Laws that are meant to punish those who abuse the country’s natural resources are also passed by the Philippine congress; such is the purpose of Executive Order No. 277 and Presidential Decree No. 1775. Presidential Decree No. 1775 states that “A forest officers or employee of the Bureau or any personnel of the Philippines Constabulary/ Integrated National Police shall arrest even without warrant any person who has committed or committing in his presence any of the offenses defined in this Chapter.”; while Executive Order No. 277 states that “Cutting, Gathering and/or Collecting Timber, or Other Forest Products Without License. Any person who shall cut, gather, collect, or remove timber or other forest products from any forest land, or timber from any forest land, or timber from alienable and disposable public land, or from private land, without any authority, or possess timber or other forest products without the legal documents as required under existing forest laws and regulations, shall be punished with the penalties imposed under Article 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal Code”.
Philippines is abundant with laws that protects its forests. However, illegal activities are still rampant across the map and are still being tolerated. What the country needs now is not more laws to be passed; what it needs is the proper implementation of the existing laws and that the people and entities assigned with the task of preserving the environment be responsible and truthful to their duties bestowed upon them by the people of the Philippines.
3 comments:
I agree that the Philippines have the necessary laws in place but is somewhat lacking in the enforcement and implementation division.
Also, I believe that under-the-table dealings allows (mostly foreign) companies to openly abuse our natural resources. All for the money that we could get more from harvesting the natural resources on our own and for OUR own.
--Christian Adrian 4CSA
Is there a case that a person or a company is being punished because of violating the Presidential Decree No. 1775?
-Dave Dizon 4CSA
“Cutting, Gathering and/or Collecting Timber, or Other Forest Products Without License. Any person who shall cut, gather, collect, or remove timber or other forest products from any forest land, or timber from any forest land, or timber from alienable and disposable public land, or from private land, without any authority, or possess timber or other forest products without the legal documents as required under existing forest laws and regulations, shall be punished."
With the new administration coming, I'm hoping that rampant illegal cutting of trees and mining would be stopped immediately. By the way, one of the best law firms in the Philippines is NDV Law.
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