128 houses for the
typhoon survivors have been completed while
only 11.4% were occupied.
People Surge, an organization of Yolanda
typhoon survivors, hold former President
Benigno Aquino III, former Interior
Secretary Mar Roxas III, former Social
Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, former
Energy Secretary Carlos Petilla and former
rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson responsible
to the negligence in providing housing, aid
to farmers, livelihood and distribution of the
Emergency Shelter Assistance.
In Tacloban City alone, the local government
unit (LGU) stated that approximately
6,000 people have yet to be relocated into
permanent housing units as of August 2017.
Families in relocation sites have reported a
lack of access to clean water (Valente, 2017)
Three years after the typhoon, there is still
no water system in some relocation areas
and residents would have to buy water for
drinking and sanitation. Bathrooms are also
poorly constructed. The toilet bowls are not
properly cemented, the septic tank is small
and the drainage is poor (IBON Foundation,
2016).
32  State of Natural Ecosystems
2.5  COASTAL AND MARINE ECOSYSTEM
Coral reefs
In 2006, the Philippines has been declared
by marine conservationists to be the world’s
“center of the center of marine biodiversity”
due to its high concentration of species per
unit area compared to other sites in the world.
Thus, special conservation efforts have been
recommended.
The country, being part of the Coral Triangle
which is a global priority for conservation,
has more than 75% of all coral species and
35% of the world’s coral reefs. These reefs
produce more than USD 2 billion annually
from fishing, tourism and storm protection
(Manila Ocean Park, 2016).
However, many coral reefs have been
destroyed. The two-year nationwide
assessment of Licuanan, et al. (2017) showed
that the average hard coral cover was only
22%. More than 90% of the sampled reefs are
in poor and fair categories while none were
classified in the excellent category (Figure
2.13). A study of the World Bank released in
March 2018 showed that only 4.3% or 1,161
km2 of the previously recorded 27,000 km2
of coral reefs are in good state (Bengwayan,
2018).
Mangroves
Mangrove forests, also known as the rainforest
of the sea, grow well in tropical countries like
the Philippines. They play an important part
in the coastal and marine ecosystems. They
are home to fish, crab, shrimp and mollusk
species. They also provide food, coastal
protection, sediment and nutrient retention,
and water purification.
More than half of the world’s mangrove
species are known to occur in the country,
with a total of 46 species out of 70 known
species globally (DENR, 2018). The total
coverage as of 2015 was 303,669 hectares, a
2.23% decline in just five years.
The main issues for the decline of mangrove
forest cover are conversion to agricultural
land, fishponds, and industries, and pollution
and deforestation. While these are often
justified as providing economic gain, the
ecosystem services of mangroves can actually
offer over USD 1.5 billion. These include
food, tourism, coastal protection, climate
stabilization and carbon storage (Stoner,
2017).
Losing mangroves would increase flooding
and damages to people, property and
infrastructure annually by approximately
25%. Mangroves reduce flooding to 613,000
people annually and prevent more than USD
1 billion in damages to property (Figure 2.14).
Seagrasses
Seagrasses are plants found in shallow salty
and brackish waters. Not to be confused
with seaweeds, seagrasses have roots, stems
and leaves, and produce flowers and seeds.
They are most often overlooked and regarded
as useless and filthy plants underwater, but
seagrass beds are one of the most productive
ecosystems in the world and the most valued.
Seagrasses provide shelter and food to an
incredibly diverse community of animals,
from tiny invertebrates to large fish, crabs,
turtles, marine mammals and birds. They
act as nursery habitat for epiphytes, small
Figure 2.13 Comparison of the state of the Philippine coral reefs based on live coral
cover (LCC) on the first national assessment (1976-1981) and the most recent national
assessment (2015-2017)

Source: Licuanan, Reyes, Luzon, Chan & Licuanan (2017)

Figure 2.14 Annual Expected Damages from flooding in the Philippines undercurrent
(2010) mangrove cover (in light gray) and under no mangrove cover (in dark
gray) including the annual percent increase in damages to people and property if
mangroves were lost

Source: Beck (2017)

34  State of Natural Ecosystems
invertebrates, small fish and juveniles of
bigger fish. They also provide many important
products to humans like fertilizers and
materials for furniture and crafts.
Like mangroves, they can improve water
quality, reduce erosion and act as buffers
against storms. Seagrasses are an efficient
absorber of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
Seagrass beds or meadows act as a carbon sink
in the ocean. Like mangrove forests and salt
marshes, they are also considered blue carbon.
The Philippines ranks second in the world
with the most diverse seagrasses having
18 species out of the 60 species known
worldwide. Thirteen of these species are
found in Palawan (Tacio, 2016). According
to an interview on 2017 of seagrass expert
Dr. Miguel Fortes, seagrasses are widely
distributed throughout the country and cover
27,282 km2 (Gaia Discovery, 2017).
Since their important role in marine life
and ecosystem is hardly understood most of
them are doomed to be buried or sacrificed
for reclamation projects and tourism
infrastructures. Proponents of these projects
and government officials are unaware of
how severe impacts would be on marine
biodiversity, the health of other marine
ecosystems, and on human livelihoods.
Such are the issues confronted in the wide
seagrass beds in Palawan, Cebu, Northeastern
Mindanao and in the Las Piñas-Parañaque
area in Manila Bay.
Seagrasses are vulnerable to physical
disturbances, such as wind-driven waves,
storms and rising ocean temperature. Some
other marine organisms can also destroy their
rhizomes and roots.
However, human activities account for more
losses of seagrass beds in recent times.
Activities in terrestrial ecosystems such as
deforestation affect seagrass beds that result
in runoffs that cover them with silt. Waste
pollution and removal of fish species that
causes disruption of the symbiosis in the
seagrass ecosystem also affect their survival.
The lack of knowledge on the importance
of seagrasses has contributed to their lack
of protection and rapid depletion. They are
the least understood, appreciated and studied
among the habitats in coastal zones.
Some fast-growing seagrass meadows can
recover from disturbances.Yet many take time
to grow which can take centuries and are thus
deemed most vulnerable. Of the 60 species
of seagrasses throughout the world, 25% are
identified as “threatened” or “near threatened”
(Reynolds, n.d.).
Fish
Despite serious challenges in coastal
protection, the Philippines still ranked, as
the eighth top fish producing country in the
world, with a total production of 4.7 million
metric tons of fish, crustaceans, mollusks and
aquatic plants in 2014.
The country’s fish production constitutes
2.4% of the total world production. It is
eleventh in the world in terms of aquaculture
production of fish, crustaceans and mollusks,
and third in the world in terms of the
production on aquatic plants (Bureau of
Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, n.d.).
The high production of fisheries commodities
was for export to other countries. The main
products exported were tuna, seaweeds and
shrimp and prawn. In 2016, the total export
value amounted to USD 90 million. The
major destinations of fish and fishery product
 State of Philippine Environment  35

Table 2.4 Fisheries: Volume of Production by Sector, Philippines, 2014-2016

(Metric Tons)
SECTOR 2014 2015 2016
All Sectors 4,689,084.71 4,649,312.63 4,355,792.42
Commercial 1,107,220.80 1,084,624.70 1,016,948.05
Municipal 1,244,258.95 1,216,526.72 1,137,931.03
Marine 1,029,394.45 1,011,792.73 976,941.19
Inland 214,864.50 204,733.99 160,989.84
Aquaculture 2,337.6 2,348.2 2,200.9
Brackishwater
Fishpond (includes
322.7 325.6 340.6
brackish water pen/
cage)
Freshwater Fishcage/
150.4 155.6 154.2
pen
Freshwater Fishpond
(includes small farm
148.9 147.6 145.7
reservoir and rice
fish)
Marine Fishcage/pen 125.0 116.8 117.6
Others 1,590.6 1,602.6 1,442.8
Source: PSA (2017)

exports were the United States of America, overfishing by large-scale commercial fishers,
Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and the United and pollution have affected the industry.
Kingdom.

On the other hand, imports amounted Recent issues

to USD 475 million. The main imported
commodities were prawn feeds and chilled/
frozen fish like tuna, mackerel and sardines.
Most products originated from China,
Indonesia, Taiwan, Papua New Guinea and
Vietnam. Most of these products are imported
despite the country’s capacity to produce
these goods.
The total volume of fisheries production
decreased by 6.31% from 2015 to 2016. This
was due to the decrease in the production of
the commercial and municipal sector (Table
2.4). Many factors such as habitat degradation,
Marine Plastics
The Philippines has been flagged for being
the world’s third largest source of plastic waste
in the ocean according to the 2015 report of
Ocean Conservancy and McKinsey Center
for Business and Environment. Of the 2.7
million metric tons of plastic waste produced
annually, half a million metric tons is believed
to exit into the Pacific Ocean.
Plastics are biochemically inert therefore
neither react with nor penetrate cell
36  State of Natural Ecosystems
membranes of organisms. However, most
plastics contain additives that are able to leach
from them and interact biochemically causing
toxic effects. There are also hydrophobic
chemicals that also get in the surrounding
waters and can thus be ingested by organisms
(Hammer, Kraak, & Parsons, 2012).
Majority of the ocean plastics are small pieces
which are less than 10 millimeters long
(Parker, 2017). Microplastics, or plastics that
are less than five millimeters, can bond with
microbes and persistent organic compounds
which present a danger to marine life if
ingested sufficiently (Parker, 2017).
Impacts on marine animals include impaired
reproduction and reduced nutritional uptake
(Deutsche Welle, n.d.). An example of this
is zooplanktons or tiny marine animals that
are important food sources for larger animals.
When zooplankton eat microplastics, they
eat less of their normal food. This means
less energy from their diet, therefore, having
less energy for growth and reproduction
(University of Exeter, n.d.). The impacts on
organisms that are at the bottom of the food
chain also affect the other organisms that
consume them as food.
Consumers are most often blamed for the
generation of plastic wastes, especially the
poor communities who cannot afford to buy
their basic needs in bulk. Much as they would
want to, their daily household income is just
a given constraint. Lest the issue erupt into a
conflict among consumers, there is much that
this throw-away, commercialistic system that
everyone finds themselves in, has to account
for.
In an audit conducted by the Global Alliance
for Incinerator Alternatives and Mother Earth
Foundation on June 1, 2018 showed that six
out of 10 leading plastic polluters in six major
cities in the Philippines are multinational
brands (Porcalla, 2018). This was affirmed in
another study that reported multinational
brands such as Nestlé, Unilever and
Indonesian company, PT Torabika Mayora,
are the biggest contributor of plastic waste
(Greenpeace.org, 2017).
Most packaging materials of products sold
in the market are made of single-use plastics
and consumers do not always have a choice
but to buy these due to lack of alternatives.
These huge manufacturing companies have
to account for their role in waste generation,
including this issue on marine pollution
control worldwide commodity production
and distribution.
They should be able to harness alternatives
from modern research and technology to
ensure that their products do not contribute
to plastic wastes generation while ensuring
that consumers find them affordable and
accessible. Governments play a role in calling
them to the task.
Furthermore, the government also has the
responsibility for ensuring proper waste
management. It has been almost two decades
since the Payatas dumpsite tragedy which
woke up everyone to the enormity of the
solid waste problem and led to the enactment
of the National Solid Waste Management Act
of 2001.
The country has not gone far about
addressing solid waste management issues.
Between 70% and 90% of illegally dumped
wastes end up in waterways and 74% of the
plastic that was leaked into oceans come from
collected wastes (Mateo, 2018). One of the
reasons for this is that over half of these open
dumpsites are still around and are even located
near the coasts (Mckinsey Center for Business
and Environment, 2015).

Efforts towards zero waste management are
often laughed off. Solid waste management
has not been adequately and sustainably put
in place from the household, barangays to the
city-town levels. Enforcement is weak and has
gotten lost with the ningas-cogon mentality.
Facilities for waste management are hardly
functional in several barangays and have just
been a source of corruption.
Reclamation
Land reclamation or reclamation is a process
of creating new land from water bodies. It
is usually done by filling an area with huge
amounts of heavy rock or cement, draining
submerged wetlands, or dredging sediments
from the bottom of a body of water.
Reclamation greatly disrupts and damages
freshwater or marine ecosystems through
conversion and possible siltation.
Ecosystems from where the filling materials
are taken are also greatly damaged. Due to
the enormity of the destruction in both land
and water ecosystems, reclamation, for most
environmental and development planners,
are pursued as a last alternative, if not totally
discouraged.
An alliance of threatened communities of
fisherfolk and urban poor, environmentalists,
scientists and environmental lawyers formed
the People’s Network for the Integrity of
Coastal Habitats and Ecosystems (People’s
NICHE) in 2012 to expose the problems that
the proposed National Reclamation Plan will
create. It called for a moratorium until proper
environmental and social safeguards are put
in place. Reclamation plans were derailed and
some administrative changes were ordered,
but now again private sectors and some local
governments are reviving reclamation plans
State of Philippine Environment  37
As of 2018, the Philippine Reclamation
Authority (PRA) stated that there are 110
projects in the pipeline, 15 or which are in
Manila Bay. Scientists have greatly opposed
these projects citing the destruction of marine
habitats, possibility of increased disaster risk,
flooding risk and increase in the urban sprawl
that would result to problems in traffic, public
transportation and pollution, increased water
consumption, and housing.
One of the proposed reclamation projects
is the Aerotropolis project being pushed by
San Miguel Corporation (SMC) in Barangay
Taliptip in the town of Bulakan in Bulacan
province. It will involve the building of
an airport covering 1,168 hectares and
reclaiming 2,500 hectares of wetlands for a
city complex along Manila Bay. The project
has already been approved by the NEDA.
The project threatens the 25-hectare eco-
park established by the DENR as well as
other patches of mangroves. These are homes
to a huge population of birds such as terns,
egrets, kingfishers and swallows, and provide
a breeding and nursing ground for fish
and other sources of food. Residents have
reported that mangroves were already being
cut allegedly by SMC personnel. The project
will also destroy 3,000 hectares of fishpond
that are relied on by local fishermen for
livelihood.
Boracay closure
The Boracay Island in the northernmost tip
of Panay Island comprises three barangays in
the municipality of Malay in Aklan province.
It is a world-renowned tourist destination
because of its fine white sand and clear waters.
For decades, however, it has been
experiencing recurring issues on wastewater
resulting in coliform outbreaks around the
38  State of Natural Ecosystems
island. Garbage problems remain unresolved
with no clear solid waste management in
place, save for the hauling of the waste to
the mainland. With only a third of the 90-
110 tons of solid waste, generated per day,
hauled out of the island, the garbage problems
continue to escalate.
Water quality has continued to deteriorate.
Coral reefs and the Puka Beach have
degraded. The population of endemic and
endangered flying foxes dwindled due to
unstoppable developments in their habitat.
Residents attribute the host of problems to
conflicting policies and poor and selective
implementation of laws.
Notwithstanding these issues, the island
has been continually pushed to increase its
tourism-related activities under the National
Tourism Plan. It has been so until President
Duterte’s comment that “Boracay is now a
cesspool,” led to the announcement of the
island’s total closure.
The closure started on April 26, 2018
and will last for six months supposedly
for rehabilitation purposes. Whether the
rehabilitation plan has considered the
best options to effectively address the
environmental issues and the concerns of
residents and local businesses, and if the
six-months closure is enough or truly called
for, is anyone’s guess. Meanwhile, the closure
has kept everyone worryied and disgusted,
especially the displaced workers and small
enterprise owners in the island.
The government could only show a two-
page Action Plan with no clear baselines or
studies to support it. According the report of
We are Boracay, Rise Up-Aklan and Friends
of Boracay, 36,000 workers were displaced,
46,826 livelihoods of residents were lost, and
579 demolition orders were already signed.
These losses of livelihood and homes were
implemented with the increased presence of
armed forces deployed in the island.
Questions have risen on the motives behind
the closure due to the announced approval of
big business deals. These include the Boracay
Philippine Resort and Leisure Corporation
which is owned by Galaxy Entertainment and
its local partner Leisure and Resorts World
and Hotel 101 Resorts which is owned by
Double Dragon subsidiary Hotel of Asia Inc.
and Newcoast Southbeach Inc.
Aside from the ambiguity of the rehabilitation
plan, there has been no moratorium on
the construction of new commercial
establishments declared. In the midst of the
local uproar on the closure order, construction
of huge buildings and roadworks especially
towards the northern part of the island, the
habitat of endangered species, have been
ongoing, as reported by Boracay residents.
These developments only fuel everyone’s
suspicions that the furor was made to set the
ground for the takeover of the island by big
investors and casts doubts into the seriousness
of the government in addressing the breached
carrying capacity of the island.
Coal-fired power plants
Electricity consumption in the Philippines
is expected to grow by an average of 5.7%
annually between 2015 and 2020 (Oxford
Business Group, 2015). The Philippine
government continues to resort to coal-
fired power plants which are reflected in the
planned energy mix.
About 80% of the upcoming capacity
and about 90% of the combined value of
upcoming energy projects will be coming
from coal-fired power plants (Saulon, 2017).

Figure 2.15 Calaca Coal-Fired Power
Plant in Batangas
despite it being the dirtiest source of energy
(Grunwald, 2014).
There are nine existing coal-fired power
plants and 16 approved projects (Greenpeace.
org, n.d.) (Figure 2.15). The operations of
coal-fired power plants are known to affect
the temperature of marine water since most
of these are situated near the seas. Studies
have shown that short-term exposure to
temperature changes can affect the survival,
growth and other physiological processes of
fish (Cheng A., Cheng S., Chen Y. & Chen
J., 2009; Ndong, Chen,Vaseeharan & Chen,
2006).
In addition, heavy metals are also emitted
from coal-fired power plants (Sia Su,
Ragragio, Hallare & Ramos, 2009). An
example of this is mercury which affects the
growth and survival of certain fish species
(Penglase, Hamre & Ellingsen, 2014).
These pose a grave threat to organisms
thriving in the area and in the ecological
integrity of the habitat. The heavy metals may
enter the food chains and bio-accumulate
or bio-amplify. Bioaccumulation is the
increase of contaminant concentrations in
aquatic organisms following an uptake of an
organism from an ambient environmental
medium (Marine Ecotoxicology, 2016).
Bioamplification refers to an increase in the
State of Philippine Environment  39
concentration of toxins as you move up the
food chain.
The impacts on water parameters and heavy
metal presence affect fish catch since they
affect the health of fish. These result in low
income for fisherfolk as well as threats in the
health of consumers.
In addition, increased reliance on coal
encourages coal mining which also has
negative environmental impacts such as
the destruction of habitats, deforestation,
erosion and contamination of groundwater.
There are also issues of health hazards
and the displacement of communities
(TheWorldCounts, 2014). As of June 2017,
there are 29 companies with development and
production Coal Operating Contracts (DOE,
2017).
The claim for the West Philippine Sea and
Benham Rise
The claim for the West Philippine Sea and
Benham Rise against China has been very
controversial in recent years. The disputed
territories are part of the country’s EEZ, in
particular, the Kalayaan Group of Islands and
Bajo de Masinloc.
Claims by China over the Philippines’ EEZ
have started in the late 1980s when it erected
a radar structure in Subi Reef. It continued its
reclamation activities and in recent years was
sped up the building of military facilities over
the Spratly Islands—Fiery Cross, Mischief,
and Subi Reefs.
The Philippines won the arbitration case
against China over the West Philippine Sea in
2016. As cited by the UN Arbitral Tribunal,
China’s “nine-dash line” claim over the area
is invalid and has no legal basis. This gained
public support as prominent figures like
40  State of Natural Ecosystems
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice
Antonio Carpio and the late former Senator
Leticia Ramos-Shahani campaigned for the
claim over the territories.
President Duterte’s statements regarding
our claim over the disputed territories are
inconsistent. In a press conference last May
2018, he said as quoted by Inquirer, “We
are not giving up our rights in the West
Philippine Sea. As a matter of fact, we are
still insisting until now to the point that
they are now willing…” But in another
press conference, Duterte states that he will
not allow the country to go to a war that it
cannot win, pertaining to the claims over the
West Philippine Sea against China.
Also, the Malacañang insists that bilateral talks
with China will allow “peaceful coexistence
and joint utilization of resources over the
area.” However, this still does not take away
the fact that China is building military
facilities over the disputed territories that also
leads to environmental degradation and affects
the livelihood of small fisherfolks in the area,
because the Chinese continues to guard and
prohibits Filipino fishermen in the disputed
territories.
On a related case, despite declaring it
Philippine Rise, Duterte’s administration also
drew flak over their statements and actions
on the management and claims of the newly-
discovered and biodiverse Benham Rise east
of Luzon. The Malacañang had to explain
over its statement regarding allowing Chinese
researchers in the area.
With China’s aggression in the West
Philippine Sea and interest over the
Philippine Rise, the inaction of the Duterte
administration on the legal claims of these
areas reflects how its government is bound
to surrender sovereign rights of the Filipino
people in exchange for some foreign
investments.
Plight of fisherfolk and women
Fisherfolk as Poorest Sector
The destruction of marine ecosystems has
affected the livelihood of the fisherfolk who
accounts for 2.5% of the total employed
population as of January 2018 (PSA, 2018).
The fisherfolk was the second poorest sector
with a 34% poverty incidence in 2015, next
only to the farmers with a 34.3% poverty
incidence.
2.5.6.2 Fisheries Code and its amendments
The Fisheries Code of 1998 or RA 8550 is
the policy governing fisheries and aquatic
resources. Its amendments or RA 10654 was
passed on 2014. The law was supposed to
improve the condition of the fishing grounds
and the fisherfolk.
The law encourages the formation of marine
protected areas (MPAs) but does not ensure
the genuine participation of local fisherfolk.
The law also caused opposition among
small fisherfolk groups calling for stricter
regulation of enforcement of municipal
waters against commercial-scale fishers.
Groups also questioned the law’s silence on
coastal management policy conflicts such as
reclamation projects, privatization of coastal
waters by tourism, and other forms of coastal
conversion.
Even after its 20 years of implementation, the
fisherfolk remain to be the poorest sector in
the country. It constricted the fishing grounds
of municipal fishers to only 15 kilometers
from the coast of the municipality they are
registered in. This was supposed to ensure

that the fishing grounds of municipal or small
fishers are protected from big commercial
fishers but ironically, they are still allowed in
municipal fishing grounds if these areas are
seven fathoms deep.
The law also requires each fisherfolk to
pay a registration fee to be allowed to fish
in a certain municipality and a separate
registration fee for their boats and equipment.
This added burden to the fisherfolk who
are struggling to feed their families. If they
2.6  OTHER ISSUES
Climate change
Climate change
The anthropogenic climate change causes
more intense typhoons (Carrington, 2016).
Typhoons in the Philippines has intensified
by 50% in the past 40 years. The warming of
coastal seas provided more energy to growing
storms and as a result, enabled their wind
speeds to increase more rapidly. Stronger
storms would mean stronger storm surges,
high winds and more intense rains and
floods. If climate change is not restrained,
tropical cyclones will also be more frequent
(Carrington, 2016).
Biodiversity will also be threatened. The
increase in precipitation due may benefit
the country’s rainforests but will negatively
affect lowland populations due to flooding
and sea level rise. This will force farmers
to move upland and will thus encroach on
natural forest ecosystems. This will affect
the ecosystem services of upland forests and
displace native species (FPE, n.d.).
State of Philippine Environment  41
are not able to pay for the fees, they will be
arrested once they are caught fishing. The law
also mandates LGUs to impose additional fees.
The policies also faced opposition since
there was not enough genuine participation
of fisherfolk, especially the small fishers
that are the most affected. The new
policies themselves do not encourage
genuine participation of fisherfolk in the
implementation and enforcement of the law.
Increasing sea surface temperature affects
aquatic animals such as fishes that are
poikilothermic. The body temperature
of these fishes varies with the ambient
temperature which means that habitat
temperature greatly affects their growth
rate, metabolism reproduction seasonality
and efficacy, susceptibility to diseases and
toxins and spatial distribution. This may
cause migration of fish such as slipjack tuna
which has moved to the cooler central Pacific
Ocean. This lessened the stock supply in the
country’s fishing ground (Santos, Dickson, &
Velasco, 2011).
Increase in temperature also causes the corals
to bleach which diminishes their growth.
This threatens the critical habitats for fish
and marine organisms. A one to two-degree
Celsius increase in temperature may cause
bleaching in corals. A sustained increase of
three to four degrees Celsius would cause
corals to wither and die since they will expel
the algae that supply them food (Santos,
Dickson, & Velasco, 2011).
42  State of Natural Ecosystems
Sea level rise damages the coastal ecosystems
such as mangroves and salt marshes as it
erodes beaches horizontally. This affects
their ecosystems like natural barriers from
storm surges, provision of food and habitat
for organisms. The increase in sediment
loading will affect the submerged aquatic
sessile organisms and might affect their
reproduced processes. Tidal variations would
also be affected which in turn will alter water
movements and reduce light intensity. These
are important factors in the productivity of
seagrasses and corals (Santos, Dickson, &
Velasco, 2011).
According to a study by the Asian
Development Bank (ADB) and the Postdam
Institute for Climate Impact Research
released on 2017, 19 out of 25 cities most
exposed to a one-meter sea-level rise are
located in the Asia and Pacific region. Seven
of which are in the Philippines namely
Manila, Taguig, Caloocan, Davao, Butuan,
Malabon and Iloilo. This would mean
increased vulnerability to flooding, difficulty
in food production and danger in energy
supply.
In terms of water supply, although greater
frequency of flooding could be expected in
the future, the impacts of decreased runoff is
of more concern. This is possibly because of
more frequent drought episodes. The monthly
distribution of rainfall is more important
than the annual distribution because of the
changing monthly demand for agricultural
and domestic users (Jose & Cruz, 1999).
This loss of much-needed irrigation has
caused hunger for a significant number of the
population.
The recent El Niño phenomenon that started
in 2015 was seen as one of the worst that was
experienced in the country. According to
KMP, at least 50,000 hectares of rice and corn
farms in the province were affected by the
drought causing hunger to more than 25,000
farmers. Its extremity caused the province of
North Cotabato to declare a state of calamity
on January 2016 due to the impacts in rice
and other crops.
The Department of Agriculture (DA) claimed
that they launched cloud-seeding projects
although it impacts were seen as negligible
by the farmers. The hunger that has spread
forced farmers to form a barricade in the
Davao-North Cotabato National Highway
to demand rice subsidy and calamity funds
from the North Cotabato LGU. They were
brutally dispersed by the provincial command
of the Philippine National Police (PNP) that
lead to the death of three peasants, at least 116
injured and more than 70 detained.
Stronger and more frequent typhoons resulted
in damages in the country’s agricultural
production. In 2016, the devastating effects
of Typhoons Karen and Lawin in the fourth
quarter of 2016 pulled down production
in the crops and fisheries subsectors, with a
1.41% decline in total output (PSA, 2017).
The crops subsector, which accounted for
50.98% of total agricultural output, declined
by 3.32 percent (Arcalas, 2017).
In the same quarter of 2016, the cost of
damage to agriculture in areas affected by
Typhoon Nina has reached almost PHP
400 million with the crops sector sustaining
the most damage (Simeon, 2016). The cost
of damage to agriculture in areas affected
by tropical depression Urduja in the fourth
quarter in the following year has reached
PHP 1 billion, with the crops sector
sustaining the most damage (Miraflor, 2017).
The Philippines is vulnerable to climate
change impacts because of its geographic
location that is near the equator and

surrounded by naturally warm waters. Most
importantly, socio-economic issues also
contribute to this vulnerability such as the
existing poverty and problems in governance.
Paris Agreement
The Paris Agreement is an agreement made
within the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Paris, France
that was signed by 195 member countries
and ratified by 148. It aims to limit the global
temperature rise to two degrees Celsius above
pre-industrial levels by 2100. Each country
should submit a plan to reduce the emission
of greenhouse gases and address the impacts
of climate change.
It was a seen as a landmark initiative to face
climate change but it is not without flaws.
It has diminished the distinction between
developed and developing countries. It views
that all countries regardless of the percentage
of its share in the total and historical
contribution of greenhouse gases have the
same responsibility in reducing carbon
emissions.
Even though developed countries are
pressured to support developing countries
in climate change adaptation and mitigation,
it does not penalize countries that do not
implement their plans and corporations that
are the biggest contributors of greenhouse
gases.
It is not legally binding and only it imposes
an obligation on countries to implement
their plans. The agreement has a review
process every five years to pressure them into
compliance and increase the countries’ scope
of efforts (Aljazeera.com, 2017).
In the Philippines, President Duterte
expressed his apprehensions about the Paris
State of Philippine Environment  43
Agreement saying that this would limit the
country’s full industrialization but ratified
it on February 28, 2017 (Politics.com.ph,
2016). Meanwhile, he has also encouraged the
dominance of coal-fired power plants in the
country’s energy mix.
He has still not taken a strong stance against
projects that make our country more
vulnerable to the impacts of climate changes
such as reclamation projects that destroy the
natural coastal barriers against storm surges.
The NGP’s contribution to climate change
mitigation is also yet to be determined.
Despite the positive effects of the Paris
Agreement such as the raising of awareness
on climate change and the encouragement
of countries to act upon it, it should not
be depended on solely. The people should
not confine themselves to this but remain
relentless in the pursuit of climate justice.
Corporations that have been the biggest
carbon emitters should be held accountable
and governments should be held responsible
for its negligence in providing support and
services to vulnerable communities and take
action in climate change adaptation and
mitigation.
Philippine Environmental Impact Statement
System
The Philippine Environmental Impact
Statement System (PEISS) or Presidential
Decree No. 1568 was established on June 11,
1978. It declared that no person, partnership
or corporation shall undertake or operate
any such declared ECP, or project in an ECA
without first securing an ECC.
An ECC is issued after a proposed project
goes through an Environmental Impact
44  State of Natural Ecosystems
Assessment (EIA) process that will produce an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) which
shall then be reviewed by an independent
technical team set up by the Environment
Management Bureau of the DENR.
This process is supposed to set the scientific
and comprehensive basis for clearing
projects that can possibly cause harm to the
surrounding environment and set mitigation
and monitoring plans for its implementation.
All agencies and instrumentalities of the
national government, including government-
owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs),
as well as private corporations, firms
and entities, are required to prepare, file
and include in every action, project or
undertaking that significantly affects the
quality of the environment, an environmental
impact statement.
However, the PEISS system has drifted from
the spirit of the law. This has been formalized
by way of amendments which started during
President Arroyo’s issuance of Administrative
Order 42 in 2002, and the corresponding
DENR Administrative Orders, starting
from DAO-30-2003. To date, there have
been several anomalies and concerns on the
process of obtaining ECCs, betraying chaotic,
selective, if not the absence of environmental
regulation.
An attempt to look into this was made by
CEC when it engaged the DENR on the
ECC granted to the Leyte Tide Embankment
Project (LTEP), which was approved by
the regional office of the Environmental
Management Bureau (EMB) under President
Aquino. A big four-meter high seawall to span
from the city of Tacloban and the towns of
Palo and Tanauan is being constructed by the
Department of Public Works and Highways
(DPWH) Region 8, as a supposed deterrent
to storm surges like the one generated during
super typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
Following community reports that the
Duterte government was allowing the project,
a group of NGOs tried to secure the EIS
report in 2016. The project, as planned, was
critiqued by environmental scientists. They
found the EIS poorly developed and did not
have adequate baselines and profiles.
The project design gives a false sense of
security while worsening disaster risk. There
were also irregularities in the EIS process
undertaken, such as the poor EIS study, the
lack of community consultations, the lack of
independence of the EIS preparer and the
lack of an independent technical review team.
These issues were formally presented to the
newly appointed DENR and the DPWH
officials, along with several concerned
organizations.
While acknowledging the problems around
the EIS system, the former DENR Secretary
Regina Lopez sustained the ECC of the
LTEP and advised the NGOs to just help
improve the plan for the project. This was in
effect, upholding the DENR interpretation
that the ECC is not a permit but a mere
planning instrument.
This state of the PEISS partly indicates why,
in spite of environmental laws, people see
highly destructive mining operations in
small island ecosystems and environmentally
critical areas, reclamation projects that
have not secured an ECC or even ECC-
backed building or infrastructure projects in
environmentally critical areas.
3 TWO YEARS UNDER THE DUTERTE
ADMINISTRATION:
FALSE HOPES, FAILED PROMISES
AND THE NEED FOR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION
The people’s movement for the environment
and human rights welcomed the political
opportunities in the first year of the
Duterte administration to underscore the
environmental issues they have long endured
and to put forward proposals on how changes
should shape up. It was not silenced when
these openings were removed and business-as-
usual, plunderous, environmental governance
returned with tyrannical drive.
The movement against large-scale mining
and widespread land-use conversions
had significant leaps with the help of the
appointment of progressives in the Cabinet.
The doors to peace between the government
and rebel groups, like the National
Democratic Front and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, were opened. This brought
some hope for the people as the peace agenda
was framed in addressing fundamental issues
around rural underdevelopment, urban
mal-development, self-government, and the
environment.
3.1  RESISTING PLUNDER AND DESTRUCTION
Various people’s organizations, civil society
organizations and progressive politicians saw
the appointment of staunch anti-mining
Yet President Duterte’s aggressive pursuit
of numerous mega-infrastructure projects
and investments through its Build, Build,
Build and PPP projects is enough cause for
environmental alarm. Its inaction over China’s
militarist occupation and base construction
within the country’s EEZ compounds this.
Big business and landlord-oligarchs also stalled
the gains achieved by the people’s movement
and the progressive lawmakers and Cabinet
ministers. Militarist influence and continuing
military aggression in the countryside also
repeatedly spoiled the progress of the peace
negotiations. That such operations targeted
environmental defenders show alarming trend
of human rights violations beyond compare
with previous administrations.
This unmasking of the reactionary face
of the current administration spurs the
determination of the people to defend lands,
livelihood, and the environment from foreign
and local landlord-oligarchs’ plunder.
advocate Gina Lopez as DENR Secretary as a
welcome opportunity for the environmental
movement for mining reforms.
46  Two Years under the Duterte Administration
Figure 3.1 Movement for the Protection of the Environment – Zambales (MOVE Now-
Zambales!) in a protest action in Sta. Cruz, Zambales
In line with her agency’s conduct to audit
all mining operations in the country,
communities in Zambales led by multi-
sectoral alliance Movement for the Protection
of the Environment – Zambales (MOVE
Now – Zambales!) (Figure 3.1) and the
Diocese of Iba Advocacy Desk held a parallel
people’s audit and gathered testimonies and
technical findings regarding incidences of
environmental pollution and livelihood
destruction, as well as links to cases of
human rights violations by the mining
companies operating in the province. This
led to the closure of four mining companies
- BenguetCorp Nickel Mines Inc., Eramen
Minerals Inc., LNL Archipelago Minerals, and
Zambales Diversified Metals Corporation.
The Makabayan bloc of progressive partylist
lawmakers also refiled an improved version
of the People’s Mining Bill (House Bill 2715)
as the 17th Congress commenced last July
2016. The bill, originally filed during the
15th Congress in 2011, sought to reorient
the country’s national mining policy, as
inscribed in the Mining Act of 1995, away
from its framework of mining liberalization
and deregulation towards ensuring needs-
based utilization, environmental safety,
people’s rights, and national industrialization.
The refiled bill has improved provisions
on the proposed multi-sectoral minerals
council to refine its powers, structure, and
functions and more stringent environmental
regulations, including provisions on ensuring
a rigorous environmental impact assessment
and requiring environmental insurance and a
calamity and human rights protection fund.
Then-chairperson of the House of
Representatives Natural Resources
Committee Bayan Muna Representative
Carlos Zarate set the bill as the committee’s
priority legislation and convened a technical
working group to consolidate the bill with
other four new mining policy proposals. The
committee also initiated onsite investigations
of large-scale mining projects to confirm
various policy deficiencies abused by the
mining operators.
The initiative, however, was stalled when
the administration removed the committee
chairs, including Zarate, who voted against
the passage of the anti-poor Death Penalty
Bill. Nevertheless, the House Committee on
Natural Resources has released the chairman’s
version of the bill and a committee hearing is
waiting to be scheduled.
As mining lobby led by the Chamber of
Mines of the Philippines on the outside and
the Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez on
the inside poured millions of pesos to derail
 State of Philippine Environment  47

the gains through propaganda offensives and Thousands of national minorities representing
the convening of the MICC to review the more than 30 ethnolinguistic groups – the
closure and suspension orders, the anti-miningMoro people and the Lumad people of
movement defended the orders and started Mindanao, the Cordillera people and the
the year of 2017 with massive protests. Aggay, Kalinga people of Northern Luzon,
the Aeta people of Central Luzon, the
In Mindoro province, 5,000 people from Dumagat, Mangyan and Palawan people of
indigenous peoples, farmers, church and Southern Luzon, and the Tumandok and Ati
advocates rallied to express support for the of the Panay region – travelled in a massive
confirmation of Lopez and for her crackdown national Lakbayan (people’s march) from their
on large-scale mines and called for the mountainous abode and converged in the
permanent cancellation of mining agreements. heart of Metro Manila to make their presence
In Caraga, 9,000 also marched to call for the felt and their cries heard.
stopping of militarization linked to large-
scale mining that is directed against various Since then, the Sandugo has launched two
indigenous and peasant communities. Lakbayan caravans and camp-ins (Figure 3.2).
The first Lakbayan was held amid the new
Among the highlights in resisting the Duterte administration’s promises of change
plunderous path of the Duterte administration in 2016. They raised issues of worsening
is the historic launch of Sandugo (a Filipino plunder, land grabs, and militarization of their
term referring to a blood compact ritual), an ancestral lands instigated by foreign, state
alliance and movement of national minorities and corporate interests hoping that the new
aiming to heighten their struggle for self- administration will finally heed their calls.
determination, and fight national oppression
and the aggression in their ancestral lands. A year later, the Lakbayan 2017 was held in
the backdrop of the Duterte regime’s Martial
Law declaration in Mindanao. This time, the

Figure 3.2 Sandugo Lakbayan ng Pambansang Minorya

Source: tonyocruz.com
48  Two Years under the Duterte Administration
Sandugo, as well as the people’s movement,
sought to stop the increasingly vicious attacks
against national minorities happening not
only in Mindanao but across the country.
They also sought policy reversals of the
administration with respect to the mining
policy that former secretary Lopez initiated.
A protest action of more than 600 national
minorities was successfully staged right
outside the venue of the annual conference
of the Chamber of Mines Philippines on
September 2017 and temporarily disrupted
the meeting.
Progressive local government units have
also made a clear stand for the environment
despite the current politico-environmental
crisis. In July 2018, the provincial board
of South Cotabato rejected a resolution
3.2  DEFENDING PATRIMONY
On sovereign rights over natural
resources
China’s Encroachment of the West Philippine
Sea
The country’s territorial boundaries are
also in hot waters since Duterte sat in
power. His promise to defend the West
Philippine Sea from China’s island building
and encroachment proved empty. Even the
Philippines v. China case (or the South China
Sea Arbitration) ruling of the Permanent
Court of Arbitration favoring the country’s
territorial claims under the UNCLOS
convention over China’s “nine-dash line” map
has not been prioritized for enactment.
PAMALAKAYA consistently mobilized
its member organizations along the coastal
endorsing a coal mining project by SMC-
owned Daguma Agro Minerals Inc. (DAMI)
in Lake Sebu town. The proposed site is
within the Kabulnan Watershed Forest
Reserved, a protected area covered by
Proclamation Number 241 signed by former
president Estrada in 2000.
Environmental advocates and national
minorities in the locality lauded the
decision of Southern Cotabato Sangguniang
Panlalawigan on coal mining as a stepping
stone towards justice. It can be recalled that
in December of 2017, eight tribal members
of the T’boli-Manobo S’daf Claimants
Organization (TAMASCO), who opposed
the project as well as the large-scale coffee
plantation expansion project, were massacred
by the military.
provinces of Central Luzon affected by
China’s island building and construction of
the military base in Scarborough Shoal. They
have led protests together with progressive
lawmakers and other environmental groups
outside the China Embassy to move out
of our territorial waters. They have also
trooped to Malacañang and other agencies
to seek dialogues calling for the President to
tighten the control and claim over the West
Philippine Sea and assert the fishing rights of
the displaced fisherfolks.
CEC and Kalikasan People’s Network for the
Environment (Kalikasan PNE) also mobilized
volunteers to Zambales to organize the
displaced fisherfolk communities, conduct
public forums on the issues, and lobby to local
government units to support the fisherfolk’s
cause.

On the other side of the Philippine territorial
waters, the country’s claim to Benham Rise
was approved under the UNCLOS in 2012.
Lobby from communities and environmental
advocates also pushed for a tighter control
and resulted to the administration issuing an
Executive Order in 2017 renaming Benham
Rise to Philippine Rise and designated as
a “protected food supply exclusive zone”.
Mining and oil exploration activities are also
banned and only international research vessels
are only allowed.
However, patriots voiced out concerns
over the President’s spokesperson claim
that Filipino scientists have no capability
to conduct research in the Rise. Numerous
research proofs of local scientists documenting
decades of scientific studies in the Philippine
Rise as well as other areas in open seas under
the country’s territory were brought into the
public. Oceana Philippines also made public
the underwater images they took during their
expedition in the Rise last 2016 showcasing
the rich ecological and economic potential of
the area.
Public forums, round table discussions and
consultations were also organized by scientist
groups and environmental advocates in
different avenues to share Philippine Rise
researches, legal opinions and recommend
campaign activities to highlight scientists’
role in the crafting policies for national
development.
Charter Change
These economic and political posturings are
being concretized for long-term gains of
the administration by proposing changes to
the Philippine Constitution. The different
proposals filed in Congress late 2017
are being finalized by the Consultative
Committee, whose members are appointed
State of Philippine Environment  49
by the President himself, showed serious
concerns in the aspects of national patrimony
and resource management.
Members of the Lumaban sa Cha-Cha,
Ipagtanggol ang Kalikasan (LUNTIAN)
Coalition and March For Science Alliance -
Philippines iterated contentious provisions
that will heavily impact the environment.
Aside from the business-as-usual mining,
plantations, and other extractives, the
proposed changes will allow 100% foreign
ownership and privatization of timberlands,
national parks, and other public commons. It
will also entrench the monopoly of landlords
and oligarchs of the natural resources in the
regions.
The LUNTIAN Coalition, whose members
include Kalikasan PNE, Miriam Public
Education and Awareness Campaign for
the Environment (Miriam PEACE), Green
Convergence, AGHAM, CEC, Nilad, UP
Green League, and the No to Cha-Cha
Coalition, also organized a well-attended
forum on April 2017 where former Chief
Justice Hilario Davide, Jr., as keynote speaker,
called the proposed charter change a “war
against the environment”.
On corporate and foreign investments
Removal of Progressive Cabinet Officials
President Duterte appointed progressive
cabinet officials that sparked hope of better
governance of over natural resources and
give the majority of the population more
access to these resources. The removal of
progressive cabinet officials in office, like Dr.
Judy Taguiwalo in DSWD, former Anakpawis
Representative Rafael Mariano in DAR, and
Gina Lopez in DENR shows inconsistency in
the promise of change with governance. With
50  Two Years under the Duterte Administration
the majority of the Philippine Congress and
Senate still from big landlords and business
families, there is indeed no hope for radical
and progressive changes in the bureaucracy.
Stalled Moratorium On Land Use Conversion
On September 2016, then DAR Secretary
Rafael Mariano assisted the President to
chair and reconvene the Presidential Agrarian
Reform Council (PARC), the highest
policy-making and coordinating body in the
implementation of agrarian reform programs.
This was the first time it was done after 10
years.
In the meeting, Mariano proposed a two-year
moratorium on the conversion of agricultural
lands into non-agricultural uses such as the
development of subdivisions and industrial
parks. This was hailed by agrarian reform and
environmental advocates.
Mariano’s confirmation as DAR secretary was
rejected a year later due to pressure by lobby
by landlords, oligarchs and big businesses. The
Executive Order on the two-year land-use
conversion is yet to be signed by Duterte
until now despite his verbal whims to support
the initiative.
3Infrastructure Projects
Duterte’s stance to favor big-time polluters
and environmental criminals is further
highlighted through his administration’s
“Build, Build, Build” and PPP programs
where foreign investments are enticed to fund
megadams, highways, mega airports, coal-fired
power plants, and reclamation projects.
Various alliances and organizations have
been mobilized to study the externalities and
mobilize the people to defend their right to a
healthy and balanced ecology.
Reclamation
The People’s NICHE became active once
again as a response to the planned reclamation
projects in Manila Bay. People’s NICHE,
launched on 2012, is a broad alliance of
fisherfolk, church workers, doctors, scientists,
lawyers, and advocates calling for the
restoration, instead of reclamation, of the
coastal waters of Manila Bay and other areas
targeted for reclamation developments.
The Advocates of Science and Technology
for the People (AGHAM) also conducted an
Environmental Investigative Mission (EIM)
in Bulacan to document the environment
and socio-economic risks posed by SMC’s
unsolicited proposal to build a 2,500-hectare
aerotropolis, or a city complex around an
airport, along northern Manila Bay. The EIM
raised concerns of displacement of thousands
of fisherfolks, destruction of mangrove forests,
and cases of rights violations.
Coastal communities, church workers and
environmental advocates in Barangay Taliptip,
Bulakan, Bulacan have also rallied to seek out
a dialogue with the mayor but to no avail.
Coal-Fired Power Plants
Meanwhile in the region of Southern Tagalog,
a Network Opposed to Coal (NO to Coal)
broad regional alliance was formed in April
2018 to oppose the pending construction of
three coal-fired power plants (one in Batangas,
two in Quezon), one on-going expansion
(Batangas) and the operation of four (one in
Batangas, three in Quezon). This was a result
of several consultations with the communities
and other stakeholders as well as EIM efforts
of CEC and AGHAM in the coal-fired power
plants in Calaca, Batangas and in Pagbilao
Island, Quezon that documented the impacts

Figure 3.3 Fact Finding Mission conducted by We are Boracay along with other
organizations before the closure of Boracay Island
of the said projects to the livelihood and
health of fishing communities.
Boracay Closure
In northern Panay region, the off-base
and deceptive Boracay Island closure and
rehabilitation were met with resistance
not only on the locality but also on the
national level. The closure displaced an
estimated 32,000 formal and informal
workers and crippled the local economy. The
rehabilitation is also questionable as there is
no comprehensive plan and media coverage is
limited.
Military and police personnel are deployed
to provide “security from threats” to the
island in the style similar to the Marawi
siege. Humanitarian missions from different
civil society organizations willing to enter
the island to give aid to the hunger-stricken
communities were barred from entering while
spoiled government food packs were allowed
to enter. Residents whose houses comply
with regulations are also being demolished
while roads are being widened and paved and
big infrastructures built in protected areas.
State of Philippine Environment  51
A region-wide “We Are Boracay” broad
alliance was formed to support the
communities in their call to re-open the
island and pressure the government to
develop a science-based, people-oriented
and comprehensive rehabilitation plan. The
alliance – whose members come from the
displaced formal informal workers, Boracay
residents, tour operators, local small business
owners, and teachers, scientists, and CSOs
from the different provinces in the region –
have been active in trying to send food aid
to the locals, posting the true stories of the
deceptive rehabilitation online, engaging with
the lawmakers, and seeking support from
other groups to support their cause. They
have also filed the case to the Supreme Court
questioning the closure and rehabilitation.
Environment and scientist groups and
progressive policymakers have conducted
onsite investigations before and during
the closure period (Figure 3.3). CEC and
AGHAM documented cases of human
rights violations, economic displacement and
infrastructure building in protected areas,
as well as collected water samples to verify
government claims of improved water quality.
Bayan Muna and Anakpawis Partylists also
filed resolutions to seek inquiry into the case.
52  Two Years under the Duterte Administration
On foreign military interventions
President Duterte once vowed that he will
uphold an “independent foreign policy” and
even declared its “military and economic
split from the US” (Ranada, 2016). However,
the continuation of the Balikatan exercises
with the US and the construction of the
facilities under the EDCA (Enhanced Defense
Cooperation Agreement) in the “agreed
locations,” have served to belie his bold
words. Under the guise of anti-terrorism
and humanitarian response strategies, annual
Balikatan exercises have been conducted in
areas around the country. Most of these are
critical environmental areas such as in the
rural and coastal areas of Tarlac, Aurora and
Samar provinces.
There have been many studies on the
impacts of US military activities on the
environment that have been conducted
in the past. While environmental cleanup
requirements prove staggering, studies show
how little accountability the US military
gives on these issues outside its territory,
especially in developing countries that have
lax environmental standards and have forged
weak agreements with them (Myers, 2010).
3.3  ASSERTING HUMAN RIGHTS
On human rights and the defense of the
environment
Cases of human rights violations and killings
related to environmental issues are also seen to
have risen under the Duterte administration.
In 2016, international human rights and
environment watchdog Global Witness noted
28 reported killings in the Philippines. A third
of these victims were environmental defenders
This has been shown in the Philippine
experiences on oil spills and toxic waste
dumping of US naval ships in the coastal areas
of Subic Bay, and the military toxic waste it
left un-remediated around the previous US
bases that victimized upland settlers who
found temporary shelter in the base buildings
when Mt. Pinatubo erupted. This is not to
mention the former base workers who had to
eventually die of asbestosis and many others
who all failed to find justice with the foreign
force its country hosted. The US military
has either denied responsibility or preferred
to settle in cheaper ways that obfuscate their
responsibility.
Senate investigation on the Visiting Forces
Agreement (VFA) in 2012 presented a list of
social and environmental issues which include
victims of unexploded ordnance left behind
in Cebu and Zambales. More recent reported
cases include the grounding of the USS
Guardian in the Tubbataha Reefs Natural
Park destroying a significant part of one of
the UNESCO’s World Heritage Site and the
dumping of waste in Subic Bay.
campaigning against mining and extractives.
As of the early July 2018, Kalikasan PNE
monitored 61 environment-related killings
under Duterte which makes it two to three
killings every month since July 2016 (Figure
3.4). Seventy-nine percent of the victims are
campaigning against mining and plantations.
Most of the killings are also either confirmed
or allegedly state-sponsored.

In February 2018, the Department of
Justice (DOJ) submitted a petition in a
Manila court tagging several environmental
activists, campaigners and leaders including
a UN Special Rapporteur for the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples. Civil society and peoples
organizations both local and abroad cried foul.
CEC, AGHAM and their international
networks lobbied in different venues
including the UN Regional Coordinating
Mechanism and UN Environment Assembly
to project the state of environmental
defenders in the country and gather support.
In March 2018, the UN Environment
launched their Environmental Defenders
Policy Paper that recognizes the need to
support the upholding of environmental
rights and seeks to “oppose the growing wave
of violence against environmental defenders”
and push for a “common and coherent
approach to promote greater protection for
environmental defenders”.
As a response, civil society and people’s
organizations recommended the formation
of a network of environment defenders and
their support organizations that would build
solidarities between movements, promote
people’s environmental rights and forward
collective voices in the region to policy-
making bodies and international institutions
on demanding protection of environment
defenders and respect for people's rights.
The Asia Pacific Network of Environment
Defenders (APNED) is an initiative that came
up from the regional workshop on the state of
environment defenders held in March 2018
in Bangkok, Thailand with support from UN
Environment, Chulalongkorn University and
other regional networks.
In September 2017, environmental advocates,
indigenous peoples, academe and church
workers came together under a broad
State of Philippine Environment  53
coalition called Environmental Advocates
against Repression and Tyranny in defense
of Human Rights (EARTH) to expose
and oppose human rights violations against
environmental defenders and tyranny under
the Duterte administration. Scientists,
engineers and technologists also banded
in a sectoral alliance called Scientists and
Technologists Say No Tyranny (SNT2).
Both EARTH and SNT2 joined other
progressive organizations in the massive
multi-sectoral and broad mobilizations on
September 21, 2017 at the Luneta Park
commemorating the declaration of Martial
Law and on December 10, 2017 at the
Bonifacio Shrine during the commemoration
of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (Figure 3.5).
With the abovementioned stance and
rhetoric for the environment, the Duterte
administration has clear disregard for
the protection and conservation of the
environment as well as people’s rights,
especially as these come in the way of big
and foreign business and his cronies. In fact,
its track record on human rights in the last
two years is worse than his predecessors
with at least 12,000 deaths on its drug war,
continuing persecution of political and social
activists and at least 55 environment defenders
killed since 2016.
The recorded environment-related killings
are mostly tied to cases of large-scale mining,
plantation expansions, megadams and coal
power plants in the rural areas and most
victims are indigenous and local farmers
opposing major projects that would displace
them and ruin their local ecosystems to which
they depend on for livelihood. According
to Kalikasan PNE, the campaign network
monitoring environment-related killings, the
killings and persecution of environmental
Figure 3.4 Infographic on the Killings of Environmental Defenders
under the Duterte Administration

Source: Data compilation by Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment and map by Angelo Galindo

Figure 3.5 Environmental Advocates against Repression and Tyranny in defense of
Human Rights (EARTH) at the 2017 International Human Rights Day Action
Source: Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment
activists are expected to worsen as corporate
3.4  BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
When the new administration opened the
doors for negotiations with the NDFP,
the people’s movement, including the
environmental and scientists groups, expressed
their full support, especially that the agenda
included the Comprehensive Agreement on
Socio-Economic Reforms (CASER) where
rural reform, industrial industrialization, and
environmental governance will be tackled.
Significant advances have been made within
the two years such as the release of political
prisoners, unilateral ceasefires, affirmation
of the previous agreements, and the draft
outline of the CASER until the government
repeatedly canceled the negotiations when
State of Philippine Environment  55
and bureaucrat plunder of the country’s
natural resources also intensify.
the next agenda tabled the National Economy
provisions of the CASER - the Agrarian
Reform and Rural Development (ARRD),
National Industrialization and Economic
Development (NIED), and Environmental
Protection, Rehabilitation and Compensation
(EPRC).
The Agrarian Reform and Rural
Development articles seek to end rural
poverty and serve as the starting point
for rapid sustainable development in the
Philippine countryside. The article seeks
to break monopolies in private and public
agricultural land, fishing grounds, fisheries,
and aquaculture while recognizing ancestral
56  Two Years under the Duterte Administration
domain. Agricultural production and rural
industries are also sought to be developed
with ample budgetary support for developing
agricultural science and technology,
processing, agricultural support utilities and
marketing support.
The National Industrialization and Economic
Development articles seek to maximize
and enhance Filipino professionals and
producers and domestic capital as driving
forces of national development. It seeks to
develop local industries across a wide range
of consumer, intermediate goods. The articles
also include the nationalization of public
utilities and mining to ensure rationalization
and overall development.
The Environmental Protection, Rehabilitation
and Compensation articles seek to develop
a national policy to ensure a healthy natural
environment in the course of economic
development. It seeks to rationalize utilization
of the country’s resources which should first
and foremost be reserved for the Filipino
people. It seeks to ensure that agricultural
production, rural development and national
industrialization increasingly use ecologically-
sound production methods. It also hopes to
ensure the most efficient use of the country’s
renewable and non-renewable resources,
appropriate measures to address pollution and
waste disposal, and necessary and appropriate
programs for climate change adaptation and
mitigation.
It also seeks to develop, pursue and promote a
national program to genuinely rehabilitate and
develop resources that have been depleted,
polluted and destroyed. Resource extraction
and grossly destructive activities in extractives,
agriculture, industry, land development
are also sought to be strictly regulated.
Reclamation is also sought to be prohibited.
Prohibitions also include foreign toxic waste,
dirty goods, pollutant industries, war materiel
and such.
Provisions also include seeking accountability
to perpetrators of environmental destruction
including foreign governments, local and
foreign corporations, government officials
and others. It also seeks to compensate the
communities, victims and surviving relatives
of environmental disasters.
The people still pushed for the continuation
of the peace negotiations. Environmental
advocates also organized public forums
and direct actions to raise awareness of
the importance of the resumption of the
negotiations to finally bring an end to the
long-time and fundamental problems of
underdevelopment and resource-based
conflicts.
There is also doublespeak with regards to
building peace with revolutionary groups.
The repeated cancellation of the fifth round
of peace talks with the Communist Party
of the Philippines – National Democratic
Front – New People’s Army on June 2018
reflects the lack of willingness of the Duterte
administration to address the decades-old
civil war rooted from poverty and inequalities
in the country. The fifth round of the talks
aimed to tackle an agreement on the social
and economic reforms in the country, which
covers environment and natural resource
governance, and national industrialization.
4 CONCLUSION
President Duterte’s two years in office,
with his positive pronouncements for the
environment as mere populist rhetoric,
created false hopes among the people and
failed to deliver the promises for genuine
protection, conservation and rehabilitation
of the country’s environment. The Duterte
administration has only continued to follow
the neoliberal path, providing more space for
corporate and elite stakeholders to control the
country—it’s natural resource and the people.
Neoliberalization further pushed the
capitalist over-consumption and pollution
thus worsening the environmental crisis.
The people are presented with so-called
development projects (such as large-scale
mining, industrial plantations, reclamation,
logging) as a solution for worsening
poverty. The profit-driven anarchic system
of production has caused the plunder of
natural resources with most of these products
exported to other countries as raw materials
while we continue to import finished
products. Production is aimed to meet the
demand of the global market instead of
domestic needs.
In the end, most of these projects have caused
more harm than good, especially in the long
term, for the majority of the population.
However, the local and foreign corporations
that are the proponents of these projects
continue to rake in a huge profit from the
natural resources that are supposed to benefit
Filipinos of this generation and the next.
Government policies and programs were
seen to have supported the implementation
of these destructive projects. It also paved
the way for the concentration of the natural
resources to an elite few.
The control and plunder of our country’s
natural resources have meant the deprivation
of our country’s development since the
resources that are needed are not benefiting
the majority of the population.
The people have not kept silent. The growing
environmental crisis has been faced by the
growing people’s movement. The people
opposing these policies and programs and
have been struggling fervently for their rights,
with the right to a balanced and healthy
ecology as part of these. Only through the
engagement of people’s organizations in
united action such as awareness raising,
investigative missions, policy advocacy and
lobbying, legal actions, organization-building
and strengthening, and alliance and solidarity
building, and other such actions can the
protection of the environment be achieved.
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ABOUT US
The Center for Environmental Concerns–
Philippines (CEC-Phils) is a non-government
organization founded through the initiatives
of organizations representing fisherfolk,
farmers, indigenous peoples, women, urban
poor, and professional sectors. Currently,
the Center is a service institution based
in Quezon City, Metro Manila. Its area of
operation and networking covers the entire
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At the grassroots level, CEC-Philippines
closely works with communities and
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