1S Rl
S RECEIVED

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES)
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

ntative Rufus B. Rodriguez <_
ms 5216

House Bill Ni

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The Earth's average temperature has risen about 0.9 degrees Celsius since the late 19"
century, largely driven by increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. While
climate change has occurred throughout, and even prior to, recorded history, this was mostly
due to variations in the amount of solar energy received by the planet. However; with respect
to recent global warming trends, the scientific consensus is that it has been caused by
human activity.

This global warming has caused sea levels to rise 8 inches in the last century, the Greenland
and Antarctic ice sheets to decrease in mass, the retreat of glaciers around the world, an
increase in the number of record-high temperatures, and the acidification of surface ocean
waters.

Humans have also converted around half of the world's habitable land and to agriculture.
This massive conversion of forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other terrestrial ecosystems
has produced an alarming decline in the planet's biodiversity. In 2019, a report by the
Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services noted
that up to one million plant and animal species are facing extinction due to human activity.

Habitat loss is also being accelerated by my massive fires — largely set by humans - that
have engulfed forests from the Amazon to central Africa. According to Global Forest Watch,
the tropics overall lost some 8.9 million acres of primary rain forest last year, an area equal
to the size of Belgium.

The Institute for Economics and Peace has also reported that 971 million people live in
areas with high or very high exposure to hazards such as cyclones, floods, bushfires, and
rising sea levels. A substantial number of those at-risk individuals are from the Asia-Pacific
region. Thus, it is not surprising that the top nine countries facing the highest risk from
climate change are all Asian.

‘Among these countries, the Philippines is at the greatest risk of experiencing multiple climate
hazards out of any other country on Earth. Moreover, these hazards affect not only the
environment but also the peace and order situation within a country. Not only are contlict-
prone countries more vulnerable to natural disasters, those disasters themselves can also
trigger further intemal unrest.

Today, environmental laws regulate the use and exploitation of nature by humans. They
legalize fracking, drilling, and open-pit mining. The consequences have proven catastrophic.
Perhaps a new way of looking at the relationship between humanity and the natural world
offers a way to avert disaster.

In 1972, law professor Christopher Stone published a seminal article "Should Trees Have
Standing?" that explored the possibility of recognizing natural ecosystems and processes as
legal entities. He described how women and slaves had long been treated as rightless in law


and suggested that, just as they had eventually attained rights, so should trees and other
nonhuman living things.

Existing legal systems force us to think of nature anthropocentrically in terms of human
concerns rather than what concems nature. In the midst of a climate and biodiversity crisis,
there is a growing consensus that it is time to secure the highest form of legal protection for
nature by recognizing that natural ecosystems and processes possess certain inherent and
inalienable rights. Worldwide, legislation and jurisprudence have begun to accumulate in this
new area of law.

In 2006, the first law recognizing the legal rights of nature was enacted in the borough of
Tamaqua, Pennsylvania. The community sought to prevent dredging sludge laden with
PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) being dumped in an abandoned coalmine. Communities
across more than 10 US states have now followed suit, including New Hampshire, Colorado
and Pittsburgh :

In 2008, Ecuador enshrined the rights of nature — or Pachamana or Mother Earth — in its
constitution, the first country to do so. Since then, Bolivia has enacted a law defining the
earth as "a collective subject of public interest’, and declaring both the planet and the life-
systems inhabiting it as titleholders of inherent rights specified in the law.

Nepalese environmental advocates are developing a constitutional amendment that would, if
adopted, recognize the right of the Himalayas to be free from pollution. In Mexico, Pakistan,
Australia and other countries, frameworks for extending legal rights to natural systems are
being proposed and legislated.

Courts have also ruled that ecosystems are capable of possessing rights under law.

Colombia's Supreme Court was recently asked to consider the impact of deforestation in a
lawsuit that led to a groundbreaking ruling declaring the Amazon an entity "subject to rights",
and entitled to conservation, maintenance, and restoration. In 2017, the state high court in
Uttarakhand, India, ruled that in order to protect the Ganges and Yamuna rivers, they should
be considered legal persons with all corresponding rights, duties and liabilities.

As the planet teeters on the edge of an irreversible catastrophe; it is time to make a
fundamental shift in humanity's relationship with nature before it is too late. Environmental
survival is human survival.

Thus, this proposed bill which seeks to recognize natural ecosystems, populations, and
processes as legal entities sui generis entitled to certain inherent and inalienable rights, such
as those related to their existence, regeneration and restoration. Furthermore, as nature
cannot do so directly, the bill also vests environmental advocates with the standing
necessary to petition our courts on its behalf. However, in all such proceedings, nature shall
be considered the real party-in-interest and all damages and monetary claims awarded by
the court shall be held in trust by a conservation committee and used for its restoration and
renewal. Hence, the immediate passage of this measure is eamestly sought

RYFUS’B. RODRIGYEZ


EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS )
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES )
First Regular Session )

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Introduced by Representative Rufus B. Rodriguez
5216

House Bill No.

AN ACT RECOGNIZING THE RIGHTS OF NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS, POPULATIONS,
AND PROCESSES AND PROVIDING MECHANISMS FOR THE PROTECTION AND
ENFORCEMENT THEREOF ’

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in
Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Rights of Nature Act *

Section 2. Declaration of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State to recognize
natural ecosystems and processes, or distinct and identifiable portions thereof, including
populations of plant and animal species, as legal entities sui generis possessing certain
fundamental and inalienable rights. The State shall provide simple, effective and expeditious
mechanisms for the protection and enforcement of these rights

Section 3. The Fundamental Rights of Nature. - Natural ecosystems, populations, and
processes shall have the right to exist; to the maintenance of the vital cycles, functions and
processes that ensure their continued sustainability and well-being; to the conditions
necessary for their renewal and restoration; and to adequate and effective representation
vis-a-vis the protection and enforcement of these rights. These rights shall be in addition to,
and shall not impair or limit, any other right or remedy available under existing law,
administrative regulation or jurisprudence. A violation of any existing environmental law or
regulation shall be deemed a prima facie violation of these rights.

The State likewise recognizes that there are limits on the ability of natural
ecosystems, populations, and processes to regenerate as well as on the ability of
humanity to undo and reverse any damage it has caused. Where there are threats of
serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason
for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

Thus, all human development that alters, affects or modifies natural ecosystems
populations or processes must be sustainable, ensure the maintenance of critical ecosystem
services, allow for renewal and restoration, and respect intra- and intergenerational equity

Section 4. Construction. - This Act shall be liberally construed for the purpose of
promoting, enhancing and protecting the rights of natural ecosystems, populations and
processes recognized herein. When human activity may lead to serious and irreversible
harm that is scientifically plausible but uncertain, immediate action shall be taken to avoid or
diminish the threat or occurrence thereof.

Section 5. Obligations of the Government. - The Government shall take all necessary
action to protect and enforce the rights recognized by this law including, but not limited to,
the following:

‘@. Develop and implement policies and regulations for prevention, early
warning, protection, and precaution to prevent human _activity from
causing the extinction of living populations, the alteration of the cycles and
processes that ensure life, and the destruction of livelihoods and cultyral


systems that are intertwined with natural ecosystems, populations, and
processes;

b. Promote balanced forms of production and patterns of consumption that,
while satisfying the needs of the people, safe-guard the regenerative
capacity and integrity of natural ecosystems, populations, and processes;

c. Protect natural ecosystems, populations, and processes from the
exploitation of its components, the commodification of living systems or the
processes that support them, and the structural causes and effects of global
climate change;

d. Ensure long-term energy sovereignty, increased efficiency and the gradual
incorporation of clean and renewable alternative sources into the energy
matrix; ;

e. Demand intemational recognition of ecological debt through the financing

and transfer of clean technology compatible with the rights recognized in this

Act;

Promote peace and the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction; and

g. Promote the recognition of the rights of natural ecosystems, populations,
and processes in multilateral, regional and bilateral international relations.

Section 6. Legal Personality of Natural Ecosystems, Populations & Processes. - The legal
personality of natural ecosystems, populations, and processes, including all of their living
and non-living elements, as well as any distinct and identifiable portions, aggregations or
‘components thereof, shall be recognized under law. In any action for the protection or
enforcement of the rights recognized herein, the natural ecosystem or process involved shall
be considered the real party-in-interest

Section 7. Representation & Standing. - Any Philippine resident may file an action to
enforce the rights or obligations recognized under this Act on behalf of the natural
ecosystem, population, or process concerned, which shall be the real party-in-interest
Upon the filing of any such action, the Court shall issue an order which shall contain a brief
description of the cause of action and the reliefs prayed for, requiring all interested parties to
manifest their interest to intervene in the case within a reasonable amount of time from
notice thereof. i

Section 8. Reliefs. - If warranted, the court shall issue a judgment in favor of the natural
ecosystem, population, or process on whose behalf an action for the protection and
enforcement of the rights recognized herein was filed, which shall include measures for its
continuing protection, preservation, restoration, or renewal. Monetary damages to be
awarded shall be those necessary to support the continuous and complete rectification or
repair of the damage done to natural ecosystems, populations or processes by the
defendant. Attomey's fees, costs of suit and other litigation expenses shall be awarded to
the party or parties who instituted the action for the protection and enforcement of the rights
recognized herein.

Section 9, Trust Fund. - Fines, damages or any other monetary awards imposed upon the
defendant shall be held and administered in trust by the conservation committee provided for
in this Act on behalf of the natural ecosystem, population, or process considered the real
party-in-interest of the action, and used to implement the measures for protection,
preservation, restoration, or renewal ordered by the court.

Section 10. Appointment of Conservation Committee. - To administer the trust fund and
implement the measures necessary for protection, preservation, restoration, or renewal of
the natural ecosystem, population, or process on whose behalf an action pursuant to this
Act was filed, the court shall appoint a conservation committed from the stakeholders
concemed, in accordance with the implementing rules and regulations of this Act. The


court shall give preference to residents and indigenous cultural communities from the area,
local government units, and people's and other non-governmental organizations or public
interest groups accredited by or registered with any relevant government agency. Under no
circumstances shall a person or entity responsible for a violation of the rights recognized
herein be appointed to a conservation committee.

Section 11. Designation of Courts and Promulgation of Procedural Rules. - The Supreme
Court shall designate the court or courts that will hear and resolve cases brought under this
‘Act and shall promulgate the rules of pleading, practice and procedure to govern the
proceedings brought under this Act.

Section 12. Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation. - A Strategic Lawsuit agdinst
Public Participation (SLAPP) is any action filed to harass, vex or exert undue pressure
against any person or legal entity that has taken legal action or made a public
communication of any kind in connection with the enforcement or protection of the rights
recognized herein or any other environmental law or regulation. The defendant in a SLAPP
may file a special motion to dismiss at any point of the proceedings alleging that the case is
a SLAPP. This special motion to dismiss shall be resolved within thirty (30) days after it is
heard. If the court dismisses the SLAPP, it shall award damages, attorney's fees and costs
of suit. The dismissal shall be with prejudice.

Section 13. Education. - Respect for and recognition of the inherent and inalienable rights
‘of natural ecosystems and processes shall be integrated into all levels of the educational
system

Section 14. Prohibited Acts. - The following crimes of ecological destruction shall be
prohibited and punished pursuant to this Act
‘a. Damaging or disrupting a natural ecosystem or process, in whole or in part,
thus rendering it dead or incapable of renewal or restoration;
b. Causing, or directly contributing to, the extinction of a plant or animal species;
c. Willfully promoting, encouraging or abetting the destruction or extinction of a
natural ecosystem, process, or species of plant or animal, and
4. Altering, changing or modifying the natural cycle, function or structure of a
natural ecosystem, process, or species of plant or animal, thus interfering
with, impeding, or degrading its continued sustainability and well-being.

Section 15. Penalties. - The crime of ecological destruction shall be punished by reclusion
perpetua as well as a fine in the amount of not less than ten million pesos (P10,000,000.00),
or the cost of the actual damage caused to the natural ecosystem or process concemed,
whichever is higher. The costs required for the restoration, renewal or rehabilitation of the
natural ecosystem, process or species concerned shall likewise be imposed on the offender
upon conviction.

In case the offender is a public official or employee, the penalty of removal from
office, with perpetual disqualification shall likewise be imposed. In case the offender is an
official or employee of any Govemment-owned or controlled corporation (GOCC), the
penalty of dismissal from employment shall be imposed with perpetual disqualification from
serving in any GOCC or public office.

When any of the punishable acts herein defined are knowingly committed on
behalf of or for the benefit of a juridical person, by a natural person acting either
individually or as part of an organ of the juridical person, who has a leading position within,
based on: (a) a power of representation of the juridical person provided the act committed
falls within the scope of such authority; (b) an authority to take decisions on behalf of the
juridical person: Provided, That the act committed falls within the scope of such authority:
or (c) an authority to. exercise control within the juridical person, the juridical person shall be
held liable for the fine imposed by this section. The liability imposed on the juridical person


shall be without prejudice to the criminal liability of the natural person who has committed the

offense.
if the offender is an alien, he shall, after service of the sentence prescribed above, be

deported without further administrative proceedings.

Section 16. Lien upon Personal and Immovable Properties of Violators. = Fines and
penalties imposed pursuant to this Act shall be liens upon personal and immovable
properties of the offender. Such lien shall, in case of insolvency of the respondent offender,
Bhioy preference subsequent to laborer's wages under Article 2241 and 2242 of Republic
fact No. 386, otherwise known as the New Civil Code of the Philippines.

Section 17. implementing Rules & Regulations. - The Secretary of Environment and
Rotural Resources (DENR), in coordination with the Commission on Human Rights (CHR),
Department of Science & Technology (DOST), Department of the interior & Local
Goverment (DILG), Deparment of Education (DEPED), Commission on Higher Education
(CHED), and associations or organizations representing environmenta! advocates shall
(CaS the implementing Rules and Regulations necessary for the effective implementation of
this Act within ninety (90) days from the effectivity thereof

Section 18. Appropriations. - The amount necessary for the initial implementation of the
provisions of this Act shall be charged against the current year's appropriations of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources. Thereafter, the funds necessary for the
purposes of this Act shall be included in the General Appropriations Act.

Section 19. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or
invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions not affected thereby
shall continue to be in full force and effect.

Section 20. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, department or
Memorandum orders and other administrative issuances or parts thereof which are
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby modified, superseded or repealed

accordingly.

Section 21. Etfectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in the
Official Gazette or in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation. .

Approved,