The Laws of Nature and Other Stories

8/11/2019 The Laws of Nature and Other Stories

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The Laws of Nature and Other Stories Atty. Tony Oposa

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CHAPTER 1AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LAWS OF NATURE

Subhead: Natural laws have governed life on Earth since the planets beginnings 4.5 billion years ago. Today, in thePhilippines as well as all over the world, man has come up with new laws to steward the Earth, while ironically pushing hishome planet closer to the brink of total destruction.

PART I:On Space, Time and Man

Subhead: Its been a long way since the beginnings of our galaxy to the time man first walked the Earth

SOMEWHEREin that vast ocean of space called the Universe lies an archipelago of stars, the Milky Way. By galactic standards,the Milky Way is not large, only about 80,000 light years from one end to the other.

About three-fourths of the way to the outer rim of this galaxy is a star that glimmers like a firefly in the dark night. We call it thesun. It is the center of some nine planets that continuously circle around it, and is the source of all heat and energy.

The third heavenly body away from but turning around the sun is the Earth. In relation to the planets in our solar system, oursis not very large; in fact, it is the fifth smallest planet. By galactic standards, the Earth does not even amount to a grain of sandin the sea of space.

But the Earth is quite special. It is not too close to the Sun to be too hot, but neither is it too far away to be too cold and frozenIn other words, it is just right, and as far as we know, it is the only planet that contains life.

Some scientists have tried to guess at the age of the Earth. They say it is about 4.5 billion years old, give or take a fewhundred million. But let us think about that for a little while: four billion and five hundred million years old. Considering thathumans have an average life span of only 60-70 years, our frame of reference makes it difficult to think in terms of a thousand,a million, let alone 4.5 billion years.

We know that at the beginning, the Earth was a mere cloud of gases that condensed and became a solid mass. By the magicof Creation, the swirling gases formed a delicate mixture of airthe first element of life. In time, the gases turned into vaporthat condensed to become waterthe second element of life.

In ancient times, the Greeks called the Earth their oikos, Greek for the word home. They figured out that Earth was indeed acommon home to human beings and to the other forms of life that shared this space.

Oikos is also the root word of eco, the root word of ecology. Ecology is therefore the study of the Earth and of all thingsliving and non-living, that can be found in it. Oikos is also the root of the word eco-nomics, the study of the materiaprovisions of one of Earths inhabitants, man. Economics is therefore only a tiny part of Ecology, and is quite irrelevant to the

lives of the other inhabitants of this common living space.

Life in the last four billion yearsWe generally think that life came to be when the Earth itself came into being. But for most of Earths history, there was no lifeon this planet. Of the Earths 4.5 billion years, life did not start to appear until about 600 million years ago, and then only in theform of single-celled organisms.Add a few more millions of years, and in time these single-celled organisms began to form intothe more complex algae, then fungi, and then other soft-bodied marine animals.

It was during the first period of visible life that clams, mollusks, starfish, and seaweed began to populate the sea, when almostall of the Earth was covered with water. After several millions of years more, a skeletal structure with a more complex nervoussystem began to take shape. This became fish, many of which still live in the sea. This was the period when the fishdominated the planet, the period is known as the era of the fish that lasted from 6 00 million to 200 million years ago.

In time the skeletal structure of the fish became more sophisticated. They crawled out of the water and began to live on landTo adapt and to be able to breathe air, these early creatures developed lungs. This age marked the birth of reptiles

Crocodiles, snakes, lizards and turtles are living examples of our reptilian ancestry. A kind of reptile that lived during thisperiod, now known as the Jurassic period, was called the dinosaur. Their species lasted from about 200 million to about 70million years ago, after which they became extinct.

One interesting explanation for the dinosaurs mass extermination is the asteroid theory. A large asteroid was said to have h ithe surface of the Earth, kicking up great clouds of dust. The dust was so thick and so widespread that the resulting cloudscovered the Earths atmosphere like a blanket, which the suns rays could no longer penetrate. Without the sun, plants starte dto die and the dinosaurs ran out of food.

About 70 million years ago, there appeared a more sophisticated kind of animal, the mammal. While reptiles bore theioffspring in the form of eggs, mammals gave birth to smaller versions of themselves. Also, mammals fed their young with themothers breast milk. It was the time of animals like cats, horses, monkeys, and apes, which were distinctive because of theirmore complex nervous system and level of intelligence. The mammals grew in number and variety. In natural history, the


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period we are living in today is known as the age of mammals.

Over the last two million years, however, there has been a significant addition to life on Earth a form of mammal known asman. Man has two physical characteristics that distinguish him from other animals. First, he stands on two feet and walkserect, the only animal that does so. Unlike his other cousins from the Hominid familyapes, gorillasman does not need hisfront limbs to walk or climb.

Kingdoms of lifeBefore discussing the dominance of man, we would do well to first examine the two classifications of life on Earth.

Inhabitants

of the Plant Kingdom are classified in ascending order of complexity. At the bottom are phytoplankton, algae and mosses.Higher up are the grasses, vines, shrubs, and bushes, and all the way up is the most biologically sophisticated kind of plant,the tree. For this reason, trees are known as the climax species in the Plant Kingdom.

As a living organism, the tree is quite complex. It can absorb water from the soil and then pump it high up to the leaves. It canabsorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and with the energy of sunlight, chemically process it into food and then convert iinto matter. Trees exhale oxygen, the gas needed by animals, and inhale carbon dioxide, the gas discharged by animalsTrees also serve as the home of birds, monkeys, lizards, insects, ferns, orchids and thousands of other plants and animals. Atree is also capable of reproduction through the seeds of its fruits, fruits that animals feed upon.

The other kingdom is the Animal Kingdom. Through time, single-celled organisms evolved into anemones, mollusks and fish.The ladder rose further to include land-dwelling animals such as insects, worms, snakes, lizards, crocodiles, bears, pigscattle, cats, monkeys, baboons, chimpanzees, and apes. At the peak is the Animal Kingdoms version of a climax speciesman.

Perhaps because they are the climax species of their respective kingdoms, there is a special bond between man and trees.

This probably explains why humans feel an indescribable sense of majesty when in the presence of a large tree, and a senseof solace by simply sitting in its shade.

But there is a difference in their ecological functions. Whereas a tree performs essential ecological services, like holding soiand water and providing a habitat for others, man does not. He is not a producer, but is only a userand consumer of bothplants and animals, for food and for fancy.

Like the dinosaurs, man is an omnivorehe eats almost anything and everything. Man is also an omni-userhe uses almoseverything. Whereas dinosaurs had no need for lifeless rocks, in this day and age, humans use rocks and metals for various(and some very silly) purposes.

What is even more alarming is that after use, man throws away what is left as waste. Even at the height of their dominance onEarth, the dinosaurs waste served to nourish the soil.

Biologists and anthropologists have long studied what makes man different from other animals. Let us begin with the

similarities. In terms of physical structure, humans are not very different from apes. In fact, a recent study indicated that ouDNA make-up is almost 99 % identical to that of a chimpanzee.

In the science of ethology, the study of animal behavior, there are three imperatives common to all animal life: food, sex, andpolitics. All animals eat to sustain themselves; all animals breed to perpetuate themselves; and all animals have some form ofsocial organization.

It was once thought that only humans used tools, until we discovered that chimpanzees also did, ingeniously using twigs topoke into holes for termites. Humans once thought that affection and care for others, the trait known as altruism, was uniqueto man. Recent discoveries, however, reveal clear evidence that dolphins and elephants, among other creatures, are just ascaring for their sick and injured, often even at risk to their own life.

Humans also once believed that only they used language. Once again this has been proven wrong. With the use ofsophisticated sonar equipment, we have learned that whales, monkeys and even birds use some form of language tocommunicate with one another.

Scientists have concluded that the differences between humans and other animals lie in the degree and sophistication oparticular traits. Man discovered the use of fire, and that made all the difference. However, it seems that since he began to usefire, he has done so in a manner that has caused himself great harm.

The evolution of manPhysically, there is now little doubt that monkeys, apes and humans have a common ancestor. What this common ancestorlooked like are still the subject of much research, thus the continued search for the so-called missing link.

Somewhere along the path of our evolution, our speciesbranched off from that common ancestor and we acquired physica

characteristics distinct from our cousin apes. Our pelvic bones allowed us to walk on only our hind limbs, which became twolegs and feet. This event marked the point of emergence of our early ancestors, the species Homo erectus, the erect human.


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As the hind limbs became devoted to walking, the front limbs became the hands. Having been freed from the drudgery olocomotion, the human hands began to follow the directives of a naturally curious mind and became the extension of thehuman brain. Holding and manipulating things was made easier by an opposable thumb.

We do not know for sure how the hand became useful. Man probably first learned to use his hands to repel the attack of fellowanimals, resorting to sticks and stones. Still later, he probably learned to use these sticks and stones a little moreimaginativelyto subdue, capture, control and even kill creatures larger than himself.

With the ability to control other animals came a newfound sense of security. Man now had the time to explore his surroundingseven more. From then on, it was a matter of time before he discovered fire, and learned to use it to cook his food, to heat hisbody in cold weather, and as a weapon of defense and offense.

All these happened only in the last 200,000 years. Mans ancestor, Homo erectus, walked the Earth some two million yearsago. Judging from the fossilized remains of his skull, he had an average brain size of only about 1,000 cubic centimeters (cc).

Homo erectussuccessor species, the kind of man that walked the Earth between 500,000 and 200,000 years ago, had anaverage brain weight of 1,200 cc. This was the species called Homo sapiens. In Latin the word sapiensmeans wise. Theterm Homo sapiens,therefore, refers to the member of the Hominid family that is, or at least claims to be, wise.

Over the last 200,000 years, the brain of Homo sapiens appears to have grown even more. Today, the average human brain isalready about 1,450 cc. In fact, man today no longer calls himself merely a Homo sapiens, but a Homo sapiens sapiens. Mannow claims to be doubly wise.

A claim, of course, is not proof of fact. And the physical evidence of what has happened to the Earth as a result of mansbehavior will prove that he is sorely lacking in the wisdom needed to deal with nature.

PART II: THE LAWS OF NATURE

Subhead: If he is to rule the Earth well, man must first respect her natural processes and understand the consequences ofdisturbing them

WE are now beginning to realize that in the general scheme of the universe, we are but one among many, many life forms. Weare the most recent newcomers on this planet that we share with other lives. It is now the turn of the species Homo sapienssapiens to rule the Earth.

But to rule the Earth well, we must first know the rules. We must first discover, and then understand, the principles of theEarths housekeeping. Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed.

Since ecology is the study of our home, the planet Earth, and everything in it, it has also been defined quaintly as the stu dy ofplanetary housekeeping. More commonly, ecology is known as the study of the inter-relationships of all living and non-living

things on Earth.

Nature is defined simply as all things not made by man, and thus made by a being greater than him. The environment refersto natural surroundingsthe plants, the animals, the land, the air, the waters and all the things around us not made by man.An environmentalist, therefore, is one who appreciates or cares for the well being of his or her natural surroundings. In thissense, everyone is an environmentalist. After all, who among us would like to breathe foul air or drink dirty water?

On the other hand, who among us would like to live in a place where the air and the waters are clean, where the soil is rich,where we can bathe in the seas and in the rivers? Who among us would like to live in a place where there is plenty of openspace, where the grass is green and the trees are tall? It is therefore in everyones interest to keep our land, air and wate rsclean and plentiful. When this happens, the way we look at the Earths natural resources begins to change. Such resourcescease to exist simply for human use and pleasure, but are now seen as elements necessary to life itself.

Following the rulesIn the study of ecology, there are four simple rules that we need to bear in mind. In nature, 1) everything is interconnected; 2)

everything has to go somewhere; 3) nothing is for free, and 4) nature has the last say. These are the basic rules that governthe activity of all life on Earth.

We often hear of the balance of nature. Just what is this balance? Imagine for a moment that our little planet is a boat, andthat all the animals and plants in the world its passengers. If the animals and plants are interacting well and do not exceed thevessels carrying capacity, the boat will be in a state of balance. However, if it is overloaded, it is bound to sink atthe slighteshint of wind and waves.

Let us look at one of the most basic elements of lifewaterand all the lives that it supports. The movement of water is like acycleit moves from the water below to the air above and back again. Like a chain, every link in the process is important. Ifone link is weak, the whole chain is broken.

The hydrological cycle (cycle of water) has several components that perform diverse functions in a state of normal balance.


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Water is the basic element of life, without which all living things wilt and die. The human body is 70% water, and so is theEarth itself. The cycle is like a chain, its parts so closely interconnected with one another that a break in one of the parts mayresult in the collapse of the whole.

Clouds are actually water in gaseous form. They are generally found two to 12 kilometers up into the troposphere, the lowestpart of the atmosphere. Many things happen in these clouds as a result of the interaction of water, light and air. Within thoseclouds, lightning, thunder, and air turbulence are so common that even the mightiest airplanes avoid them.

Rain is what falls when the clouds have become heavy with vapor and the vapor becomes water. This is generally known asprecipitation. Rainfall is heavier and more constant in the mountains and in places where there are forests, because forestscontain vast amounts of water in the leaves of the trees and other forms of vegetation. When the clouds pass through theforests, this water vapor is added to the volume of water already in the clouds. Also, forests are usually located at higherelevations, high enough to touch the low-lying clouds that contain condensed water vapor. In the grand scheme of nature, themain source of fresh water on Earth is rainfall.

The leaves of trees and the leaves of grass all serve to cushion the impact of rainfall. Without these leaves, the impact of watefalling from clouds high above the Earth would be quite heavy, loosening the soil that and resulting in erosion.

The process by which the water in the leaves evaporates into the atmosphere is called evapo-transpiration. It is thecombination of evaporation and transpiration, the transfer of water vapor from a solid substance into gaseous form.

Trees are the climax of plant life,where this kingdom reaches its apex in functional complexity and visual majesty. Plant life isnot only a cushion against rain, but it is food for animal life. Plant life is at the bottom of the food chain, consumed bypractically all the animals except for the carnivores.

Animal life in the Philippines is amazingly diverse and abundant. Animals are also part of the food chain, generally asconsumers. The only material that animals supply in this food chain is the carbon dioxide they exhale and the organic mattereturned to the Earth when the animals eliminate wastes or die. When this happens, the carbon matter contained in theanimals body returns to the Earth and becomes soil.

Bank accounts in the groundThe soil of the Earth acts as a sponge that absorbs the rainwater that falls to the ground. This water then seeps into theground and trickles down deeper into underground layers, where it accumulates in an underground water-well called theaquifer.

The ability of the Earth to act as a sponge and absorb water is known as porosity ,i.e., it has pores like the pores of our skin. Ithe vegetation on the surface of the soil is removed, its capacity to absorb water through the trickle-down function of thebranches and the root systems is significantly reduced. On the other hand, if the surface is paved over with concrete, theporosity of the Earth is lost and gone forever.

An aquiferacts as an underground storage tank for this most precious liquid of life. If it were likened to a bank account, anaquifer is a very long-term time deposit, built up over millions of years. This well is now being used up faster than it can berecharged. Worse, the very mechanism by which it may be recharged is also being seriously threatened.

One of the tools of modern civilization is the water pipe and the water suction pump. Both enable humans to withdraw waterfrom the underground storage deposits. With the invention of electricity and the diesel motor, the rate at which water is beingwithdrawn from this deposit has rapidly increased. This is all very nice and convenient for human civilization, but what ofnature?

Until very recently, we thought that this underground water source was limitless, and that it simply restored itself. However, thescience of hydrology tells us that we are, in fact, mining water. This bank account is being drawn against insufficient funds.

Waterways and water holes appear when there is an excess of water in this earth-sponge, breaking out in the form of springs.This is especially evident in mountainous areas with a larger land mass, and therefore, a larger capacity to hold water. Springwaters first drip and flow to lower ground by gravity. When the waters of many springs converge into a common area, they

gather volume and momentum. They then flow down through a common waterway. These streams and small rivers, orrivulets as they are sometimes called, feed into major waterways known as tributaries that, in turn, flow into rivers. They arecalled such because they literally pay a tribute of water to the roaring rivers of the world.

In some parts of the Earths surface there are deep curvatures and enclosed depressions that are constantly fed with waterfrom springs, streams and rivers. Bodies of water thus formed are called ponds and lakes.

Bodies of water contain oxygen that enables life to survive and thrive. In water, liquid oxygen is also called dissolved oxygen.Wherever there is a body of water, life thrives, from the lowest forms of plant life to the different kinds of freshwater fish.

The Philippines is home to one of the largest freshwater bodies in Southeast Asia. It is called Laguna de Bay, a 90,000hectare lake right next to Metro Manila. The lake, however, has the special character of having both fresh water and salt water.It is the drainage and storage area of fresh water from the surrounding watersheds. These waters ultimately drain and find


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their way into Manila Bay through the 23-km waterway called the Pasig River. During high tide saltwater enters the Pasig Riverand flows back into Laguna de Bay. This makes its waters ecologically richer with a combination of both freshwater andsaltwater aquatic life. This back-flow of seawater makes Laguna de Bay a rarity among freshwater ecosystems.

The sea is where the flow of water from the mountains ultimately ends. Almost all rivers end up in the sea, the point of rest, thefinal destination of a long and winding journey.

Water does not just rest in the sea, however. Waves and tides move it around. It is also converted by heat to water vapor thatrises to the atmosphere and becomes clouds. There in the clouds, it condenses into water and falls as rain.

Human activity falls somewhere in the middle of the water cycle. We are neither a producer of water nor a facilitator of the flowof water. Like other animals, we cannot live without water. In fact, almost 3/4 of our body is a form of red water that containsdissolved oxygen. We consume water directly into our bodies by drinking, or indirectly through the vegetables and fruits thatwe eat, all of which are also mostly water.

For other animals in their natural state, the water they consume is discharged directly back into the soil through one end of thebodys food canals. Thus, animal wastewater is returned to the Earth, serving as food that nourishes plant life. When animalsdie, their material remains are acted upon and digested by microbes, bacteria, and the ever-efficient worms. Thus, the circle olife and the cycle of water go on and on, each part dependent on the other, each nourishing the life of the other. Nothing iswasted.

Disturbing the water cycleThis chain of life is only as strong as its links. Break one link and the flow is disrupted. What will happen if we cut down outrees en masse and burn down the remaining vegetation?

1. ErosionThe leaves of trees can no longer cushion the impact of the water falling from above. With the waters hitting thesoil directly in a continuing bombardment of raindrops, the soil loosens up and goes rushing down the waterways.

2. No aquifer rechargeWithout the leaves and branches that allow the rain to trickle down and be slowly absorbed by theroots of the plants, the water simply runs off through the waterways. Thus, the ability of water to replenish the aquifer is almostcompletely gone.

3. Dried-up streams and waterwaysBecause there is hardly any excess water in the soil, less water comes out of thesprings. Thus, water flow becomes alternately torrential during heavy rains, or a mere trickle during dry days.

4. Sedimentation of waterwaysThe soil eroded by the rains becomes mud, covers the habitat of the fish, shrimps, and crabs,and smothers the water containing dissolved oxygen. Aquatic life is the first to go. The process by which the riverbed or theseabed is covered with mud from the erosion of soil is called sedimentation or siltation.

5. FloodingSince the flow of water is now unregulated, excess water overflows from the waterways. This is an otherwise

normal occurrence in nature, and in fact keeps the floodplains enriched with the nutrients of silt from the soils of the uplands.However, because human settlements have been wrongly located in flood-prone areas, the overflow of water and mud nowcauses destruction instead of nourishment.

6. Siltation of nearshore areasThe nearshore areas are those that are richest in marine biodiversity. There live theunderwater forests, the coral reefs and sea grasses that are abundantly fed with life-giving sunlight. Because the mud carriedby the rushing waters usually ends up in the sea, it eventually covers the coral reefs and sea grasses, smothering theirbreathing pores and depriving them of sunlight. The coral reefs die. Siltation and pollution of nearshore areas and the corareefs are said to be the cause of the loss of half of all marine life in the coastal zones.

As a consequence, fishermen fishing conveniently in nearby areas now have to travel greater distances, spend more time andeffort, more fuel and man-hours just to catch even less fish than they used to. In the market this translates into an increase inthe price of fish.

7. A catastrophe for humansHumans come in as users and consumers, and often, as wastrels the cause as well as the

victims of their own recklessness. Because they choose to locate themselves in the flood plains and estuaries (such as muchof the City of Manila), because they choose to constrict the flow of water with structures built on the very waterwaysthemselves, flooding occurs. Because they choose to throw garbage and other solid wastes into streams and rivers, andbecause they choose to denude the mountains and watersheds around the waterways, they ultimately become the victims onatures justice.

Thus, notwithstanding all the hydrologic innovations of man and his mechanisms to control nature, water will always seek itsown level.

PART III: A Snapshot of the Philippine Islands

Sub: The Philippines is home to an abundance of extraordinary plant and animal speciesbut they are disappearing fastbecause of pollution and habitat destruction


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SOMEWHERE in the western Pacific Ocean, slightly above the equator, is a cluster of islands that looks like a string of pearlsIt is known as the Philippine Islands, an archipelago of some 7,107 islands. Measured by the standards of geological time, it isa relatively young landmass, only about 30-50 million years old, long past the age of dinosaurs.

Because the islands are of volcanic origin, this archipelago has an interesting and complex geological history and compositionThe Philippine Islands lie in the Pacific rim of fire, a volcanic and earthquake belt that rings the Pacific Ocean.

With only 300,000 sq m of land, the Philippines is quite a small territory.About 1,000 of the islands are inhabited by some 80

million people. The islands range in size from mere outcroppings of rocks and sand bars, to mid-sized island-provinces, theisland of Luzon being the largest at 10.5 million hectares.

What is unusual and extraordinary about the Philippines is not so much its land and the biological diversity contained within.What is more extraordinary is its 220 million hectares of territorial seas.

The Philippine Islands are bounded on each side by several bodies of water: the Pacific Ocean to the east, China Sea to thenorth and the west, and the Celebes Sea to the south. They are also located at the apex of that patch of the Earth thacontains the most biologically rich marine life in the worldthe Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Triangle. This triangle, which also coversMalaysia and Indonesia, contains up to 500 coral species, six of the seven species of sea turtles in the world, and 2,500 kindsof fish, almost all of which are found in the Philippines.

The climate of the Philippines is generally warm and humid. The average temperature ranges from 29 to 34 degrees CelsiusWhile the climate and the seasons vary in some parts, much of the country has two discernible seasons, a rainy season fromJune to November and a dry season from December to May. Those wet months more or less coincide with the monsoon windsand rains. From December to mid-May blow the northeasterly winds known as the amihan, while June to November is the time

of the southwesterly winds known as the habagat.

Living in a tropical island has its obvious benefits. With a coastline of 32,000 km, the Filipinos are extremely close to thesource of the seas bounty. No doubt the sunlight and the proximity to water conspire to give the Filipino a smiling and frie ndlycharacter.

Most of the towns and cities in the Philippines are located along the shore, and have immediate access to the sea.This is a gif

not often enjoyed by many. Most people in land-locked countries never get to see the sea in their lifetime.

However, proximity to the sea also brings with it a great responsibility. Since much of the land lies on a slope, the soil is highlyvulnerable to erosion. Being located in the volcanic rim of fire, the crusts of the Earth under Filipinos feet the so-calledtectonic platesmove around every day in varying degrees of intensity. We do not usually feel these tremors. Every now andthen, however, the earthquakes are a lot stronger, resulting in some damage to property. They also remind us, every now andthen, to listen to nature.

Our volcanoes are a sight to behold, 22 of them active and over 100 designated as dormant.

As we discovered in the four daysof June 1991, there is no such thing as a dormant volcano. Mt. Pinatubo in Pampanga, a volcano seemingly asleep for abou600 years, erupted violently. The resulting ashfall covered about 80,000 hectares of standing crops, 326,000 hectares offorests and 16,000 hectares of fishponds, and its dust was carried by high winds halfway around the world. Metro Manila itself60 miles away, was blanketed in the ashfall for five days.

Other volcanoes are just as interesting. Mt. Mayon, one of the countrys most active volcanoes, is in a continuous state ofactivity. Another, the Taal Volcano, is the smallest active volcano in the world, and is geologically unique a volcano within avolcano, a lake within a lake, and an island within an island.

Being in the path of monsoon winds that blow across our islands from two large bodies of water, the Pacific Ocean and ChinaSea, the Philippines has about 35 typhoons every year, some with peak winds of more than a hundred kilometers per hour.

A wealth of lifeIn the 16th century, about the time the Spaniards landed on our shores, the Philippines was covered with about 27.5 million

hectares of old-growth tropical rainforests. Once upon a time our forests were world-famous for the Philippine mahogany, aprized wood the world over. The Philippine forest was also the habitat of one of the largest flying raptors in the world, thePhilippine eagle.

It grows to almost one meter in height and has a wingspan of up to 200 centimeters. With a habitat of 5,000

hectares of lowland tropical rain forests, this bird is not only extraordinary in size but also quite unique in its mating habitsThroughout its lifetime, this eagle is strictly monogamous and it breeds only once a year, and only while in flight. Its dieconsists of snakes, squirrels, lemurs, and every now and then, a small monkey. That is why it was once known as themonkey-eating eagle.

Other interesting animals found in the Philippines, and only in the Philippines, give further evidence of our natural treasuresEndemic to a couple of islands in central and southern Philippines is the Philippine Tarsier ( Tarsius syrichta), the smallesprimate in the world, often mistakenly called the tarsius monkey.

There is the tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis), a kind of wild

buffalo half the size of the common carabao and found only on the island province of Mindoro. Of the three known types ofwild boar in the world, the Philippine forest is home to two. Our forests are the habitat of 26 kinds of fruit bats, among them the


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largest flying mammal in the world, the golden-crowned flying fox (Acerdon jubatus).

Of the 556 species of birds found here, 183 are endemic. Among these is a lovely songbird found in the bamboo groves of theisland province of Cebu, the siloy or Black Shama (Copsychus cebuensis). Of the 77 kinds of migratory birds in Asia thawinter in the south, 48 of them drop by a wetland in central Philippines, Olango Island in Cebu, en route to the warmerclimates of Indonesia and Australia.

More than half of the 193 species of reptiles found and already classified in the Philippines are endemic, and new species noyet in the record books are being discovered every year.

It is estimated that we have between 10,000 and 12,000 species of plant life, half of them endemic to the country. Of theidentified 157 kinds of palms, 109 are endemic; And the list goes on and on and on. The Philippines has been scientificallydocumented as being one of the 17 biologically richest countries in the world.

While quite rich in our uplands, the real wealth of the Philippines lies in its waters, both marine and inland. In a scientific surveyconducted worldwide of marine ecosystems in the 1990s, it was established that, in terms of biodiversity and degree ofendemism, the seas of the Philippines hold the richest store of fish, corals, and other marine life in the whole world.

Anyone who has even snorkeled in any of the countrys marine sanctuaries knows only too well the full kaleidoscope of colorsthat one finds underwater. Of the 500-700 known corals in the world, the Philippines is home to 488. Half of these corals arefound nowhere else in the world. The Tubbataha Marine Park alone, a 33,200-hectare marine sanctuary in the middle of theSulu Sea, contains about 350 species, the total number of coral species in the country.

Our seas contain about 2,500 species of marine fish, 240 of which are endemic. Of the seven known kinds of marine turtles inthe world, six of them swim the Philippine seas. We have 14 species of seagrass, the second highest number and variety in

the world.

There are more than 41 species of mangroves identified in the Philippines and about 21 species of marinemammalsdolphin, whales, and sea cows.

One of our famous marine inhabitants is the whale shark. Fearsome in name and enormous in size, extending up to 15meters in length, it is actually a gentle giant. For one, it hardly has any teeth. In fact, it eats only plankton and juvenileshrimps.

The Philippines is also the habitat of a great number and variety of the top predators of the seas, the sharks. In a studyconducted and published in the year 2001, marine scientists discovered two new species of sharks not yet in the record booksThe study team also believed that the Philippine seas may contain as many as 10 previously unknown species.

Our inland waters, made up of 44 river systems and lakes, are not to be outdone. The Taal Lake is home to the tawilis, thesmallest freshwater sardine in the world. Southeast of the main island of Luzon, a lake in the Bicol region is home to thesmallest commercial freshwater fish in the world, the sinarapan. Up north, the Cagayan River is home to a very rare kind offreshwater fish known as the ludong, said to be so tasty and so rare that it fetches up to P6,000 per kilo, compared to P100 to

P200 per kilo for ordinary fish.

We can liken the Earth and its ecological systems to the human body and its anatomical organs. Like any living organismboth respond to care and to abuse. When we misuse or abuse our body, it will malfunction. Like the body, the Earth is also aliving organism. It contains the proper mixture of air, water, and land needed to sustain life. When its parts are subjected toabuse, the Eartheither in part or as a wholebegins to malfunction. When we dirty the waters, the first to die are theplankton, which are the very bases of the aquatic food chain. Without the food to sustain them, the larger aquatic life forms wilperish, as well.

The bad news: DestructionGlobal environmental abuse is reflected in a mirror image found in the Philippines. First, let us look at our forests, which aresupposed to cover at least 50% of our land area, or about 15 million hectares. In the 1940s, the Philippines had a forest coveof about 16 million hectares of old-growth tropical rain forest. In late 20th century, a mere 50 years thereafter, satellitephotographs revealed that only about 800,000 hectares of these old-growth forests remain. A consequence of this was theloss of our soil, at the rate of hundreds of millions of tons per year.

Coral reefs, the underwater forests of the Earth, have suffered the same fate. As recent as the first half of the 20th centurythe Philippines still had as many as three million hectares of coral reefs. In the 1990s, an extensive underwater marine studyrevealed that only about 100,000-150,000 hectares of these coral reefs remained in excellent condition, a mere 4% of theoriginal area. The rest, almost 2.9 million hectares, are in varying stages of degradation and destruction.

After the destruction of almost all the coral reefs, the fish catch has been reduced by as much as 90-100 per cent. In manyfishing towns and villages in the Philippines, the fishing industry is facing total collapse. In the early 1970s, Tasyo, fisherman inthe Visayan Sea, would go out to sea at 5 am with his fishing net and catch as much as 10-15 kilos of fish by 9 am. Thesedays, 30 years later, he leaves at 4 am and comes home by noon. He considers himself lucky if he catches one kilo of fish,hardly enough to feed his family.

The same degree of abuse is happening to our inland waters. Of the 423 rivers in the Philippines, half are polluted beyond


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healthy, and legal, water quality standards. Representatives of this sorry state are the river systems of Metro Manila. For alintents and purposes, they are all biologically dead.

Nevertheless, Metro Manila may consider itself lucky because it still has a river, even if its residents use it only as a toilet bowl.In the case of the countrys second largest city, Cebu, the watersheds have become so degraded that the stream flow hasbeen reduced to a mere trickle. This condition adversely affects the hydrologic cycle as well as the supply of fresh water to theaquifers. Without the pressure of water from the uplands, the aquifer becomes empty. Seawater pressure penetrates into thespaces left by the fresh water in the process known as saltwater intrusion or ground water salinization. In the case of MetroCebu, the seawater infiltration has reached up to four kilometers inland.

Pollution and reduced stream flow are not the only problems. Another challenging issue is the encroachment of informaoccupants into the riverbanks, and in many cases, onto the very riverbed itself. People without homes informal settlers osquatterssee the riverbanks as an open space that belongs to no one; hence they take the liberty of building informastructures on them. Many of the local government officials, whose responsibility is to keep these riverbanks and seashoresopen, tend to look the other way. However, by allowing these people to live in flood-prone zones, lives are being endangered.

The air in our main cities tells the same story. The air of Metro Manila carries the dubious and notorious distinction of beingone of the most polluted in the world, among the ranks of Mexico City and Shanghai. As a point of scientific fact, the air oMetro Manila is medically unfit for human respiration. While the air quality standard of particulate matter for healthy andbreathable air is 90 mg/cubic meter, the air of Metro Manila contains 174.4 mg/cubic meter, on the average. On heavilypolluted days, this measure almost triples the set standard.

In time, all this damage inflicted on the Earths natural systems will manifest itsel f in its effect on other living beings. Many othe animals are beginning to reduce in number, and at an alarming rate. Our flagship species the mighty Philippine Eaglethe unique tamaraw, the tarsier, the numerous and colorful corals and fishhave all become nearly depleted, many to the

point of near extinction.

At the turn of the 20th century, there were about 10,000 Philippine eagles in the countrys lowland forests. Barely a hundredyears later, in the 1990s, it is estimated that there are only about 100 to 200 breeding pairs left in the wild and 30 individuals incaptivity.

In the 1900s, there were about 10,000 tamaraw in the wild. Today, there are only 175 left.

In a study done on the biodiversity hotspots in the world, the Philippines holds the dubious distinction of being the hottest othe hotspots.

Why must abundance breed waste?

PART IV: The Laws of Man

Subhead: Man has formulated rules to ensure peace and protect himself and society from crime. But who suffers most whenthe laws protecting the environment are broken?

THROUGHOUT most of the history of the world, humans were not around. Our kind came into the picture only at the lastminute of the last hour of the last 4.5 billion years. But then, brief as our stay has been, we have made quite an impact on thenatural world. We may ponder the actions of the creature that calls himself wise.

But what does this have to do with the law?

The law is supposed to be wise, guiding human conduct in a direction that is good, proper and right. As a thinking animal,humans relate to one another by means of symbols. At the start, man must have communicated through sign language andvocal grunts. Later, these grunts and sounds developed into a set of understandable tones, and became the medium of orallanguage.

After this signal achievement, it was a short step to expressing in written form what he saw, heard or thought of. Judging fr omthe oldest sketches found on the walls of the Altamira Caves in Spain, it appears that man did not learn to express himself ingraphic form until about 15,000 years ago.

Being social animals, humans sought each others company. At first it was members of their immediate family. As the familiesinterbred and grew in number, they became tribes, and as the tribes grew, they became a group of tribes. In order to maintainpeace and order among its members, the tribe had to have rules that members had to follow. The most basic of these rulesare found in a mythical tablet of stone called The 10 Commandments of the Judeo-Christian tradition. It is made up of only 10laws, written in so simple a manner, yet comprehensive in scope.

Social organization is one of the compelling traits of animal behavior. This instinct is called the imperative of politics, referringto the science and art of behavioral regulation for social order, sometimes also known as governance. Ants practice it quiteefficiently. Numerous as they are, ant trails do not suffer from traffic jams.

On the level of humans, however, governance is a little more complex. For one, since humans may be more simple-minded,they have to write down their rules in order to remember them. Moreover, since they seem unable to manage their own affairs


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they get others to do so, write down the rules for all to follow, and call it government.

These written rules are also known as the Law. They are meant to liberate man from the insecurity of physical harm so hecan then attend to his material needs, and thereafter, pursue the higher aspirations and ideals of a human being.

To effectively maintain order, the rules must carry a degree of force, enough to compel conformity and punish anyone whodeviates from the desired mode of conduct. We entrust the use of this force to certain people whom we call leaders.Theoretically chosen for their strength and wisdom, leaders are clothed with the formal garb of power, and are calledgovernment officials.

Law can be understood better if we first divide it into a couple of simple categories. Let us start with a basic classification. Thekilling of another human being is, by itself, generally bad. It is an example of a mala in se.

On the other hand, the carrying of a knife in an airplane is, by itself, not bad. It becomes bad only because it is prohibited bythe rules of aviation. Urinating is not bad, but urinating in public offends the rules of sanitation and decency. Because of thesurrounding circumstances, the act becomes bad and is prohibited. These are examples of mala prohibita.

Understanding the lawThe public good being promoted by the laws against murder and homicide is obviousthe maintenance of peace and ordefor the common physical security. In the case of theft and robbery, the social good that the law seeks to promote is the respecfor private property. In the case of crimes of fraud, the social good being promoted are the public interests of trust andconfidence, without which no human relations would be possible.

The social good behind every law, the behavior that it seeks to encourage, is also known as the policy behind the law. Thedescription in Latin is even more accurate: It is called the ratio legis, the reason for the law. Once the reason behind the lawis agreed upon, it is translated and articulated into words in legal form and language. It is said that Law is nothing more thanpolicy distilled in legal form and language.

The better known kinds of law are Civil Law and Criminal Law. Civil Law is the set of laws that deal with the relationships ocivilized people between and among each other. It is also called the basic rules of civility. These rules apply to therelationships between members of the same family as well as between strangers. They also govern property and commerciatransactions.

Criminal Law refers to the set of laws that regulates the acts which civilized human society considers to be so disruptive of thedesired peace and order that he commission of the act is punished. Examples are the laws on murder, rape, theft, robberyarson, embezzlement, etc.

Building on our understanding of this classification, we can now go on and look at the more subtle kinds of law: SubstantiveLaw and Procedural Law.

Substantive Law relates to the particular essence, policy and social good that the law seeks to encourage or discourage. Thepeace and order being promoted by prohibiting the unjustified killing of another human is the substance of the law. In the caseof good social housekeeping, for example, cleanliness is the substance behind the rules against the indiscriminate throwing ofwaste. It is the ratio legis,the policy behind the law, and the conduct that the law seeks to promote and sell.

Procedural Law refers to the manner or procedure of implementing the law. For example, when a person is arrested, there is adefinite procedure to follow by which he is detained, arraigned, tried and heard. Only after he has had his day in court can hebe punished. These are the basic rules of fair play, sometimes also called the due process of law.

Let us take the example of an Environmental Law violation. Even if one were to only see another person dump toxic waste

into the river, the law requires him to report the incident to the authorities. In turn, the authorities must verify the report andgather the evidence. Thereafter, the person accused of illegal dumping must be called to a face-to-face meeting, the evidenceagainst him presented, and his side of the story heard. Only after both sides of the story have been received with theirrespective pieces of evidence weighed against each other can a decision be rendered.

The mission of Environmental LawIf ecology is the study of planetary housekeeping, Environmental Law is no more than the rules of good planetaryhousekeeping.

Whenever we use the word we, that refers to us, the community of human beings. However, the implications of the wordswe, us and our do not end there. First, it assumes that the world exists in relation to us, and that we are therefore thecenter of everything. Second, it is assumed that the things around usthe water, air, land, plants and animalsare there tobe used by us. Or so we think.


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These assumptions are clearly wrong. In the language of reasoning and logic, this is called a fallacy, a false belief. Humanscannot be the center of the universe, as all the other life forms on this planet existing today were here long before us. It wasnever intended that man be merely a parasite of Nature, taking all and giving nothing.

An understanding of the terms environment and natural resources is necessary to enable us to better appreciate thedistinction between the Law on Natural Resources on the one hand, and Environmental Law on the other. The formergenerally relates to the substantive and procedural rules governing the use and exploitation of Earths natural resources.These resources are seen as things and viewed merely as a source with economic value. As such, these resources are to beconverted and transformed as soon as possible into material gains. The laws on possession and ownership of land, waterrights and fishing privileges, mining claims and logging concessions are examples of the law on natural resources.

On the other hand, the exploitation of the natural resources for economic gain is not the primary concern of EnvironmentalLaw. Environmental Law looks at the natural surroundings not simply as things but as part of the entirety of the natural worldIt is grounded in the belief that the Earth and all its living and non-living parts, man included, are closely intertwined, and thatman is the guardian of natural creations, a trustee of the Great Trustor. As a responsible steward, he must exercise due careas a good father of the family of life.

The principal concerns of Environmental Law, therefore, are to minimize the impact of human activity on the natural systems ofthe Earth, and to conserve these resources in order to make them available for use by others up to a horizon or reasonableperpetuity.

The difference is that, while natural resources law relates to the manner by which these resources are to be exploitedEnvironmental Law relates to the manner by which natural resources are to be conserved. Where the natural resources mustbe used at all, Environmental Law tries to see to it that they are used wisely and well, in accordance with the self-proclaimed

wisdom of humankind.

Environmental Law partakes of both Civil Law and Criminal Law. The adverse impact of a persons activities on the naturalenvironment gives rise to both civil and criminal liability. For example, if a person dumps toxic waste into the groundwater andpeople in the nearby community get sick, the person responsible will be held liable for the resulting damages. The civildamage may be in the form of medical costs, loss of earnings, and other incidental monetary expenses. At the same time, it isa criminal act. The criminal liability arising from the act of dumping toxic wastes is punishable with a fine and imprisonment.

However, as often happens, offenses against the environment are victimless crimes. Also, the damage caused is oftenirreparable or irreversible. If remedy is at all possible, it is too costly. Finally, the damage is inflicted on the natural elementsthat make life possible, thus threatening life itself. In this sense, Environmental Law is quite different from Civil Law andCriminal Law.

Victimless crimesIs there such as a thing as a victimless crime? An offense is considered victimless when it does not directly affect a human

victim. Examples in everyday life are the misdemeanors of jaywalking, over-speeding, or parking in a no-parking zone. Amongthe more serious ones are the crimes of gambling, pornography and prostitution. Strictly speaking, these acts do not result inan aggrieved party. These are distinguished from the crimes of murder, robbery, rape, or embezzlement where there is aprivate offended party and an aggrieved human being.

At a very simple level, when one litters on the road, no one is directly affected. When a person dumps solid and liquid wastesinto the river, no human being is also immediately aggrieved. Sure, some fish and other aquatic animals may die, but sincethese animals do not have any legal personality to sue in a court of law, they cannot claim damages. In fact, even when aperson dumps toxic wastes into the soil, since it will take some time before it seeps into the aquifers and poison the waterwells, the criminal act remains unnoticed. The reckless cutting of trees resulting in the denudation of the forests is alsoconsidered a victimless crime, because no one is directly and immediately affected by the resulting erosion.

There lies another characteristic of Environmental Law. Unlike the sting of a bee or the heat felt from the bite of a red chipepper, the damage to the environment is not immediate. In fact, it may not be felt until after a long time had passed. Thesecharacteristics of being victimless and lacking immediate impact are what make Environmental Law a little more difficult to

monitor than other legal violations. Without a private person being directly offended, no one is interested in vindicating thewrong. In theory, it is the State that is the offended party.

In theory, the government is the representative of the State. The government is represented by officials who, in turn, have theresponsibility to take the action when an environmental wrong has been committed.

But alas, theory is far from fact. With the cutting of forests, the soil that took thousands of years to form begins to erode. Thesoil that now erodes in torrents will never again go back to the mountain and become soil. Trees that took centuries to growand were cut in a matter of seconds by a chainsaw, will never again be the same majestic trees. The kinds of animals that arebecoming extinctabout five to 10 of them per hourwill henceforth be seen only in photographs. In the same vein, when atropical forest is converted into a farmland or, worse, into a commercial area or a residential subdivision, the forest and all thebeings that lived in it are gone forever.


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The irreparability of environmental damage emphasizes only too well the need for careful planning. If resources must beirreversibly used for human benefit, their use must be justified and properly planned. In addition, the material used, especiallyif it is an irreplaceable natural resource such as a mineral deposit, must be used over and over so that there will be no need totake out new minerals.

Let us say that a person dumps toxic waste into the soil, and this infiltrates the aquifer. What will it cost to restore the soil andthe aquifer to a healthy state? The clean-up process will first mean identifying the ground contaminated, and determining theextent of the contamination. Thereafter, it will mean having to excavate the contaminated soil, pump out all the contaminatedwater, and both the soil and the water, the former by washing and the latter by chemical treatment, if possible. When treatedthe water must be restored to the ground by pumping. If treatment is not possible, the soiled water will simply have to bethrown away as waste water.

Violations of the laws of nature that result in such damage adversely affect not only the property, finances or health oindividuals. The impact is on the quality, viability and existence of the very elements of all life. As soon as we realize thesesimple truths, we begin to see that dirtying the air and the waters and allowing the loss of soil is not a wise thing to do at all.

CHAPTER IILEGAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL BASIS

Subhead: Any act of harm against the Earth is not just a violation of the laws of proper human behavior; it also goes againstmans most fundamental and spiritual nature

THE supreme legal document in the Philippines, as in many other countries, is called the Constitution. It is the document thaembodies the agreement of the people to be bound by a set of common ideals and aspirations. It also contains a basicstatement on the form of government as well as the principles of governance that Philippine society has agreed upon. The

basic provisions on the right to life, the right to due process and the right to health are some of the constitutional provisionsthat form the foundation of the right to protect the environment.

The Philippines has had four Constitutions: the Malolos Constitution of 1898, the 1935 Constitution, the 1973 Constitution, andthe 1987 Constitution. What is extraordinary about the 1987 Constitution is that it contains a provision on the right to abalanced ecology: The State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a healthful and balanced ecology in accordwith the rhythm and harmony of nature.

This provision has a two-fold significance. On the one hand, it recognizes the existence of a citizens right to a balanced andhealthful ecology, an environmental right. On the other hand, it creates a duty on the part o f the State to protect that right.

This constitutional provision has found expression in a case where more than 40 Filipino children, acting on their own behalfand on behalf of generations unborn, filed a class suit against the Philippine Government to stop the continued deforestation oftheir country. In the proceedings before the Supreme Court, the children invoked this constitutional right to a balanced ecologyto justify their legal personality to sue in a court of law.

Arguing for the children, the Supreme Court said that this right belongs to a different category of rights altogether...for itconcerns nothing less than self-preservation and self-perpetuation ...the advancement of which may be said to predate allgovernments and (all) constitutions.

We have already discussed Civil Law as the basic rules of human behavior in a civilized society. It also refers to rules on willfuor negligent acts that result in damage to others, as well as the standards of conduct that must be observed by all persons intheir relationship with others. The basic principles in Civil Law are that one is responsible for ones own actions; and the rightof a person to act or to use his property must not cause damage to another.

One of the characteristics that supposedly sets humankind apart from the so-called lower life forms is that human nature isingrained with a natural sense of good and bad. Some call this the conscience, some call it the heart. Whatever it is calledthere is a general agreement that this common sense of right and wrong is something that every human being should haveThis is the very reason why laws were originally not expressed in writing the rules of common conduct were so obvious andclear to the common man that they did not have to be written. This is called the common law, or the law of common sense.

The Trust DoctrineOne of the basic principles in common law is based on a very simple idea: trust. This principle of human relations is sofundamental that without it all social intercourse would screech to a halt. Transformed into legal phraseology, it is called theTrust Doctrine.

Let us apply the principle of trust to an example where the possession of a piece of property is involved. The trust relationshipwould involve the thing being entrusted, the thing held in trust.

The person giving the trust is called the trustor, the person

being entrusted is the trustee, and the person who stands to benefit from the trust is the beneficiary.

Juan and Pedro are good friends. Juan is leaving for abroad for a two-year stint as an overseas contract worker. Juan leavesPedro with a parcel of land whose fruits are to be sold and used to pay for the tuition fees of Juans children while he is a way.


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In this relationship, the parcel of land is the corpus(body) of the trust. Juan is the trustor, the person who extended the trust,and Pedro is the trustee. Who is the beneficiary? The children of Juan.

Like the notes in a musical score, let us try to transpose the concepts and apply them to the natural world. By whatever namewe call it, there appears to be a being greater than man. Call him God, Allah, Nature there is general agreement that thereexists a Cause of Causes, a Prime Mover, or the Great Trustor.

What is the thing that is subject of the trust? It is the Earth, and includes all the animals, plants, soil, seas, sun and the skyWho is the Trustee? The short and snappy answer is man. Man has identified himself as such, and he claims to be the wisesanimal. Under the rules of evidence, however, these answers are called self-serving.

We now go to the question: Who is the beneficiary? Since man is self-centered, we like to think of our species as thebeneficiary. We like to think that so long as our children and their children will need the elements of life, there must continue tobe a supply of these elements.

So, following our anthropocentric tendency, our answer is that the beneficiaries are our children, and their children, and futuregenerations of human beings. If this is so, it is incumbent upon us, and upon our generation, to look after the natural life-support systems of the Earth so that others who will follow will have something to use when their time comes. Theresponsibility of one generation to the following generations is called intergenerational responsibility.

Self-centeredness, however, does not befit the role of the human being as the trustee of the Earth. If wisdom is the solecriterion of our assumption of responsibility, it follows that the less wise should be under our care. As a trustee, thereforehuman beings have the responsibility to take care not only of its own kind, but also of the Earth as a whole.

Since plants and animals are less intelligent than human beings, it is a human duty to take care of them. With the gift o

intelligence comes the responsibility to use it well and wisely. While we may use some of the plants and animals for oursustenance, it is not right to kill off others simply because they are of lesser intelligence, and are therefore helpless. This iscalled the principle of expanded guardianship.

In the system of human social organization, a group of people sharing a common culture and living within an identified territoryis called the State. In reality, the State is a fiction of law. It represents an intangible being that is the product of a group ofpeople who entered into a social contract. Together, the people entrust their common welfare and the natural resources to theState as their collective representative.

In this sense, therefore, the State is the Trustee. However, because the State is an intangible being, it has to take physicashape in the form of a human institution called the Government.

Understanding these basic concepts provides a background to the legal concept known as the Regalian doctrine.This

doctrine simply says that all the natural resources of a particular country are considered to be owned by the State, as formerlyrepresented by the King (thus, the word regalian). This is, of course, another piece of legal fiction. A thing can be owned only

by the one who made it. The land, air and waters could not have been made by the State and thus, they cannot, strictlyspeaking, be owned by it.

Be that as it may, the Governments role as trustee is not merely an academic exercise. As the trustee of the people, theGovernment must protect and properly manage the natural resources within its territory. If these resources must be used, imust be done so wisely, in a manner that will prevent their being used up. There is also a practical legal implication to thisdiscussion. The Government, as trustee and guardian, is the proper party to take legal action when a natural resource ismisappropriated.

But what if the Government fails, refuses, or looks the other way, and does not take action in the face of ongoing destruction?Can a private individual haul the Government to court? In theory, why not? However, in practice, the law seems to require thata private person suing the Government must be personally affected by the latters action or inaction. This is the issue known inlegal language as the locus standi, the legal standing and personality to sue in a court of law.

Statutory Law refers to the laws, also known as statutes, that have been passed by the duly empowered authority. These

laws are either issued by the king or the ruler, or passed by a parliament or congress. In the case of the Philippines, manyenvironmental laws were passed during the regime of former President Ferdinand Marcos and are called PresidentialDecrees. Laws passed during this era, unless specifically repealed, continue to be valid and in full force and effect. Since1987, laws passed by the congress are referred to as Republic Acts. For example, the Protected Areas Law is known asRepublic Act 7586.

Let us understand that laws are man-made and must, therefore, be understood in the context of human imperfection. Whilethey are supposed to represent the ideals and aspirations of a society as well as their rules of common conduct, they aresubject to the twin dangers of law-makingimproper crafting and, more often, improper implementation.

Violation of the trustWhat crime is committed when a trustee misappropriates something held in trust and uses it for his personal benefit, to thedamage and prejudice of the beneficiary?


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Because Juan has to leave for abroad, he entrusts to his friend Pedro a parcel of agricultural land, which he bought from hislife savings, for the benefit of his minor son Jaime, who is 12 years old.

The agreements between Juan and Pedro are:1. When Jaime turns 18 years old and goes to the university, Pedro will turn over the land to him so he can use it to pay hisway through college.2. The property must be turned over in the same, if not better, condition than when it was entrusted.3. As consideration for his efforts as trustee, Pedro can use the land, till it, and receive some of its fruits for his own benefifrom now until the time Jaime is 18 years old.

However, shortly after receiving the title to the property, and almost as soon as Juan boards the plane, Pedro falsifies thesignature of Juan and sells the land for P1 million. He then calls up his friends, gets drunk and dirty, and after midnight, they algo to the casino. Pedro goes to the most expensive baccarat table and before dawn, all the money is gone.

In other words, in one night, Pedro spent what took Juan all of his life to save for. Did Pedro commit a crime? Of course he didWhat crime was committed? It goes by many namesswindling, embezzlement, misappropriation, fraud, and estafabut theessence is the same: It was a breach of trust. This breach was committed by misappropriating and using the thing held in trustto trustees personal benefit, and to the damage and prejudice of the beneficiary.

Let us again transpose the elements of this example to the natural resources and life-support systems of the Earth. What havewe, the trustee, done so far? We have damaged the life-support systems of the planet in a matter of 50-100 years, a blink oan eye for Mother Earth and Father Time.

What crime has been committed? If genocide is a crime against humanity, what is a crime against Life itself? In its truest

sense, the breach of trust resulting in the wholesale destruction of Earths life -support systems is a crime against humanity. Iis not only a crime carried out by humanity against humanity, but a crime against all the life that Nature nurtures.

Of course, no criminal code in the world recognizes such a crime as this. No one during our time is likely to charge uscriminally for the ongoing crimes against Life. If there will ever be complainants, they will be those members of the humanrace who will come after us. Perhaps, by then, they will insert in their criminal codes a crime that we will now tentatively callfor lack of a better term, an act of environmental embezzlement or ecological swindling.

Just as society has devised rules and laws to govern itself, Nature also follows certain rules and patterns of behavior. Theserules are known as the Laws of Nature or simply, Natural Law. This is the law that governs the movement of the sun and of themoon, the change of seasons, and the birth, growth, and death of every living being.

In the study of animal behavior, Natural Law manifests itself in two basic instincts: The instinct of self-preservation and theinstinct of self-perpetuation, both of which are embedded in the genetic code of all plants and animals.

The instinct of self-preservation is that which drives an animal to feed itself. In the face of danger, this instinct is what providesthe motive for the animal to hide, flee or, when cornered, counter-attack. Feeding, of course, requires food. Self-evident as thatmay seem, it must be stated and restated if only to remind us that food is produced by the interaction of the elements of life sunlight, water, enzyme catalysts and soil nutrients. When these elements are threatened, so also is the instinct of selfpreservation.

The second is the instinct of self-perpetuation. Every plant and every animal bears within itself the capability to reproduce itsown kind. And yes, Nature did not leave this to chance. Trees, for example, bear tens of thousands of seed-bearing fruitsWhen ripe, birds and other animals eat these fruits, their seeds dropped and spread around. In the soil, the countless seedsgerminate and grow into trees. In the same manner are millions upon millions of eggs discharged into the waters by spawningfish, if only to ensure the survival of only a few hundreds.

In the case of humans, about 130 million spermatozoa cells are discharged in a single male ejaculation, of which only about 50million reach the vaginal canal. Of this, only about 10 million are able to swim into the uterus. From then on, only a million geinto the fallopian tube, and there bombard the single female egg. At the end of the process, only one sperm cell is able to

eventually join the female egg to spark the internal combustion for the birth of human life.

To recall what we earlier learned, there are three imperatives of animal life: food, sex and politics. This is pursuant to theinstincts of self-preservation and self-perpetuation. Politics, the third imperative, is actually a combination of both. Sociaorganization is necessary not only to ensure the survival of a particular species, but also to ensure its perpetuation.

Nature in religionAmong humans, there is a fourth imperative: spirituality, more commonly known as religion. All peoples, regardless of creedbelieve in the existence of a Higher Beinga Prime Mover, the Cause of Causes. The study of this Cause, commonly knownas God, is called Theology. It is an attempt of the human mind to st udy mans relationship with his God. The forms of studyworship, adoration and petition vary according to the kind of religion and culture. However, there is a single thread that bindstogether the fabric of all beliefs. It is the belief that man occupies a special place in the scheme of Creation as the guardianand steward of the Earth. Moreover, all religions also believe that man is a part and parcel of Nature and of all things, living


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and non-living.

The Polynesian people, from whom Filipinos partly descended, believed that humans, gods and Nature formed a consciouslyand constantly, interacting and inter-relating cosmic community. The people of ancient Hawai, for example, believed that allspecies were related to one another as relatives, and that they all lived in a world where humans, nature and the godswatched over each other and protected one another as family.

Native American Indians see mankind as only a part of the larger whole that is nature. They believe that all living things areone, and that people are joined with birds, trees, rocks, and rain in a vast and powerful inter-relationship. People stand withinthe natural world, neither separate from it nor dominant over it. This interconnection even finds expression in their language. Inthe language of American Indians, there is no word for religion. To them, their relationships with Nature, and with their go dsare merely necessary adjuncts of life itself, and the term they use is life -way or life-need.

In the Talmud, the sacred book of the Jewish religion, Gods ownership of the Earth and its resources underlies most of thethinking: You and what you possess are Gods. Although the land is meant to be planted, sown and reaped, the HebrewBible enjoins everyone to take care that when you reap the harvest of your land, you must not reap it all the way to the edgesof your field. You must not pick your vineyard bare.

The same is true in the case of Islam, one of the most widespread religions of the world with over a billion followers. Islamholds the belief that the Earth is Gods creation, and that failure to protect it and to preserve its values is a sin against theCreator.

Allah creates all the component parts of Naturethe land, the air, the waters, the plants and the animals. Humans may not beable to understand how these other entities and things express their own form of praise, but they are nevertheless incontinuous praise of Allah.

Islam and Islamic Law appear to be directly intertwined with one element of Nature and of Life

water. Shariahor Islamic Law, translated literally, means the source of water.

Buddhism, a widely practiced religion in Asia, has the closest connection to Nature. Buddhism is actually not an organizedform of religion but simply a way of life. Its basic belief is that one must practice kindness and respect for all living beings.When man does things that defile and alienate him from Nature, he succeeds only in defiling and alienating himself.

As an example, Buddha himself acted with compassion for animals and showed great respect for the trees. He noted thatrees provide natural protection for the living beings that dwell in the forest and must therefore be protected.

To this day, when a Buddhist monk goes to live in a forest, he first asks permission from, and seeks the acceptance of, theforest.

He fully understands that the forest is the home of a multitude of other life forms, far older than he is. Fundamental to

Buddhism is the sense of great gratitude and reverence for Nature, the Mother that gives birth to all the joyful things in life.

Hindus believe in the cycle of birth and re-birth and of reincarnation in other life forms. This fundamental belief makesreverence for life a basic religious attitude.

An integral part of the Hindu belief is the doctrine of ahimsa, the attitude of non-violence to humans and non-humans alikeHinduism teaches that all lives are of equal value and that man cannot, and should not, assign degrees of relative worth toother species. Only God has the absolute sovereignty over all creation and over all creatures of the Earth. Humanity cannotpresume itself to be the viceroy of God over the planet. If any life must be taken at all, it must be done knowingly and only withadequate justification.

In Greek mythology, the word Gaia is the term used to refer to the Earth. She was born from the great chaos of the Universeand became the goddess of fertility. This is the origin of the modern Gaia hypothesis, which puts forward the belief that theEarth is a living organism. Like a mother, it is fertile. Like a good mother, it is generally neutral in the various squabbles of hersons and daughters. But also like a mother, she feels pain when abused by her own children.

What the Greeks call Gaiais called terrain Latin. Both denote the maternal character of the Earth. Thus was coined the termMother Earth, terra mater.

In the African religions, we find the belief that in everything there is life. Living plants and animals have the spirit of physicallife. Inanimate objects have their own mystical lives that we may not understand.

African religions believe that although man is the center of the universe, that position does not make him its master. Being onlya beneficiary and user, not a producer, of the things of Nature, man must learn to be its friend, not its destroyer. If he disturbsthe supply system on which his life depends, it is he who suffers the most. For that reason alone, man should learn to live inharmony with the universe by obeying the higher laws that give order to the natural, moral and mystical world.

And then there is Christianity, a set of beliefs founded on the teachings of a simple carpenter from Nazareth in the MiddleEast. Christianity also has its own version of a sacred book, the Bible. Although no one really knows who wrote, edited andcompiled the various books, letters, proverbs and psalms that it contains, the Bible is held to be true, correct, and sacred by alChristians. Its opening lines give us a glimpse of the supposed role of man on Earth, something similar to the Cheyenneversion of the Genesis.


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In the Biblical story of creation, after God created the heavens, the seas, the earth, and all creatures in them, there is arecurring refrain that says: ...and God saw that it was good.

After completing his natural creations, God created man and then

created woman. After which, the refrain changes and He supposedly says: ... and (then) God saw what He had made, andbehold, it was very good.

Although self-serving, the Bible claims that Man was created in the image and likeness of God and was given dominion overthe Earth. In fact, the Bible also says that it was only on the last day that God rested. And this was only after God entrustedthe whole of creation to man and woman. By the very nature of the great trust reposed in him, it was presumed that man wouldexercise this dominion with the care of a good father of the family of Life.

Many more examples abound, but the common thread that weaves through the fabric in all of these religions, even amongthose who profess to be agnostics, is the fundamental belief that God is the creator of all things, living and non- living. Mansrole is essentially that of a trustee. Accordingly, man must learn to live in harmony with the natural world around him, not as itsviceroy. After all, he is not the weaver, but a mere strand in the web of life.

CHAPTER 3A TOUR OF THE LEGAL HORIZON

Sub: Philippine law is not amiss in addressing environmental issues in the country today, from waste and pollution to therespective accountable agencies. The problem, however, remains in the implementation

PART I: Relevant Provisions of the Philippine Constitution

Sub: The nations premiere document of law is clear on the States and the citizens roles in safeguarding the countrys naturalresources

WE, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and humane society andestablish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop ou

patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law anda regime of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution. - Preamble

The significance of this part of the 1987 Philippine constitution is twofold. On the literal level, it articulates a common aspirationof the universal need to conserve our natural heritage and national patrimony. On a symbolic level, there is an expressrecognition of, and a prayer of petition to, a higher and greater being as the Prime Mover of all life.

The national territory comprises the Philippine archipelago, with all the islands and waters embraced therein, and all ot heterritories over which the Philippines has sovereignty or jurisdiction, consisting of its terrestrial, fluvial, and aerial domainsincluding its territorial seas, the seabed, the subsoil, the insular shelves, and other submarine areas. The waters around

between, and connecting the islands of the archipelago, regardless of their breadth and dimensions, form part of the internalwaters of the Philippines. - Article I

This provision of the Constitution defines the boundaries of the territory over which the Philippine government exercisessovereignty and enforces legal power. The territorial boundaries are also recognized by the governments and countries of theworld.

The Philippine archipelago may be a tiny spot on the globe, but it is endowed with rich biological diversity. From such a pointof view, therefore, this group of islands is not merely a territory of the Philippine government or the Filipino people, bu t acrown jewel in the treasure house of humanity.

Basic human rights1) The right to healthThe State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. - Article IISection 15

The right to health is nothing less than the right to life. This means the right to a safe supply of water and the other elements olife. Having to drink contaminated water, breathe foul air, or eat poisoned food is a violation of a basic human right. Thisprovision thus serves as a basic constitutional foundation of a good legal argument against the degradation of land, air, andwater.

This principle found judicial expression in a case involving the garbage dumping activities of a local government. The dumpingground happened to be part of the watershed of Laguna de Bay, one of the largest freshwater lakes in Southeast Asia.Because of the special ecological characteristics of this 90,000-hectare water body, the management of the lake and itswatershed was given by law to a special agency, the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA).

Acting on the complaint o

residents, the LLDA ordered the local government to cease and desist from its dumping activities. This order was anchored onthe well-founded fear that it would contaminate the lakes waters. The case eventually ended up in the Supreme Court, wherethe issue of the peoples right to health was placed squarely on the table.

The Court upheld the constitutionally guaranteed


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right (to a balanced and healthful ecology) of every personThis is but in consonance with the declared policy of the state toprotect and promote the right to health of the people and to instill health consciousness among them. It is to be borne in mindthat the Philippines is party to the Universal Declaration of Human Rightswhich recognizes health as a fundamental humanright.

2) The right to a balanced ecologyThe State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm an dharmony of nature.- Article II, Section 16

This right has also been tested in Philippine Courts.In this case, a group of Filipino children filed a class suit against the

government for the violation of their right to a balanced ecology. The petitioners, children acting on their own behalf and forgenerations yet unborn, sought to ban logging concessions in the countrys remaining virgin forests.

Seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, the defendant Philippine government argued that there was no such thing as an environmentaright, much less one that could be used by children in a legal action. The go vernment argued that if they (children) had anyright at all, it was at best, unclear, undefined, and nebulous. In fact, the government argued, the provision is not even foundin the section on the Bill of Rights, but in the section on very broad and general principles and policies of the State.

In upholding the legal personality of the children to sue the government for the enforcement of their environmental right, thePhilippine Supreme Court said: While the right to a balanced and healthful ecology is found under the Declaration oPrinciples and State Policies and not under the Bill of Rights, it does not follow that it is less important than any of the civil andpolitical rights enumerated in the latter. Such a right belongs to a different category of rights altogether, for it concerns nothingless than self-preservation and self-perpetuation, the advancement of which may even be said to predate all governments andconstitutions.

3) The right to due processNo person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equaprotection of the laws.- Article III, Section 1

Due process of law is a fundamental right that is understood by all. It is usually invoked when a person is charged with anoffense or a violation of a criminal law.

An industrial factory dumps toxic wastes into the soil and pollutes the drinking water of the people in the nearby communityThe contaminated water causes some of them to get sick and die. In addition to the action for damages, the persons whosuffered can claim that, as a constitutional principle, their right to health (and to life) has been violated and deprived withoutdue process of law. In fact, they can hold the government directly liable for allowing the deprivation of this basic human right.

In countries where an environmental right is not further specifically provided, the right to life and the due process pri nciplesmay be used as the foundation of a legal action to protect the environment.

4) The right to a good quality of lifeThe goals of the national economy are a more equitable distribution of opportunities, income and wealth; a sustained increas ein the amount of goods and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people; and an expanding productivity as thekey to raising the quality of life for all, especially the underprivileged. The State shall promote industrialization and fulemployment based on sound agricultural development and agrarian reform, through industries, that make full and efficient useofhuman and natural resources, and which are competitive in both domestic and foreign markets. However, the State shalprotect Filipino enterprises against unfair foreign competition and trading practices. In the pur

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The Laws of Nature and Other Stories