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sday
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2017

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om Sear
ch

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ch

Republ
i
coft
hePhi
l
ippi
nes

SUPREMECOURT

Mani
l
a

ENBANC

G.
R.No.101083 Jul
y30,
1993

JUANANTONI O,ANNAROSARI OandJOSEALFONSO, allsur

namedOPOSA, minors,and
representedbytheirparentsANTONI OandRI ZALI
NAOPOSA, ROBERTANI COLESADI UA,mi
nor
,
representedbyherpar entsCALVINandROBERTASADI UA, CARLO, AMANDASALUDand
PATRI SHA, al
lsurnamedFLORES, mi norsandr epresentedbythei
rpar entsENRICOandNI DA
FLORES, GI
ANINADI TAR.FORTUN, mi nor,r
epresentedbyherpar entsSIGRIDandDOLORES
FORTUN, GEORGEI IandMA.CONCEPCI ON,all
surnamedMI SA,minorsandr epresentedby
thei
rpar ent
sGEORGEandMYRAMI SA, BENJAMI NALANV.PESI GAN, minor
,representedbyhi
s
parentsANTONI OandALI CEPESIGAN, JOVIEMARI EALFARO, minor,repr
esentedbyher
parentsJOSEandMARI AVI OLETAALFARO, MARI ACONCEPCI ONT.CASTRO, minor,
representedbyherpar entsFREDENILandJANECASTRO, JOHANNADESAMPARADO,

minor
,representedbyherpar entsJOSEandANGELADESAMPRADO, CARLOJOAQUINT.
NARVASA, minor ,
representedbyhi spar
entsGREGORI
OIIandCRI
STINECHARITYNARVASA,
MA.MARGARI TA, JESUSI GNACI O,MA.ANGELAandMARIEGABRIELLE,al
lsur
namedSAENZ,
minor
s,representedbyt heirparentsROBERTOandAURORASAENZ,KRISTINE,MARYELLEN,
MAY, GOLDAMARTHEandDAVI DI AN,al lsurnamedKI NG, minors,representedbyt hei
rparents
MARI OandHAYDEEKI NG, DAVID, FRANCI SCOandTHERESEVI CTORI A,allsurnamedENDRI GA,
minors,representedbyt heirparentsBALTAZARandTERESI TAENDRI GA,JOSEMA.and
REGINAMA. ,allsurnamedABAYA, mi nor s, r
epresentedbyt heirparentsANTONI OandMARI CA
ABAYA, MARI LIN,MARI O,JR.andMARI ETTE, all
surnamedCARDAMA, minor s,representedby
thei
rparentsMARI OandLI NACARDAMA, CLARI SSA, ANNMARI E,NAGEL, andI MEELYN, all
surnamedOPOSA, mi norsandrepr esent edbyt heirparentsRICARDOandMARI SSAOPOSA,
PHILIPJOSEPH, STEPHENJOHNandI SAI AHJAMES, allsurnamedQUI PIT,mi nor s,repr
esented
bytheirparentsJOSEMAXandVI LMIQUI PIT,BUGHAW CI ELO, CRISANTO, ANNA, DANIELand
FRANCI SCO, al
lsurnamedBI BAL, mi nors, representedbyt heirparentsFRANCI SCO, JR.and
MILAGROSBI BAL, andTHEPHI LIPPI NEECOLOGI CALNETWORK, INC.,peti
tioner s,

v
s.

THEHONORABLEFULGENCI OS.FACTORAN,JR. ,
inhiscapacit
yastheSecr
etaryoft
he
Depar
tmentofEnvi
ronmentandNatur
alResources,andTHEHONORABLEERI BERTOU.
ROSARIO,
Presi
dingJudgeoftheRTC,Makati
,Branch66,respondent
s.

OposaLawOf
fi
cef
orpet
it
ioner
s.

TheSol
i
cit
orGener
alf
orr
espondent
s.

DAVI
DE,
JR.
,J.
:

Inabroadersense, t
hispet it
ionbearsupont heri
ghtofFil
ipi
nost oabalancedandheal t
hful
ecol
ogywhi chthepet it
ionersdramat ical
lyassociat
ewiththetwinconceptsof" i
nter
-
generationalresponsibil
it
y"and" int
er-generati
onalj
usti
ce."Speci
fical
l
y,itt
ouchesont heissue
ofwhet herthesaidpet iti
onershav eacauseofact i
onto"preventthemisappropri
ati
onor
i
mpai rment "ofPhil
ippiner ai
nforestsand" arr
esttheunabatedhemor r
hageoft hecountry'
svit
al
l
ifesuppor tsystemsandcont i
nuedr apeofMot herEart
h."

Thecont r
ov ersyhasitsgenesisinCivilCaseNo.90- 77whi chwasf i
ledbef oreBr anch66
(Makati,
Met roMani l
a)oft heRegionalTrialCourt(RTC),National Capit
al JudicialRegi
on.The
pri
ncipalplainti
ff
stherein,nowtheprincipalpeti
tioner
s,areall minorsdulyr epresentedand
j
oinedbyt heirrespecti
vepar ent
s.Impleadedasanaddi t
ional plai
ntif
fisthePhi l
ippi
ne
Ecologi
calNet work,Inc.(PENI),
adomest i
c,non-stockandnon- profitcorporationorganizedf
or
thepur poseof ,interali
a,engagi nginconcer tedact iongear edfort heprotectionofour
env i
ronmentandnat uralresour ces.Theor iginal defendantwast heHonor ableFulgenci oS.
Fact oran,Jr.,thenSecr etaryoft heDepar t
mentofEnv i
ronmentandNat ur
al Resources( DENR) .
Hi ssubst i
tutioni nthispetitionbyt henewSecr etary,theHonor ableAngel C.Al cal
a, was
subsequent l
yor der eduponpr opermot i
onbyt hepet i
ti
oner s.
1Thecompl aint2wasi nsti
tutedas
at axpay ers'classsui t
3andal l
egest hatthepl aintif
fs"areal l
cit
izensoft heRepubl icoft he
Phi l
i
ppi nes,taxpay ers,andent it
ledtothef ullbenef it
,useandenj oymentoft henat ural r
esource
treasur ethati sthecount ry'sv ir
gintropi
cal forest s.
"Thesamewasf il
edfort hemsel vesand
other swhoar eequal lyconcer nedaboutt hepr eser vati
onofsai dr esourcebutar e"sonumer ous
thati tisimpr acticabl
et obr i
ngt hem all
bef oretheCour t."Themi norsfurtherassev eratethat
they" representt heirgener ationaswel lasgener at i
onsy etunborn."4Consequent l
y,itisprayed
forthatj udgmentber ender ed:

...or
der
ingdef
endant
,hi
sagent
s,r
epr
esent
ati
vesandot
herper
sonsact
ingi
nhi
sbehal
fto—

(
1) Cancel
all
exi
sti
ngt
imberl
i
censeagr
eement
sint
hecount
ry;

(
2) Ceaseanddesistfr
om r
ecei
vi
ng,
accept
ing,
processi
ng,
renewi
ngorappr
ovi
ngnew
t
imberl
i
censeagr
eement
s.

andgr
ant
ingt
hepl
aint
if
fs"
...suchot
herr
eli
efsj
ustandequi
tabl
eundert
hepr
emi
ses.
"5

Thecompl aintst artsof fwitht hegener al averment st hatt hePhi l

ippinear chipelagoof7, 100
i
slandshasal andar eaoft hirtymi lli
on( 30,000, 000)hect ar esandi sendowedwi t
hr i
ch, lushand
verdantr ainf orest sinwhi chv aried, r
areanduni quespeci esoff loraandf aunamaybef ound;
theser ai
nf or estscont ai
nagenet i
c, biologi cal andchemi cal pool whichisi rrepl
aceabl e; theyare
alsothehabi tatofi ndi genousPhi lippinecul tureswhi chhav eexi sted,endur edandf l
our ished
sincetimei mmemor ial;
scient i
ficev idencer ev ealsthati nor dert omai ntainabal ancedand
healthfulecol ogy ,thecount ry'slandar eashoul dbeut ili
zedont hebasi sofar atiooff i
fty -f
our
percent( 54%)f orf or estcov erandf orty -sixpercent( 46%)f oragr i
cultur
al ,r
esidential,industri
al,
commer ci al andot heruses; thedi stortionanddi sturbanceoft hisbal anceasaconsequenceof
deforestat ionhav eresul t
edi nahostofenv i
ronment al t
ragedi es, suchas( a)wat ershor tages
resulti
ngf r om dr y i
ngupoft hewat ertabl e,ot herwiseknownast he" aquifer,
"aswel lasofr i
vers,
brooksandst reams, (b)sal i
nizat i
onoft hewat ertableasar esul toft heintrusionther einofsal t
wat er,
incont rover ti
bleexampl esofwhi chmaybef oundi nt hei slandofCebuandt he
Muni ci
pal ityofBacoor ,Cav i
te, (
c)massi v eerosi onandt heconsequent i
al l
ossofsoi lfertil
it
y
andagr i
cul tural product ivit
y,wi ththev olumeofsoi l
er odedest imat edatonebi l
li
on
(1,000,000,000)cubi cmet ersperannum —appr oximat elyt hesi zeoft heent ir
eislandof
Cat anduanes, (d)theendanger i
ngandext i
nctionoft hecount r
y 'suni que, r
areandv ari
edflora
andf auna, (e)thedi sturbanceanddi slocat i
onofcul t
ur alcommuni ti
es, i
ncludingthe
disappear anceoft heFilipi
no'sindi genouscul tures, (
f)t hesi l
tationofr iv
ersandseabedsand
consequent i
al destructi
onofcor alsandot heraquat i
cl i
fel eadingt oacr iti
calreducti
onin
mar ineresour cepr oduct i
vity,(
g)r ecurrentspel l
sofdr oughtasi spr esent l
yexperiencedbythe
ent i
recount ry,(h)increasingv elocityoft yphoonwi ndswhi chr esul tfrom theabsenceof
windbr eakers,(i)thef l
oodi ngsofl owl andsandagr i
cultural pl
ai nsar isi
ngf rom theabsenceof
theabsor bentmechani sm off orest s,(j
)t hesi l
tationandshor teni ngoft helif
espanofmul t
i-
bil
lionpesodamsconst ructedandoper at
edf ort hepur poseofsuppl yingwat erfordomest i
c
uses, i
rri
gat i
onandt hegener ati
onofel ectri
cpower ,and( k)ther educt i
onoft heear t
h'scapacit
y
topr ocesscar bondi oxi
degaseswhi chhasl edt oper plexingandcat astrophiccli
mat i
cchanges
suchast hephenomenonofgl obal war mi ng, otherwiseknownast he"greenhouseef f
ect.
"

Plai
ntif
fsfurtherassertt
hattheadverseanddet ri
ment alconsequencesofcont inuedand
defor
estationar esocapableofunquestionabledemonst rat
iont hatthesamemaybesubmi tt
ed
asamat t
erofj udi
cial
notice.Thi
snotwithstandi
ng,theyexpr essedtheiri
ntenti
ontopresent
expertwitnessesaswel lasdocument ar
y ,
photographicandf il
m ev i
denceinthecourseofthe
tr
ial
.

Ast
hei
rcauseofact
ion,
theyspeci
fi
cal
l
yal
l
eget
hat
:

CAUSEOFACTI
ON

7. Pl
aint
if
fsr
epl
eadbyr
efer
encet
hef
oregoi
ngal
l
egat
ions.

8. Twenty-
fi
ve(25)year
sago,thePhi
li
ppi
neshadsomesixteen(
16)mi
l
li
onhect
aresof
rai
nfor
estsconsti
tut
ingr
oughly53%ofthecount
ry'
slandmass.

9. Sat
ell
i
teimagestakeni
n1987r eveal
thatt
hereremainednomorethan1.
2mi
l
li
on
hect
aresofsaidr
ainf
orest
sorfourpercent(4.
0%)ofthecountr
y'
slandar
ea.

10. Mor er ecentsur

vey
sreveal
thatamer
e850,000hect
aresofv
irgi
nol
d-gr
owthr
ainf
orest
s
arel
eft
,bar
ely2.8%oftheent
ir
elandmassofthePhil
i
ppi
nearchi
pel
agoandabout3.
0mill
ion
hect
aresofi
mmat
ureanduneconomi
cal
secondar
ygr
owt
hfor
est
s.

11. Publ icrecordsrevealthatt

hedefendant
'
s,pr
edecessor
shav
egrant
edti
mberli
cense
agreement
s( '
TLA's'
)tovariouscorpor
ati
onstocutt
heaggregat
ear
eaof3.89mil
l
ionhect
ares
forcommerciall
oggingpurposes.

Acopyoft
heTLAhol
der
sandt
hecor
respondi
ngar
eascov
eredi
sher
etoat
tachedasAnnex"
A".

12. Att hepr esentrat

eofdefor
estat
ion,i.
e.about200,
000hectaresperannum or25
hect
aresperhour—ni ghtt
ime,
Saturday
s, Sundaysandholi
daysincluded—thePhil
ippi
neswi
l
l
beberef
tofforestresour
cesaft
ertheendoft hi
sensuingdecade,ifnotear
li
er.

13. Theadv erseeffects,di

sastrousconsequences,seriousinj
uryandir
reparabl
edamageof
thi
sconti
nuedtrendofdef orestati
ontotheplai
nti
ffminor '
sgenerati
onandt ogenerat
ionsy
et
unbor
nareevidentandi ncontrovert
ibl
e.Asamat teroffact,theenvi
ronmentaldamages
enumerat
edinpar agr
aph6her eofarealr
eadybeingfelt
, experi
encedandsufferedbythe
gener
ati
onofplainti
ffadults.

14. Thecont i
nuedall
owancebydefendantofTLAholder
stocutanddeforestt
heremaining
for
estst
andswil
lworkgreatdamageandir
reparabl
einj
uryt
oplai
nti
ff
s—especi al
lypl
aint
if
f
minor
sandthei
rsuccessors—whomaynev ersee,use,
benefi
tfr
om andenjoythi
srar
eand
uni
quenatur
alr
esourcetr
easure.

Thisactofdef
endantconsti
tutesamisappropri
ati
onand/ori
mpair
mentofthenat
uralr
esour
ce
proper
tyheholdsi
ntrustforthebenef
itofplai
nti
ffmi
norsandsucceedi
nggener
ati
ons.

15. Pl aint
if
fshaveacl
earandconsti
tut
ional
rightt
oabal ancedandhealt
hful
ecol
ogyand
areent
it
ledtoprot
ecti
onbyt
heStateini
tscapacityastheparenspatr
iae.

16. Pl aint
if
fhaveexhaustedal
ladmi
nist
rati
ver
emedieswi
tht
hedefendant
'soffi
ce.On
March2,1990,pl
aint
if
fsserv
edupondefendantaf
inal
demandtocancelal
ll
oggingpermi
tsi
n
thecount
ry.
Acopyoft
hepl
aint
if
fs'
let
terdat
edMar
ch1,
1990i
sher
etoat
tachedasAnnex"
B".

17. Def endant

,however
,fai
l
sandrefusest
ocancel
theexi
sti
ngTLA'
stot
hecont
inui
ng
ser
iousdamageandextr
emepr ej
udi
ceofplai
nti
ff
s.

18. Thecont inuedf ai

l
ureandrefusalbydefendanttocancel
theTLA'
sisanactv i
olat
iveof
theri
ghtsofplai
nt i
ff
s,especi
all
yplai
nti
ffminorswhomaybel ef
twit
hacountrythati
s
desert
if
ied(si
c),bare,barr
enanddev oi
dofthewonder ful
flor
a,f
aunaandindi
genouscultures
whichthePhil
ippineshadbeenabundant l
yblessedwith.

19. Def endant'

srefusal
tocancelt
heaf
orementi
onedTLA'
sismanif
est
lycontrar
ytothe
publi
cpol
icyenunciatedinthePhi
li
ppi
neEnvi
ronmental
Pol
icywhi
ch,
inpert
inentpart
,st
ates
thati
tist
hepol i
cyoftheState—

(
a) t ocr
eate,
devel
op,maint
ainandi
mprov
econdi
ti
onsunderwhi
chmanandnat
urecan
t
hri
vei
npr
oducti
veandenj
oyabl
eharmonywit
heachot
her;

(b) t oful
fi
ll
thesoci
al,
economi
candot
herr
equi
rement
sofpr
esentandf
utur
egener
ati
ons
ofFi
l
ipi
nosand;

(c) toensuretheatt
ainmentofanenvi
ronment
alqual
i
tyt
hati
sconduct
ivet
oal
i
feofdi
gni
ty
andwel
l
-bei
ng.(
P.D.1151,6June1977)

20. Fur ther

more,
defendant'
scont
inuedr
efusalt
ocancel
theaf
orement
ionedTLA'
sis
cont
radi
ctoryt
otheConsti
tut
ional
pol
icyoft
heSt at
eto—

a. effect"
amoreequit
abledi
str
ibut
ionofopport
uni
ti
es,i
ncomeandwealth"and"makef
ull
andef
fi
cientuseofnat
ural
resour
ces(si
c)."(
Sect
ion1,Ar
ti
cleXIIoft
heConst
itut
ion)
;

b. "
prot
ectt
henat
ion'
smar
ineweal
th.
"(Sect
ion2,
ibi
d);
c. "
conser
veandpr
omot
ethenat
ion'
scul
tur
alher
it
ageandr
esour
ces(
sic)
"(Sect
ion14,
Ar
ticl
eXIV,i
d.)
;

d. "
protectandadvancether
ightoft
hepeopletoabalancedandhealt
hful
ecol
ogyi
n
accor
dwi t
ht herhy
thm andharmonyofnatur
e."(
Secti
on16,Arti
cleI
I,
id.
)

21. Finall
y,def
endant'
sacti
scontrarytothehighestl
awofhumanki
nd—t
henat
ural
law—
andv
iol
ati
veofplai
nti
ff
s'ri
ghtt
oself
-preserv
ationandperpet
uat
ion.

22. Ther eisnootherpl

ain,speedyandadequater
emedyinlawotherthant
heinst
antact
ion
toarr
estt
heunabatedhemor r
hageofthecountry
'svi
tal
li
fesuppor
tsystemsandconti
nued
rapeofMotherEar
th.6

On22June1990, theor iginaldefendant,SecretaryFactoran,Jr.

,fi
ledaMot i
ont oDismisst
he
compl ai
ntbasedont wo( 2)grounds,namel y:(1)theplainti
ffshavenocauseofact i
onagai
nst
him and( 2)theissuer aisedbyt heplainti
ffsisapol i
ti
calquest i
onwhichproper l
ypertai
nst
ot he
l
egislati
veorexecut ivebr anchesofGov ernment .I
ntheir12Jul y1990OppositiontotheMotion,
thepet i
ti
onersmai ntaint hat(1)thecompl aintshowsacl earandunmistakablecauseofaction,
(2)themot ionisdilatoryand( 3)theact i
onpr esentsajust i
ciabl
equesti
onasi tinvol
vesthe
defendant '
sabuseofdi screti
on.

On18Jul y1991, r
espondentJudgei ssuedanor dergr antingtheaf or
ement ionedmot i
ont o
dismi
ss.7Int hesai
dor der,notonlywast hedefendant '
scl ai
m —t hatthecompl ai
ntstat
esno
causeofact i
onagainsthi m andthatitr
aisesapoliti
cal question—sust ai
ned,therespondent
Judgefurtherrul
edthatt hegrant
ingoft herel
i
efpr ayedf orwoul dresultintheimpairmentof
contr
actswhi chisprohibit
edbythef undamentallawoft heland.

Plaint
if
fsthusfil
edtheinstantspecialciv
ilact
ionforcert
iorari
underRule65oftheRevised
RulesofCour tandaskthisCour ttoresci
ndandsetasi dethedismissalor
derontheground
thattherespondentJudgegr avelyabusedhisdiscreti
onindismissi
ngtheacti
on.Agai
n, t
he
parentsoftheplaint
if
fs-
minor snotonlyrepresentthei
rchil
dren,buthav
ealsojoi
nedthelatt
er
i
nt hiscase.
8
On14May1992, Wer esol
vedtogiveduecoursetothepeti
ti
onandrequi
redt hepar
tiest
o
submi
tthei
rrespect
iveMemor andaaftert
heOffi
ceoftheSoli
cit
orGener
al (
OSG)f i
l
eda
Commentinbehalfoftherespondent
sandt hepet
it
ioner
sfil
edarepl
ythereto.

Petitioner
scontendt hatt hecompl ai
ntclear l
yandunmi stakablyst atesacauseofact i
onasi t
cont ainssuf
fici
entallegationsconcer ni
ngt heirri
ghttoasoundenv ir
onmentbasedonAr t
icles
19,20and21oft heCi vi
lCode( HumanRel ati
ons),Section4ofExecut i
veOr der(
E.O.)No.192
creat i
ngtheDENR, Secti
on3ofPr esidentialDecree(P. D.)No.1151( Phili
ppineEnvir
onment al
Policy )
,Sect
ion16, Arti
cleIIofthe1987Const i
tuti
onr ecogni zingt herightofthepeopletoa
balancedandheal t
hfulecol ogy,
theconceptofgener ational genoci deinCr i
minalLawandt he
conceptofman' sinali
enabl eri
ghttoself-preservati
onandsel f-perpetuati
onembodi edin
natur all
aw.Petit
ionerslikewiserelyont her espondent '
scor relativ
eobl igati
onperSect i
on4of
E.O.No.192, tosaf eguardt hepeople'sri
ghtt oaheal thful environment .

I
tisfurt
herclai
medt hattheissueoftherespondentSecr
etar
y'sall
egedgr
av eabuseof
di
scret
ioningrant
ingTi mberLicenseAgr
eement s(TLAs)tocovermoreareasforloggi
ngt
han
whatisavai
labl
einvolvesajudicial
quest
ion.

Anentt heinvocati
onbyt herespondentJudgeoftheConsti
tut
ion'
snon-i
mpai r
mentclause,
peti
tionersmai nt
ainthatthesamedoesnotappl yinthi
scasebecauseTLAsar enotcontract
s.
Theyl i
kewisesubmi tthatevenifTLAsmaybeconsi der
edprotect
edbyt hesai
dclause,i
tiswell
set
tledt hatt
heymayst i
llberevokedbytheStat
ewhent hepubli
cint
erestsorequi
res.

Ont heotherhand, t
her espondent sav ert hatthepet i
tionersfai
ledt oallegei ntheircomplainta
specifi
clegal r
ightviolatedbyt her espondentSecr et
aryforwhi chanyr eliefispr ovi
dedbyl aw.
Theyseenot hi
ngi nthecompl aintbutv agueandnebul ousal l
egationsconcer ningan
"envir
onment alright"whi chsupposedl yent it
lesthepet i
ti
onerst othe"pr otecti
onbyt hestatei
n
i
tscapaci tyaspar enspat ri
ae.
"Suchal legat i
ons, accordingtothem, donotr ev ealav al
idcause
ofaction.Theyt henr ei
ter atet
het heoryt hatthequest i
onofwhet herloggi ngshoul dbe
permittedinthecount r
yi sapol i
ti
cal quest i
onwhi chshoul dbepr operlyaddr essedt othe
executiveorlegislat
ivebr anchesofGov ernment .Theyt herefor
easser tt hatthepet it
ioner
s'
resourcesisnott of i
leanact i
ontocour t,buttolobbybef oreCongr essf orthepassageofabi l
l
thatwoul dbanl oggingt otall
y.

Astothematt
eroft
hecancell
ati
onoftheTLAs, r
espondentssubmitthatt
hesamecannotbe
donebytheSt
atewi
thoutdueprocessoflaw.Onceissued,aTLAremainseffect
ivef
oracer
tai
n
peri
odofti
me—usuall
yfortwenty-
fi
ve(25)year
s.Duringit
seffect
ivi
ty,
thesamecanneit
herbe
revi
sednorcancell
edunl esstheholderhasbeenfound,af
terduenoticeandhear i
ng,t
ohav
e
viol
atedtheter
msoft heagr eementorotherfor
estr
ylawsandr egul
ations.Pet
iti
oner
s'
proposit
iontohaveallt
heTLAsi ndi
scri
minat
elycancel
l
edwi t
houtther equi
sit
eheari
ngwould
bev i
olat
iveoftherequi
rement sofdueprocess.

Beforegoi nganyf urther,Wemustf irstf ocusonsomepr ocedur al matters.Pet it

ioner
si nsti
tut
ed
Civil
CaseNo.90- 777asacl asssui t.Theor iginaldefendantandt hepresentr espondent sdid
nottakei ssuewitht hismat ter.Never t heless,Weher ebyrulet hatt hesai dcivilcaseisindeeda
classsuit.Thesubj ectmat t
eroft hecompl aintisofcommonandgener al i
nterestnotjustto
several
, buttoallciti
zensoft hePhi l
ippi nes.Consequent ly,sincet hepar tiesar esonumer ous,i
t,
becomesi mpracticable, i
fnott otal
l
yi mpossi ble,tobr i
ngal lofthem bef oret hecour t
.We
l
ikewisedecl ar
ethatt heplainti
f f
sther ei
nar enumer ousandr epr esentativeenought oensur e
thefullprotect
ionofal l
concer nedi nt erests.Hence, allther equisitesfort hef i
li
ngofav ali
d
classsuitunderSect i
on12, Rul e3oft heRev isedRul esofCour tar epresentbot hinthesai d
civi
lcaseandi nthei nst antpetiti
on, thel atterbeingbutani ncidentt othef ormer .

Thiscase, however,
hasaspeci alandnov el element.Peti
tionersmi norsassertt
hatthey
representthei
rgenerati
onaswel lasgenerationsy etunborn.Wef indnodi f
ficul
tyi
nr ul
ingthat
theycan, fort
hemselves,forothersoftheirgener ati
onandf orthesucceedi nggenerati
ons,fi
lea
classsuit.Thei
rpersonali
tytosuei nbehalfoft hesucceedi nggener at
ionscanonlybebasedon
theconceptofi nt
ergenerati
onalresponsibil
ityinsofarasther i
ghttoabal ancedandheal t
hful
ecologyisconcerned.Suchar ight,ashereinaf t
erexpounded, considers

the"r
hythm andhar monyofnat ure.
"Nat ur
emeanst hecreat edwor ldi nitsentiret
y.9Such
rhyt
hm andhar monyi ndispensablyincl
ude, i
nterali
a,thejudiciousdi sposi t
ion,uti
li
zation,
management ,r
enewal andconser vati
onoft hecount r
y'sfor
est ,miner al,l
and, waters,fisheries,
wil
dli
fe,off-
shoreareasandot hernaturalr
esour cestotheendt hatthei rexplorati
on,
devel
opmentandut ili
zationbeequitablyaccessibletothepr esentaswel lasfuturegener ati
ons.
10Needl esstosay ,
ev erygenerati
onhasar esponsibi
li
tytot henextt opr eser vethatrhy thm and
harmonyf orthefullenjoymentofabal ancedandheal t
hfulecol ogy.Putal it
tl
edi f
ferent l
y,the
minors'
asser ti
onoft heirri
ghttoasoundenv ir
onmentconst it
utes,att hesamet i
me, the
perf
ormanceoft hei
robl i
gati
ont oensurethepr otecti
onoft hatr i
ghtf orthegener ationst o
come.

Thel
ocusstandi
oft hepet
it
ioner
shav
ingt
husbeenaddr
essed,
Weshal
lnowpr
oceedt
othe
meri
tsoft
hepetit
ion.

Af
teracar
eful
per
usal
oft
hecompl
ainti
nquest
ionandamet
icul
ousconsi
der
ati
onand
eval
uationoftheissuesrai
sedandargument sadducedbyt hepart
ies,Wedonothesitat
eto
fi
ndfort hepeti
ti
onersandrul
eagainsttherespondentJudge'
schallengedorderf
orhavi
ng
beenissuedwi t
hgraveabuseofdiscret
ionamount i
ngtolackofjuri
sdicti
on.Theper
ti
nent
port
ionsoft hesai
dor derr
eadsasfoll
ows:

xxx xxx xxx

Afteracarefulandci rcumspectev aluat

ionoftheCompl ai
nt,theCour tcannothel pbutagree
wit
ht hedefendant.Foral thoughwebel i
evethatplainti
ff
shav ebutt henoblestofal li
ntenti
ons,
i
t(sic)fel
lshortofal l
eging,withsuffici
entdefi
niteness,aspecifi
clegal r
ighttheyar eseekingto
enforceandprotect ,oraspeci f
iclegalwrongtheyar eseekingtopr eventandr edress(Sec.1,
Rule2,RRC).Fur t
her more, t
heCour tnotesthattheCompl aintisrepletewithvague
assumpt i
onsandv agueconcl usionsbasedonunv erif
ieddata.Infi
ne, pl
ainti
ff
sf ail
tost at
ea
causeofact i
oninit sCompl aintagainstthehereindefendant.

Furt
hermore,t
heCourtf
irmlybeli
evesthatthematterbef
oreit
,bei
ngimpressedwithpoli
ti
cal
col
orandinvolv
ingamatterofpublicpol
icy,maynotbetakencogni
zanceofbythisCourt
wit
houtdoingviol
encet
ot hesacredpri
ncipl
eof"Separat
ionofPowers"oft
hethree(3)co-
equalbr
anchesoftheGovernment .

TheCour tisli
kewiseoftheimpressionthati
tcannot,nomat terhowwest r
etchourj ur
isdi
cti
on,
grantther eli
efsprayedforbytheplaint
if
fs,i
.e.
,tocancelall
existi
ngti
mberlicenseagreement s
i
nt hecount ryandt oceaseanddesistfrom recei
vi
ng,accepting,pr
ocessi
ng,renewingor
approvingnewt i
mberl i
censeagreements.Fortodoot herwi
sewoul damountt o"i
mpai rmentof
contracts"abhored( si
c)bythefundament al
law.11

Wedonotagr eewiththetr
ialcourt
'sconcl
usi
onsthatt
heplai
nti
ff
sf ai
l
edtoall
egewit
h
suffi
cientdef
init
enessaspecifi
clegalri
ghti
nvol
vedoraspeci
ficl
egalwrongcommitt
ed,and
thatthecompl ai
ntisr
eplet
ewi t
hv agueassumpti
onsandconcl
usionsbasedonunver
if
ieddat
a.
Ar eadingoft
hecompl ai
ntitsel
fbeli
estheseconcl
usi
ons.

Thecompl aintfocusesononespeci f
icf
undamentallegalri
ght—t her
ighttoabalancedand
heal
thfulecologywhi ch,f
ort
hefirstt
imeinournat
ion'sconstit
uti
onalhi
story
,issol
emnly
i
ncorporatedint hefundamental
law.Secti
on16,Art
icleIIofthe1987Constit
uti
onexpli
cit
ly
prov
ides:
Sec.16. TheSt
ateshal
lprotectandadv ancet
heri
ghtoft
hepeopl
etoabal
ancedand
heal
thful
ecol
ogyi
naccordwit
ht herhythm andharmonyofnat
ure.

Thi
sri
ghtunit
eswi
tht
her
ightt
oheal
thwhi
chi
spr
ovi
dedf
ori
nthepr
ecedi
ngsect
ionoft
he
sameart
icl
e:

Sec.15. TheStateshal
lpr
otectandpr
omot
ether
ightt
oheal
thoft
hepeopl
eandi
nst
il
l
heal
thconsci
ousnessamongthem.

Whi lether i
ghtt oabal ancedandheal thf ulecologyi stobef oundundert heDecl ar ationof
PrinciplesandSt atePoliciesandnotundert heBi l
lofRi ght
s, itdoesnotf ollowt hati tisl ess
i
mpor tantt hananyoft heci vi
l andpol iticalrightsenumer atedi nt hel atter.Suchar i
ghtbel ongs
toadi f
ferentcat egoryofr ightsal t
oget herf oritconcer nsnot hingl esst hansel f
-pr eser vation
andsel f -
per petuation—apt l
yandf itt
ingl ystressedbyt hepet i
ti
oner s—t headv ancementof
whi chmayev enbesai dt opr edat eal lgov ernment sandconst it
ut i
ons.Asamat teroff act,these
basi crightsneednotev enbewr i
ttenint heConst it
uti
onf ort heyar eassumedt oexi stf rom the
i
ncept i
onofhumanki nd.Ift heyar enowexpl i
citl
yment ionedi nthef undament alchar ter,itis
becauseoft hewel l
-f
oundedf earofi tsf ramer st hatunlesst her ight st oabal ancedand
heal t
hful ecologyandt oheal tharemandat edasst atepol i
ciesbyt heConst it
uti
oni t
sel f,thereby
highlightingt heircont i
nuingi mpor t anceandi mposi ngupont hest ateasol emnobl i
gat iont o
preser vet hef i
rstandpr otectandadv ancet hesecond, thedaywoul dnotbet oof arwhenal l
elsewoul dbel ostnotonl yf ort hepr esentgener at i
on,butal sof ort hoset ocome—gener ations
whi chst andt oi nheri
tnot hingbutpar chedear thi ncapableofsust ainingl i
fe.

Theri
ghttoabalancedandhealt
hfulecol
ogycarri
eswithitthecorrel
ati
vedutytorefrai
nf r
om
i
mpairi
ngtheenv i
ronment
.Duri
ngthedebatesont hi
srightinoneoftheplenarysessionsofthe
1986Constit
uti
onalCommissi
on,thefoll
owingexchangetranspi
redbetweenCommi ssioner
Wil
fr
idoVil
lacor
taandCommi ssi
onerAdolfoAzcunawhosponsor edthesect
ioninquest i
on:

MR.VI
LLACORTA:

Doesthissecti
onmandat
etheSt
atet
opr
ovi
desanct
ionsagai
nstal
lfor
msofpol
l
uti
on—ai
r,
waterandnoisepol
l
uti
on?
MR.AZCUNA:

Yes,Madam Presi
dent
.Therighttohealt
hful
(si
c)envi
ronmentnecessar
il
ycarr
ieswit
hitt
he
corr
elat
ivedut
yofnotimpair
ingthesameand, t
heref
ore,sanct
ionsmaybeprovidedf
or
i
mpai r
mentofenvir
onmentalbalance.12

Thesai
dri
ghti
mpli
es,amongmanyot
hert
hings,
thej
udi
ciousmanagementandconser
vat
ion
oft
hecount
ry'
sfor
est
s.

Wi
thoutsuchf
orest
s,t
heecol
ogi
cal
orenv
ironment
albal
ancewoul
dbei
rr
ever
sibydi
srupt
ed.

Conformabl ywi t
htheenunci atedr i
ghtt oabal ancedandheal t
hfulecologyandt herightto
healt
h, aswel l
ast heot herrelatedpr ovisi
onsoft heConst i
tut i
onconcer ningt heconser v
at i
on,
developmentandut i
lizationoft hecount r
y'
snat uralresources, 13thenPr esidentCor azonC.
Aquinopr omul gat
edon10June1987E. O.No.192, 14Sect ion4ofwhi chexpr esslymandat es
thattheDepar tmentofEnv ir
onmentandNat uralResour ces" shall
bet hepr i
mar ygov ernment
agencyr esponsiblefort heconser v
ation,management ,
dev elopmentandpr operuseoft he
country'senvir
onmentandnat ur alresources,specifi
callyforestandgr azingl ands, mi neral,
resources,incl
udingt hosei nreser vati
onandwat ershedar eas, andlandsoft hepubl i
cdomai n,
aswel lasthel i
censingandr egul at
ionofal lnaturalresourcesasmaybepr ov idedf orbyl awin
ordertoensur eequitableshar ingoft hebenef itsderivedther efr
om fort hewel far eofthe
presentandf uturegener ati
onsofFi li
pinos."Section3t hereofmakest hef oll
owi ngst atementof
poli
cy:

Sec.3.Declarati
onofPol i
cy.—I tisherebydecl aredthepol icyoft heStat
et oensur ethe
sustai
nableuse, development ,management ,renewal,andconser vati
onoft hecount ry'
sforest
,
mineral,l
and,off
-shor eareasandot hernaturalresources,includingthepr ot
ect i
onand
enhancementoft hequal i
tyoftheenv i
ronment ,andequitabl eaccessoft hedi f
ferentsegments
ofthepopul at
iont othedev el
opmentandt heuseoft hecount ry
'snaturalresources,notonlyfor
thepresentgener ati
onbutf orfuturegener at
ionsaswel l
.Itisalsot hepolicyoft hestateto
recognizeandappl yat rueval
uesy stem incl
udingsoci alandenv ironment alcostimplicat
ions
rel
ativ
et othei
rut i
li
zation,devel
opmentandconser vationofournat uralr
esour ces.

Thi
spol
i
cydecl
arat
ioni
ssubst
ant
ial
l
yre-
stat
edi
tTi
tl
eXI
V,BookI
Voft
heAdmi
nist
rat
iveCode
of1987,
15speci
fi
cal
l
yinSect
ion1t
her
eofwhi
chr
eads:

Sec.1.Decl arati
onofPol i
cy .—( 1)TheStateshallensure, forthebenefitoftheFi l
ipinopeople,
thefullexplorati
onanddev elopmentaswel lasthejudiciousdi sposit
ion,util
izati
on,
management , r
enewalandconser vati
onofthecount ry'
sf orest,mineral
,land, waters,fi
sher
ies,
wil
dli
f e,off
-shoreareasandot hernatural
resources,consi stentwit
ht henecessi tyof
maintainingasoundecol ogicalbalanceandprotectingandenhanci ngthequal i
tyoft he
envir
onmentandt heobjectiveofmaki ngtheexplorati
on, dev el
opmentandut i
li
zati
onofsuch
naturalresourcesequitablyaccessi bl
etothedif
f er
entsegment softhepr esentaswel l
asfutur
e
generations.

(2) TheSt ateshal

ll
ikewi
serecognizeandapplyat
ruev
aluesyst
em thattakesi
ntoaccount
soci
alandenvi
ronment
alcosti
mpl i
cat
ionsrel
ati
vetot
heuti
li
zat
ion,
developmentand
conser
vati
onofournat
uralr
esources.

Theabov eprovi
sionstresses"t
henecessityofmaintaini
ngasoundecol ogi
calbal
anceand
protecti
ngandenhanci ngt hequal
ityoftheenvi
ronment .
"Sect
ion2oft hesameTi t
le,onthe
otherhand, speci
fical
l
yspeaksoft hemandat eoftheDENR; however
,itmakespar t
icular
referencetothefactoft heagency
'sbeingsubjecttolawandhigherauthori
ty.Sai
dsect i
on
provides:

Sec.2.Mandate.—(
1)TheDepart
mentofEnvi
ronmentandNat
ural
Resour
cesshal
lbepr
imar
il
y
responsi
blef
orthei
mplement
ati
onoft
heforegoi
ngpoli
cy.

(2) I tshal
l
,subjectt
olawandhi gheraut
horit
y,beinchar
geofcarr
yingouttheStat
e's
consti
tuti
onalmandatetocont
rolandsupervisetheexpl
orat
ion,
devel
opment,uti
li
zati
on,and
conservat
ionofthecountr
y'
snaturalresour
ces.

Bot
hE.
O.NO.192andtheAdmini
str
ati
veCodeof1987havesett
heobj
ect
iveswhi
chwi
llser
ve
ast
hebasesf
orpol
icyf
ormul
ati
on,andhav
edefi
nedthepowersandf
unct
ionsoft
heDENR.

Itmay,howev er
,berecal
l
edthatev
enbeforetherati
fi
cat
ionofthe1987Const i
tut
ion,speci
fi
c
stat
utesalreadypai
dspecial
att
enti
ontothe"envi
ronmentalr
ight
"ofthepresentandf ut
ure
generat
ions.On6June1977, P.
D.No.1151(Phil
i
ppineEnvir
onmentalPol
icy)andP. D.No.1152
(Phil
ippi
neEnv i
ronmentCode)wer ei
ssued.Theformer"decl
aredacont i
nuingpoli
cyoft he
State(a)tocreat e,devel
op,maintai
nandi mprovecondi
ti
onsunderwhi chmanandnat urecan
thri
veinproduct iveandenjoyableharmonywi t
heachother,(
b)tofulf
il
lthesocial
,economi c
andot herrequirementsofpresentandf utur
egenerat
ionsofFil
ipi
nos,and(c)toinsur ethe
attai
nmentofanenv ir
onment al
quali
tythati
sconducivetoalif
eofdignityandwell-being."16
Asi t
sgoal, i
tspeaksoft he"responsi
bil
i
t i
esofeachgenerati
onastrusteeandguar dianoft he
env i
ronmentf orsucceedinggenerati
ons."17Thelatt
erstat
ute,ontheotherhand,gav efleshto
thesaidpol i
cy.

Thus,theri
ghtoft
hepeti
ti
oner
s(andal
lthosetheyrepr
esent
)toabal
ancedandheal
thful
ecologyisascl
earast
heDENR'sduty—underitsmandateandbyvi
rt
ueofit
spowersand
functi
onsunderE.
O.No.192andtheAdmini
str
ativ
eCodeof1987—t oprot
ectandadvancet
he
saidri
ght.

Adeni al
orvi
olati
onofthatrightbytheot herwhohasthecor el
ativ
edut yorobli
gati
ont o
respectorpr
otectthesamegi vesri
set oacauseofaction.Peti
tionersmaintai
nthatt he
granti
ngoftheTLAs, whicht
heyclaim wasdonewi thgraveabuseofdi scret
ion,vi
olatedthei
r
ri
ghttoabalancedandheal t
hfulecology;hence,
theful
lprotecti
ont her
eofrequir
est hatno
furt
herTLAsshouldber enewedorgr anted.

Acauseofact
ioni
sdef
inedas:

...anactoromissi
onofonepartyinv i
olati
onofthelegalri
ghtorr
ight
softheother
;andit
s
essent
ialel
ementsarel
egalri
ghtofthepl ai
nti
ff
,cor
relat
iveobli
gat
ionoft
hedefendant,
andact
oromissi
onofthedefendanti
nviol
ationofsaidlegalri
ght.18

Itisset tl
edi nt hisjuri
sdictiont hati namot i
ont odi smissbasedont hegr oundt hatthe
compl aintf ailstost ateacauseofact i
on,19t hequest ionsubmi tt
edt othecour tforresoluti
on
i
nv olvest hesuf fi
ciencyoft hef actsal l
egedint hecompl aintit
self
.Noot hermat t
ershouldbe
consi der ed; furthermor e,thet ruthoff alsit
yoft hesai dallegati
onsisbesi det hepoi ntforthe
trutht her eofi sdeemedhy pot heticallyadmi t
ted.Theonl yissuetober esol vedinsuchacasei s:
admi ttingsuchal legedf actst obet rue,mayt hecour trenderav al
idj udgmenti naccor dance
wi t
ht hepr ay erint hecompl aint?20I nMi l
i
tantev s.Edr osolano,21thi sCour tl
aiddownt herule
thatt hej udici aryshould" exer ciset heut mostcar eandci r
cumspect ioni npassi ngupona
mot iont odi smi ssont hegr oundoft heabsencet her eof[causeofact i
on]l est,byitsfail
ureto
mani festacor r
ectappr eciat i
onoft hef actsall
egedanddeemedhy pot het i
call
yadmi tted,what
thelawgr ant sorr ecogni zesisef fecti
velynulli
fied.Ifthathappens, ther ei sablotont hel egal
or
der
.Thel
awi
tsel
fst
andsi
ndi
sreput
e."

Aft
ercarefulexaminati
onoft hepet
iti
oner
s'compl aint,Wef i
ndt hestatementsundert he
i
ntroduct
oryaffir
mativeall
egati
ons,aswellasthespeci ficavermentsundert hesub- heading
CAUSEOFACTI ON, t
obeadequat eenought oshow, pr
imaf aci
e, t
heclai medviolat
ionoftheir
ri
ghts.Onthebasisthereof,t
heymayt husbegr anted,whollyorpar t
ly,
t herel
i
ef sprayedfor.It
bearsstr
essi
ng, however,t
hatinsof
arasthecancel lati
onoft heTLAsi sconcer ned,thereisthe
needtoimplead,aspar t
ydefendant
s, t
hegranteest hereoffortheyarei ndi
spensablepar t
ies.

Theforegoi ngconsidered,Ci v
ilCaseNo.90- 777besai dtor aiseapol iti
cal
question.Policy
for
mul ationordeterminationbyt heexecut i
veorlegisl
ativebr anchesofGov ernmenti snot
squarelyputinissue.Whati sprincipall
yinvolvedistheenf orcementofar i
ghtvis-a-v
ispolicies
alr
eadyf ormulatedandexpr essedi nlegisl
ati
on.Itmust ,nonet heless,beemphasi zedthatthe
poli
ti
cal questi
ondoct ri
nei snol onger ,
theinsurmount ableobst acl
etotheexerciseofjudicial
powerort heimpenetrableshi el
dt hatprotectsexecuti
v eandl egi sl
ati
veacti
onsf rom j
udicial
i
nquiryorr evi
ew.Thesecondpar agraphofsect i
on1, Arti
cleVI IIoftheConsti
tuti
onst atesthat:

Judici
alpowerincl
udesthedutyofthecour
tsofjusti
cetosett
leact
ual contr
oversi
esinvol
ving
ri
ghtswhicharelegal
lydemandableandenfor
ceable,andtodet
erminewhet herornotther
ehas
beenagr aveabuseofdiscr
eti
onamountingtolackorexcessofj
uri
sdictiononthepartofany
branchorinst
rumentali
tyoft
heGov er
nment.

Commenti
ngonthispr
ovi
sioni
nhisbook,
Phi l
i
ppinePol
i
tical
Law,
22Mr
.Just
iceI
sagani
A.
Cruz,
adi
sti
ngui
shedmemberofthi
sCourt,says:

Thef i
rstpartoftheauthorit
yrepresentsthetr
adit
ionalconceptofjudici
alpower,
invol
vingthe
set
tlementofconf li
cti
ngr i
ghtsasconf er
redaslaw.Thesecondpar toftheaut
horit
yrepresent
s
abroadeningofj udi
cialpowertoenabl ethecourt
sofjusti
cet orev
iewwhatwasbef or
e
for
biddent err
it
ory,t
owi t,
thediscreti
onofthepolit
ical
departmentsoft hegover
nment .

Asworded,thenewpr ovi
si
onv estsint
hejudiciary,andpar t
icul
arl
ytheSupr emeCour t,t
he
powertoruleuponev enthewisdom ofthedeci sionsoft heexecuti
veandt helegisl
atureandto
decl
arethei
ractsinvalidf
orlackorexcessofj uri
sdi ct
ionbecausetaint
edwi t
hgraveabuseof
di
scret
ion.Thecatch,ofcourse,isthemeaningof" graveabuseofdiscret
ion,"whichisav er
y
el
asti
cphrasethatcanexpandorcont r
actaccor dingt othedisposi
ti
onofthej udi
ciary.
I
nDazav
s.Si
ngson,
23Mr
.Just
iceCr
uz,
nowspeaki
ngf
ort
hisCour
t,not
ed:

Inthecasenowbef or eus,thej
urisdict
ionalobjecti
onbecomesev enlesstenabl
eanddecisive.
Ther easonisthat
,eveni fwewer etoassumet hattheissuepresentedbeforeuswaspoli
ticali
n
nature,wewoul dst
illnotbeprecludedf r
om revolvi
ngitundertheexpandedj uri
sdi
cti
on
conferreduponust hatnowcov ers,i
npr opercases, ev
ent hepoli
ti
calquesti
on.Art
icl
eVII
,
Secti
on1, oftheConst i
tuti
onclearl
yprov i
des:...

Thelastgr
oundinvokedbythetr
ial
courtindismi
ssi
ngthecompl
aintist
henon-
impai
rmentof
cont
ractscl
ausefoundintheConsti
tut
ion.Thecour
taquodecl
aredthat
:

TheCour tisli
kewiseoftheimpressionthati
tcannot,nomat terhowwest r
etchourj ur
isdi
cti
on,
grantther eli
efsprayedforbytheplaint
if
fs,i
.e.
,tocancelall
existi
ngti
mberlicenseagreement s
i
nt hecount ryandt oceaseanddesistfrom recei
vi
ng,accepting,pr
ocessi
ng,renewingor
approvingnewt i
mberl i
censeagreements.Fortodoot herwi
sewoul damountt o"i
mpai rmentof
contracts"abhored( si
c)bythefundament al
law.24

Wear enotper suadedatal l;

ont hecontr
ary,Weareamazed, i
fnotshocked, bysuchasweepi ng
pronouncement .Inthef i
rstplace,therespondentSecretarydidnot ,forobvi
ousreasons, even
i
nv okeinhismot iontodi smisst henon-i
mpairmentclause.I fhehaddoneso, hewoul dhave
actedwi thutmosti nfidel
itytotheGov ernmentbypr ovi
dingundueandunwar rantedbenef i
ts
andadv ant
agest ot hetimberl i
censehol der
sbecausehewoul dhav eforev
erboundt he
Gov ernmentt ostrictl
yrespectt hesaidli
censesaccordingt ot hei
rtermsandcondi t
ions
regardlessofchangesi npolicyandt hedemandsofpubl icinterestandwel f
are.Hewasawar e
thatascor rectl
ypoi ntedoutbyt hepeti
ti
oners,i
ntoeveryt i
mberl icensemustber eadSection
20oft heFor estryRefor m Code( P.D.No.705)whichpr ovides:

...Prov
ided,Thatwhenthenati
onali
nter
estsorequi
res,
thePresi
dentmayamend, modi
fy,
repl
aceorrescindanycont
ract
,concessi
on,per
mit,l
i
censesoranyotherf
orm ofpr
ivi
l
ege
grant
edherein...

Needl
esstosay ,al
ll
icensesmayt husberev okedorr
esci
ndedbyexecut
iveacti
on.I
tisnota
cont
ract
,propert
yorapr opert
yrightpr
otestedbythedueprocesscl
auseoftheConsti
tut
ion.I
n
Tanvs.Di
rectorofForestr
y,25thisCourtheld:
...At i
mberl i
censeisaninstr
umentbywhi chtheStateregul at
est
heut i
l
izati
onanddisposit
ion
offorestresourcest
ot heendthatpubl
icwelfar
eispr omot ed.Ati
mberlicenseisnotacontr
act
withi
nt hepurvi
ewoft hedueprocessclause;i
tisonlyalicenseorpri
vi
lege,whichcanbev al
idl
y
withdrawnwhenev erdict
atedbypubli
cinter
estorpubl i
cwel far
easinthi
scase.

Al i
censei smerelyaper mitorprivi
l
eget odowhatot herwisewoul dbeunlawful,
andi snota
contractbetweent heauthorit
y,federal,
stat
e,ormunicipal
, granti
ngitandthepersontowhom i
t
i
sgr anted;neit
herisitpropertyorapr opert
yri
ght,nordoesi tcreateavestedri
ght;nori
sit
taxati
on( 37C.J.168).Thus, t
hisCour thel
dthatt
hegr anti
ngofl i
censedoesnotcreate
i
rrevocableright
s,neitheri
sitpropertyorpropert
yr i
ghts(Peopl evs.OngTin,54O.G.7576).

Wereiter
atedthi
spr
onouncementi
nFel
i
peYsmael
,Jr
.&Co.
,I
nc.v
s.Deput
yExecut
ive
Secr
etary:26

...Timberl icenses,permitsandl i
censeagr eementsaret hepr i
ncipali
nstrument sbywhichthe
Stateregulatest heuti
lizat
ionanddi spositionofforestresourcest otheendt hatpublicwelf
are
i
spr omot ed.Andi tcanhar dl
ybegai nsaidt hatt
heymer elyevidenceapr iv
ilegegr antedbythe
Statetoqual ifi
edentiti
es,anddonotv esti
nt helatt
eraper manentori rr
evocabl eri
ghttothe
parti
cularconcessi onar eaandt heforestpr oductsther
ein.Theymaybev alidlyamended,
modi fi
ed,replacedorr escindedbyt heChi efExecutivewhennat i
onalint
erest ssor equir
e.Thus,
theyarenotdeemedcont ractswithi
nt hepur vi
ewoft heduepr ocessofl awcl ause[See
Sections3( ee)and20ofPr es.DecreeNo.705, asamended.Al so,Tanv.Di r
ect orofForest
ry,
G.R.No.L- 24548, October27, 1983, 125SCRA302] .

Si
ncet
imberl
i
censesar
enotcont
ract
s,t
henon-
impai
rmentcl
ause,
whi
chr
eads:

Sec.10. Nol
awi
mpai
ri
ng,
theobl
i
gat
ionofcont
ract
sshal
lbepassed.27

cannotbei
nvoked.

I
nt hesecondplace,ev
enifiti
stobeassumedthatthesamearecontr
act
s,t
heinst
antcase
doesnotinvol
veal aworevenanexecut
ivei
ssuancedeclar
ingt
hecancel
l
ati
onormodifi
cat
ion
ofexisti
ngtimberli
censes.Hence,thenon-
impai rmentclausecannotasy etbeinvoked.
Neverthel
ess,grant
ingfurt
herthatalawhasact uall
ybeenpassedmandat ingcancell
ati
onsor
modi f
icat
ions,t
hesamecannotst i
ll
besti
gmat izedasav i
olat
ionofthenon-i
mpairmentclause.
Thisisbecausebyi t
sv er
ynatureandpurpose,suchasl awcoul dhaveonlybeenpassedi nthe
exerci
seoft hepoli
cepoweroft hestat
eforthepur poseofadv anci
ngther i
ghtofthepeopleto
abalancedandheal thf
ulecol
ogy ,
promoti
ngt heirheal
thandenhanci ngthegeneralwelf
are.In
Abev s.FosterWheeler

Cor
p.28t
hisCour
tst
ated:

Thefr
eedom ofcontract,
underoursystem ofgovernment,i
snotmeantt obeabsolute.The
sameisunderst
oodt obesubjecttoreasonablel
egisl
ati
veregulat
ionaimedatthepromot i
onof
publ
i
chealth,moral
,safetyandwelfar
e.Inotherwords,t
heconst i
tut
ional
guarant
yofnon-
i
mpairmentofobli
gationsofcontr
actisli
mitedbytheexerciseofthepoli
cepoweroft heStat
e,
i
ntheint
erestofpubli
chealth,
safety,
mor alandgeneral
welfare.

Ther
easonforthi
sisemphatical
l
ysetfor
thinNebi
avs.NewYor
k,29quot
edi
nPhi
l
ippi
ne
Amer
icanLi
feInsuranceCo.v
s.Audi
torGeneral
,
30towit
:

Underourform ofgovernmentt heuseofpr opert

yandt hemakingofcontract
sar enormally
mattersofpri
vateandnotofpubl i
cconcern.Thegener alr
ulei
sthatbothshallbefreeof
governmentali
nterf
erence.Butneitherpr
oper t
yri
ghtsnorcont r
actri
ghtsareabsolute;
for
governmentcannotex i
stift
heci ti
zenmayatwi llusehispropert
ytothedetri
mentofhi sfel
lows,
orexerci
sehisfreedom ofcontracttoworkt hem har
m.Equal l
yfundamentalwiththepriv
ate
ri
ghtisthatoft
hepubl i
ctor egulat
eitint
hecommoni nter
est.

I
nshor
t,t
henon-
impai
rmentcl
ausemusty
iel
dtot
hepol
i
cepoweroft
hest
ate.31

Final
ly,i
tisdif
fi
cultt
oimagi ne,asthetri
alcourtdid,howt henon-i
mpair
mentclausecouldappl
y
withrespecttotheprayertoenjointherespondentSecr etar
yfr
om recei
vi
ng,accept
ing,
processing,r
enewingorappr ovi
ngnewt imberlicensesf or,
savei
ncasesofrenewal,no
contractwouldhaveasofy etexistedintheotherinstances.Moreover
,wit
hrespecttorenewal
,
theholderisnotenti
tl
edt oitasamat terofri
ght .

WHEREFORE,
beingi
mpressedwithmeri
t,t
heinst
antPet
it
ionisherebyGRANTED,andthe
chal
l
engedOr
derofr
espondentJudgeof18July1991di
smissingCivi
lCaseNo.90-
777is
her
ebysetasi
de.Thepet
it
ioner
smayther
efor
eamendthei
rcomplai
ntt
oimpl
eadas
def
endant
stheholder
sorgrant
eesoft
hequesti
onedt
imberl
i
censeagr
eement
s.

Nopr
onouncementast
ocost
s.

SOORDERED.

Cruz,Padi
l
la,
Bidi
n,Gr
iño-
Aqui
no,
Regal
ado,
Romer
o,Nocon,
Bel
l
osi
l
lo,
Mel
oandQui
ason,
JJ.
,
concur.

Nar
vasa,
C.J.
,PunoandVi
tug,
JJ.
,tooknopar
t.

Separ
ateOpi
nions

FELI
CIANO,
J.,
concur
ri
ng

Ijoinint her
esultr
eachedbymydi sti
nguishedbr ot
heri
ntheCourt
,Davide,Jr
.,J.,
inthiscase
whi ch, t
omymi nd,i
soneoft hemostimpor tantcasesdeci
dedbythisCourti
nt helastfew
year s.Theseminalpri
nci
pleslai
ddowni nthisdecisi
onareli
kel
ytoinfl
uenceprofoundlythe
directionandcourseoftheprotect
ionandmanagementoft heenv
ironment,whichofcour se
embracest
heutil
i
zati
onofallt
henat
ural
resourcesi
nthet
erri
tor
ialbaseofourpol
i
ty.Ihav
e
ther
efor
esoughttocl
ari
fy,
basi
cal
lyt
omy sel
f,whatt
heCourtappearstobesayi
ng.

TheCourtexplici
tlystatesthatpeti
tionershavethelocusst andinecessarytosust ai
nt he
bri
ngingand,mai ntenanceofthissui t(
Decisi
on,pp.11-12) .Locusstandiisnotaf unctionof
peti
ti
oners'
claimt hattheirsui
tispr operl
yregar
dedasacl asssuit.Iunderstandlocusst andi
to
ref
ertothelegalinterestwhichapl aint
iffmusthaveint hesubjectmat t
eroft hesuit.Because
oftheverybroadnessoft heconceptof" cl
ass"her
ei nvolved—member shi
pi nthi
s"class"
appearstoembr aceev eryoneli
vingi nthecount
rywhet hernowori nt he

future—i tappearstomet hatev eryonewhomaybeexpect edtobenef itfrom t hecour seof

actionpetit
ionersseektor equi r
epubl i
crespondent stot ake, i
sv estedwi t
ht henecessar ylocus
standi.TheCour tmaybeseent heref oretober ecognizingabenef iciaries'rightofact i
oni nthe
fi
eldofenv ir
onment alpr
otect ion,asagai nstbot hthepubl icadmi nistrat i
veagencydi rectl
y
concer nedandthepr i
vateper sonsorent iti
esoper ati
ngi nthef i
eldorsect orofact iv
ityinvolved.
Whet hersuchbenef i
ciar
ies'rightofact i
onmaybef oundunderanyandal l circumstances, or
whet hersomef ail
uretoact ,
int hefirstinstance,ont hepar toft hegov ernment alagency
concer nedmustbeshown( "priorexhaust i
onofadmi nistrativ
er emedi es" )
, isnotdiscussedi n
thedeci si
onandpr esumabl yisl ef
tf orfuturedeterminat i
oni nanappr opr i
at ecase.

TheCour thasal sodecl aredt hatt hecompl ainthasal legedandf ocusedupon" onespeci fi
c
fundament al l
egal ri
ght—t her i
ghtt oabal ancedandheal thful ecology "(Deci sion, p.14) .Ther e
i
snoquest i
ont hat" ther i
ghtt oabal ancedandheal thful ecology "is" f undament al"andt hat,
accordingl y,i
thasbeen" const i
tutionalized. "Butal thoughi tisf undament al i
nchar acter,I
suggest ,wi t
hv er ygr eatr espect ,thati tcannotbechar act eri
zedas" speci fic,
"wi thoutdoi ng
excessi vev i
ol encet ol anguage.I ti sinfactv erydi ff
iculttof ashi onl anguagemor e
compr ehensi v ei nscopeandgener ali
zedi nchar acterthanar ightt o" abal ancedandheal t
hful
ecology .
"Thel i
stofpar ti
cul arclaimswhi chcanbesubsumedundert hisrubicappear st obe
enti
relyopen- ended: prev ent i
onandcont rol ofemi ssionoft oxi cfumesandsmokef rom
factori
esandmot orv ehicles; ofdi schargeofoi l
,chemi cal effluents, gar bageandr awsewage
i
ntor iv
er s,inlandandcoast alwat er sbyv essel s,oilrigs,f actor i
es,mi nesandwhol e
communi t
ies; ofdumpi ngofor gani candi nor gani cwast esonopenl and, street sand
thoroughf ares; f ailur
et or ehabi li
tat elandaf terst rip-miningoropen- pitmi ning; kai nginorsl ash-
and-bur nfar mi ng; dest ructionoff isher i
es, cor al reefsandot herl i
vingsear esour cest hrought he
useofdy nami teorcy anideandot herchemi cals; contami nationofgr oundwat err esour ces; l
oss
ofcer t
ainspeci esoff aunaandf l
or a;andsoon.Theot herst at ement spoi ntedoutbyt heCour t
:
Section3, Execut i
v eOr derNo.192dat ed10June1987; Sect ion1, Ti tleXI V,BookI Voft he1987
Admi nistrativeCode; andP. D.No.1151, dat ed6June1977—al lappeart obef ormul ationsof
poli
cy ,asgener al andabst ractast heconst itutional statement sofbasi cpol icyi nAr ti
cl eI I
,
Section16( "ther ight—t oabal ancedandheal thfulecol ogy "
)and15( "therightt oheal th").
P.D.No.1152,al
sodated6June1977, ent
it
led"ThePhil
ippi
neEnvi
ronmentCode,
"is,
upont he
otherhand,
acompendi ouscoll
ecti
onofmore"speci
fi
cenv i
ronmentmanagementpoli
cies"and
"envi
ronmentqual
it
ystandards"(f
ourt
h"Whereas"cl
ause,Preambl
e)rel
ati
ngtoanextr
emel y
widerangeoftopi
cs:

(
a) ai
rqual
i
tymanagement
;

(
b) wat
erqual
i
tymanagement
;

(
c) l
andusemanagement
;

(
d) nat
ural
resour
cesmanagementandconser
vat
ionembr
aci
ng:

(
i) f
isher
iesandaquat
icr
esour
ces;

(
ii
) wi
l
dli
fe;

(
ii
i) f
orest
ryandsoi
lconser
vat
ion;

(
iv) f
loodcont
rol
andnat
ural
cal
ami
ti
es;

(
v) ener
gydev
elopment
;

(
vi) conser
vat
ionandut
il
izat
ionofsur
faceandgr
oundwat
er

(
vii
)mi
ner
alr
esour
ces
Two( 2)poi ntsarewor thmaki nginthisconnecti
on.Fir
stl
y,neitherpet
iti
onersnortheCourthas
i
dent i
fiedthepar t
icularprovi
sionorpr ovi
sions(i
fany)ofthePhi l
ippi
neEnv i
ronmentCode
whichgi verisetoaspeci ficl
egalrightwhichpetit
ioner
sar eseekingtoenforce.Secondl
y,t
he
Phil
ippineEnv ir
onmentCodei dentifi
eswithnotablecarethepar t
icul
argovernmentagency
chargedwi ththef ormulati
onandi mpl ementati
onofguidelinesandprogramsdeal i
ngwitheach
oftheheadi ngsandsub- headingsment i
onedabov e.ThePhi l
ippi
neEnv i
ronmentCodedoesnot ,
i
not herwor ds,appeart ocontempl ateacti
onont hepartofpr i
vatepersonswhoar e
beneficiar
iesofimpl ement at
ionoft hatCode.

Asamat t
eroflogi
c,byfindingpetit
ioners'
causeofactionasanchor edonal egalri
ght
comprisedintheconstit
uti
onal st
atement sabovenoted,theCourtisineffectsay i
ngthat
Secti
on15( andSection16)ofAr t
icleIIoftheConst
itut
ionar esel
f-
executingandj udici
all
y
enfor
ceableevenintheirpresentform.Thei mpl
icat
ionsoft hi
sdoctri
newi llhavetobeexpl or
ed
i
nf ut
urecases;thoseimplicat
ionsar etoolar
geandf ar
-reachingi
nnat ur
eev ent obehintedat
here.

Mysuggest ionissimplythatpet
it
ionersmust ,bef orethet r
ialcourt, showamor especifi
clegal
ri
ght—ar i
ghtcastinlanguageofasi gnif
icantlyloweror derofgener ali
tythanArti
cl eI
I(15)of
theConstit
ut i
on—t hatisormaybev i
olatedbyt heact ions,orfail
ur est oact,i
mput edtothe
publi
crespondentbypet it
ioner
ssot hatthetrialcourtcanv al
idlyrenderj udgmentgr anti
ngallor
partoft
her eli
efprayedfor.Tomymi nd,theCour tshoul dbeunder stoodassi mplysay i
ngthat
suchamor especifi
clegalri
ghtorri
ghtsmaywel lexistinourcor pusofl aw,consi
der i
ngthe
generalpol
icypr i
nci
plesfoundintheConst it
utionandt heexistenceoft hePhili
ppine
Envir
onmentCode, andthatthetr
ialcourtshoul dhav egivenpet it
ioner sanef f
ecti
veoppor t
unity
sotodemonst rat
e,i
nsteadofaborti
ngt heproceedi ngsonamot i
ont odismiss.

Itseemst omeimpor tantt

hatthelegal r
ightwhichisanessent i
alcomponentofacauseof
acti
onbeaspeci fic,
operablel
egalri
ght ,r
atherthanaconst it
uti
onalorstat
utorypol
icy,
forat
l
eastt wo(2)r
easons.Onei sthatunlesst helegalri
ghtcl
aimedt ohavebeenv i
olat
edor
disregar
dedisgivenspecifi
cat
ioninoper ationalt
erms,defendantsmaywel lbeunableto
defendthemselvesintel
li
gentl
yandef fectiv
ely;i
notherwor ds,t
herearedueprocess
dimensionstothismat t
er.

Thesecondisabroader-
gaugeconsiderati
on—wher easpecif
icv
iol
ati
onoflaworappli
cabl
e
regul
ati
onisnotal
legedorprov
ed,petit
ionerscanbeexpect
edtofal
lbackontheexpanded
concept
ionofjudi
cial
powerinthesecondpar agr
aphofSecti
on1ofArti
cleVII
Ioft
he
Const
it
uti
onwhi
chr
eads:

Sect
ion1. ...

Judici
alpowerincl
udesthedutyofthecour
tsofjusti
cetosett
leactualcontr
oversi
esinvol
ving
ri
ghtswhicharelegal
lydemandableandenfor
ceable,andtodeter
minewhet herornotther
ehas
beenagr aveabuseofdiscr
eti
onamountingtolackorexcessofjuri
sdi
ctiononthepartofany
branchorinst
rumentali
tyoft
heGov er
nment.(Emphasissuppl
ied)

Whensubst anti
v est andardsasgener alas" therightt oabal ancedandheal thyecology"and" t
he
ri
ghttoheal th"ar ecombi nedwi t
hr emedi alstandar dsasbr oadr angingas"agr aveabuseof
discr
etionamount i
ngt olackorexcessofj uri
sdiction,"theresultwi l
lbe,i
tisrespectf
ull
y
submi t
ted,topr opel courtsintot heunchar tedoceanofsoci alandeconomi cpol i
cymaki ng.At
l
eastinr espectoft hev astar eaofenv i
ronment al protecti
onandmanagement ,ourcourt
shav e
noclaimt ospeci al t
echni calcompet enceandexper i
enceandpr ofessi
onalqualif
icat
ion.Wher e
nospeci fi
c,oper ablenormsandst andar dsar eshownt oexist,thent hepoli
cymaki ng
department s—t hel egislati
v eandexecut i
vedepar tment s—mustbegi v
enar ealandef f
ectiv
e
opportunitytofashi onandpr omul gatethosenor msandst andar ds,andtoimpl ementthem
beforethecour tsshoul di ntervene.

Myl earnedbr otherDav ide,Jr .,

J.,r
ightlyinsiststhatthet i
mbercompani es,whoseconcessi on
agreement sorTLA' spet i
ti
oner sdemandpubl i
crespondent sshoul dcancel,mustbei mpleaded
i
nt hepr oceedi ngsbel ow.I tmi ghtbeaskedt hat,i
fpetit
ioners'enti
tlementtother eli
ef
demandedi snotdependentuponpr oofofbr eachbyt hetimbercompani esofoneormor eof
thespeci fi
ct ermsandcondi ti
onsoft hei rconcessionagr eement s(andthis,peti
ti
oner s
i
mpl ici
tl
yassume) , whatwi llthosecompani esli
ti
gateabout ?TheanswerIsuggesti sthatthey
mayseekt odi sputet heex i
st enceoft hespeci fi
clegal r
ightpetiti
onersshouldallege,aswel las
therealit
yoft hecl aimedf act ualnexusbet weenpet i
ti
oner s'
speci f
iclegalri
ghtsandt he
clai
medwr ongf ulactsorf ailurestoactofpubl i
crespondentadmi nist
rati
veagency .Theymay
alsocont rover ttheappr opriatenessoft her emedyorr emedi esdemandedbypet i
tioners,
under
allt
heci rcumst anceswhi chexi st
.

Ivotet
ograntthePetit
ionforCerti
orar
ibecauset
heprotect
ionoftheenvi
ronment
,includi
ng
thefor
estcoverofourterri
tor
y,i
sofextremeimport
anceforthecountr
y.Thedoct
ri
nessetout
i
nt heCourt
'sdeci
sionissuedtodayshould,
however
,besubject
edt ocl
oserexami
nation.
#Separ
ateOpi
nions

FELI
CIANO,
J.,
concur
ri
ng

Ijoini ntheresultr
eachedbymydi st
inguishedbr ot
herintheCour t,
Dav i
de,Jr
.,J.,inthiscase
whi ch, t
omymi nd,isoneofthemosti mpor t
antcasesdecidedbyt hisCourti
nt hel astfew
year s.Thesemi nalpri
ncipl
eslaiddowni nt hi
sdecisi
onar eli
kelytoinfl
uenceprof oundlythe
directionandcour seoftheprotecti
onandmanagementoft heenv i
ronment,whichofcour se
embr acestheut i
li
zati
onofallthenaturalresourcesintheterri
tor
ialbaseofourpol ity.Ihave
theref or
esoughtt oclari
fy,
basical
lytomy self,whattheCour tappearstobesay ing.

TheCourtexplici
tlystatesthatpeti
tionershavethelocusst andinecessarytosust ai
nt he
bri
ngingand,mai ntenanceofthissui t(
Decisi
on,pp.11-12) .Locusstandiisnotaf unctionof
peti
ti
oners'
claimt hattheirsui
tispr operl
yregar
dedasacl asssuit.Iunderstandlocusst andi
to
ref
ertothelegalinterestwhichapl aint
iffmusthaveint hesubjectmat t
eroft hesuit.Because
oftheverybroadnessoft heconceptof" cl
ass"her
ei nvolved—member shi
pi nthi
s"class"
appearstoembr aceev eryoneli
vingi nthecount
rywhet hernowori nt he

future—i tappearstomet hatev eryonewhomaybeexpect edtobenef itfrom t hecour seof

actionpetit
ionersseektor equi r
epubl i
crespondent stot ake, i
sv estedwi t
ht henecessar ylocus
standi.TheCour tmaybeseent heref oretober ecognizingabenef iciaries'rightofact i
oni nthe
fi
eldofenv ir
onment alpr
otect ion,asagai nstbot hthepubl icadmi nistrat i
veagencydi rectl
y
concer nedandthepr i
vateper sonsorent iti
esoper ati
ngi nthef i
eldorsect orofact iv
ityinvolved.
Whet hersuchbenef i
ciar
ies'rightofact i
onmaybef oundunderanyandal l circumstances, or
whet hersomef ail
uretoact ,
int hefirstinstance,ont hepar toft hegov ernment alagency
concer nedmustbeshown( "priorexhaust i
onofadmi nistrativ
er emedi es" )
, isnotdiscussedi n
thedeci si
onandpr esumabl yisl ef
tf orfuturedeterminat i
oni nanappr opr i
at ecase.

TheCourthasalsodeclaredthatt
hecompl ai
nthasall
egedandf ocusedupon" onespecif
ic
fundament
allegalr
ight—t heri
ghttoabal ancedandhealt
hfulecology"(Decisi
on,p.14)
.There
i
snoquestionthat"theri
ghttoabal ancedandhealthf
ulecol
ogy"is"fundament al
"andthat,
accordi
ngl
y,i
thasbeen" consti
tut
ionali
zed."Butal
thoughiti
sfundament alincharact
er,
I
suggest ,wi t
hv er ygreatr espect,thati tcannotbechar acteri
zedas" speci fic,
"wi thoutdoi ng
excessi vev i
ol encet ol anguage.I ti sinfactv erydi ff
iculttofashi onlanguagemor e
compr ehensi v ei nscopeandgener ali
zedi nchar acterthanar ightto" abal ancedandheal t
hful
ecology .
"Thel i
stofpar ti
cularclaimswhi chcanbesubsumedundert hi
sr ubicappear st obe
enti
relyopen- ended: prev enti
onandcont rol ofemi ssionoft oxi cfumesandsmokef rom
fact
or i
esandmot orv ehicles;ofdi schargeofoi l
,chemi caleffluents,gar bageandr awsewage
i
ntor iv
er s,inlandandcoast alwat er sbyv essel s,oilrigs,factor i
es,mi nesandwhol e
communi t
ies; ofdumpi ngofor gani candi nor gani cwast esonopenl and, streetsand
thor
oughf ares; f ailur
et or ehabili
tat elandaf t
erst rip-miningoropen- pitmi ning; kainginorsl ash-
and-bur nfar mi ng; dest ructionoff isher i
es, cor al reefsandot herl i
vi
ngsear esour cest hrought he
useofdy nami teorcy anideandot herchemi cal s; contami nationofgr oundwat err esour ces; l
oss
ofcer t
ainspeci esoff aunaandf lor a;andsoon.Theot herstat ement spoi ntedoutbyt heCour t
:
Section3, Execut i
v eOr derNo.192dat ed10June1987; Section1, TitleXI V,BookI Voft he1987
Admi nistrativeCode; andP. D.No.1151, dat ed6June1977—al lappeart obef ormul ationsof
poli
cy ,asgener al andabst ractast heconst i
tut ional statement sofbasi cpol icyinAr ti
cl eI I
,
Section16( "ther ight—t oabal ancedandheal thfulecol ogy"
)and15( "t
her ighttoheal th").

P.D.No.1152,al
sodated6June1977, ent
it
led"ThePhil
ippi
neEnvi
ronmentCode,
"is,
upont he
otherhand,
acompendi ouscoll
ecti
onofmore"speci
fi
cenv i
ronmentmanagementpoli
cies"and
"envi
ronmentqual
it
ystandards"(f
ourt
h"Whereas"cl
ause,Preambl
e)rel
ati
ngtoanextr
emel y
widerangeoftopi
cs:

(
a) ai
rqual
i
tymanagement
;

(
b) wat
erqual
i
tymanagement
;

(
c) l
andusemanagement
;

(
d) nat
ural
resour
cesmanagementandconser
vat
ionembr
aci
ng:

(
i) f
isher
iesandaquat
icr
esour
ces;

(
ii
) wi
l
dli
fe;
(
ii
i) f
orest
ryandsoi
lconser
vat
ion;

(
iv) f
loodcont
rol
andnat
ural
cal
ami
ti
es;

(
v) ener
gydev
elopment
;

(
vi) conser
vat
ionandut
il
izat
ionofsur
faceandgr
oundwat
er

(
vii
)mi
ner
alr
esour
ces

Two( 2)poi ntsarewor thmaki nginthisconnecti

on.Fir
stl
y,neitherpet
iti
onersnortheCourthas
i
dent i
fiedthepar t
icularprovi
sionorpr ovi
sions(i
fany)ofthePhi l
ippi
neEnv i
ronmentCode
whichgi verisetoaspeci ficl
egalrightwhichpetit
ioner
sar eseekingtoenforce.Secondl
y,t
he
Phil
ippineEnv ir
onmentCodei dentifi
eswithnotablecarethepar t
icul
argovernmentagency
chargedwi ththef ormulati
onandi mpl ementati
onofguidelinesandprogramsdeal i
ngwitheach
oftheheadi ngsandsub- headingsment i
onedabov e.ThePhi l
ippi
neEnv i
ronmentCodedoesnot ,
i
not herwor ds,appeart ocontempl ateacti
onont hepartofpr i
vatepersonswhoar e
beneficiar
iesofimpl ement at
ionoft hatCode.

Asamat t
eroflogi
c,byfindingpetit
ioners'
causeofactionasanchor edonal egalri
ght
comprisedintheconstit
uti
onal st
atement sabovenoted,theCourtisineffectsay i
ngthat
Secti
on15( andSection16)ofAr t
icleIIoftheConst
itut
ionar esel
f-
executingandj udici
all
y
enfor
ceableevenintheirpresentform.Thei mpl
icat
ionsoft hi
sdoctri
newi llhavetobeexpl or
ed
i
nf ut
urecases;thoseimplicat
ionsar etoolar
geandf ar
-reachingi
nnat ur
eev ent obehintedat
here.

Mysuggest ionissimplythatpet
it
ionersmust ,beforethet r
ialcourt, showamor especifi
clegal
ri
ght—ar ightcastinlanguageofasi gnif
icant
lyloweror derofgener ali
tythanArti
cleII(15)of
theConsti
tut i
on—t hatisormaybev i
olat
edbyt heact ions,orfai
lur estoact ,i
mputedt othe
publi
crespondentbypet it
ioner
ssot hatthetri
alcourtcanv al
idl
yr enderj udgmentgrantingallor
partoft
her eli
efprayedfor.Tomymi nd,t
heCour tshoul dbeunder stoodassi mplysayingthat
suchamor especif
iclegalri
ghtorri
ghtsmaywel lexistinourcor pusofl aw, consi
deri
ngt he
general
pol
icypri
nci
plesfoundintheConst i
tut
ionandt heexi
stenceofthePhi
li
ppine
Envi
ronmentCode,andthatthetr
ialcourtshouldhavegivenpeti
ti
onersaneff
ecti
veoppor
tuni
ty
sotodemonstrat
e,i
nsteadofaborti
ngt heproceedingsonamot iontodismi
ss.

Itseemst omeimpor tantt

hatthelegal r
ightwhichisanessent i
alcomponentofacauseof
acti
onbeaspeci fic,
operablel
egalri
ght ,r
atherthanaconst it
uti
onalorstat
utorypol
icy,
forat
l
eastt wo(2)r
easons.Onei sthatunlesst helegalri
ghtcl
aimedt ohavebeenv i
olat
edor
disregar
dedisgivenspecifi
cat
ioninoper ationalt
erms,defendantsmaywel lbeunableto
defendthemselvesintel
li
gentl
yandef fectiv
ely;i
notherwor ds,t
herearedueprocess
dimensionstothismat t
er.

Thesecondisabroader -
gaugeconsiderati
on—wher easpecif
icv
iol
ati
onoflaworappli
cabl
e
regul
ati
onisnotall
egedorpr ov
ed,petit
ionerscanbeexpect
edtofal
lbackontheexpanded
concepti
onofjudi
cialpowerinthesecondpar agr
aphofSecti
on1ofArti
cleVII
Ioft
he
Consti
tut
ionwhichreads:

Sect
ion1. ...

Judici
alpowerincl
udesthedutyofthecour
tsofjusti
cetosett
leactualcontr
oversi
esinvol
ving
ri
ghtswhicharelegal
lydemandableandenfor
ceable,andtodeter
minewhet herornotther
ehas
beenagr aveabuseofdiscr
eti
onamountingtolackorexcessofjuri
sdi
ctiononthepartofany
branchorinst
rumentali
tyoft
heGov er
nment.(Emphasissuppl
ied)

Whensubst anti
v est andardsasgener alas" therightt oabal ancedandheal thyecology"and" t
he
ri
ghttoheal th"ar ecombi nedwi t
hr emedi alstandar dsasbr oadr angingas"agr aveabuseof
discr
etionamount i
ngt olackorexcessofj uri
sdiction,"theresultwi l
lbe,i
tisrespectf
ull
y
submi t
ted,topr opel courtsintot heunchar tedoceanofsoci alandeconomi cpol i
cymaki ng.At
l
eastinr espectoft hev astar eaofenv i
ronment al protecti
onandmanagement ,ourcourt
shav e
noclaimt ospeci al t
echni calcompet enceandexper i
enceandpr ofessi
onalqualif
icat
ion.Wher e
nospeci fi
c,oper ablenormsandst andar dsar eshownt oexist,thent hepoli
cymaki ng
department s—t hel egislati
v eandexecut i
vedepar tment s—mustbegi v
enar ealandef f
ectiv
e
opportunitytofashi onandpr omul gatethosenor msandst andar ds,andtoimpl ementthem
beforethecour tsshoul di ntervene.

Myl
ear
nedbr
otherDav
ide,
Jr.
,J.
,ri
ght
lyi
nsi
stst
hatt
het
imbercompani
es,
whoseconcessi
on
agreement sorTLA' spetiti
oner sdemandpubl i
crespondent sshoul dcancel,mustbei mpleaded
i
nt heproceedi ngsbel ow.I tmi ghtbeaskedt hat,i
fpeti
tioners'enti
tlementtother eli
ef
demandedi snotdependentuponpr oofofbr eachbythet imbercompani esofoneormor eof
thespecifi
ct ermsandcondi ti
onsoft heirconcessionagr eement s(andthis,peti
ti
oner s
i
mpl i
cit
lyassume) , whatwi llthosecompani esli
ti
gateabout ?TheanswerIsuggesti sthatthey
mayseekt odi sputet heex i
st enceoft hespecifi
clegal r
ightpetiti
onersshouldallege,aswel las
thereal
ityoft hecl aimedf act ualnexusbet weenpet i
ti
oner s'
speci f
iclegalri
ghtsandt he
clai
medwr ongf ulactsorf ailurestoactofpubl i
crespondentadmi nist
rati
veagency .Theymay
alsocontrovertt heappr opriatenessoft her emedyorr emedi esdemandedbypet i
tioners,
under
allt
hecircumst anceswhi chexi st
.

Ivotet
ograntthePetit
ionforCerti
orar
ibecauset
heprotect
ionoftheenvi
ronment
,includi
ng
thefor
estcoverofourterri
tor
y,i
sofextremeimport
anceforthecountr
y.Thedoct
ri
nessetout
i
nt heCourt
'sdeci
sionissuedtodayshould,
however
,besubject
edt ocl
oserexami
nation.

#Foot
not
es

1 Rol
l
o,164;
186.

2 I
d.,
62-
65,
excl
usi
veofannexes.

3 UnderSect
ion12,
Rul
e3,
Rev
isedRul
esofCour
t.

4 Rol
l
o,67.

5 I
d.,
74.

6 Rol
l
o,70-
73.

7 Annex"
B"ofPet
it
ions;
Id.
,43-
44.
8 Par
agr
aph7,
Pet
it
ion,
6;Rol
l
o,20.

9 Webst
er'
sThi
rdNewI
nter
nat
ional
Dict
ionar
y,unabr
idged,
1986,
1508.

10 Ti
tl
eXIV(Envi
ronmentandNat
ural
Resour
ces)
,BookI
Voft
heAdmi
nist
rat
iveCodeof
1987,
E.O.No.292.

11 Annex"
B"ofPet
it
ion;
Rol
l
o,43-
44.

12 Recor
doft
heConst
it
uti
onal
Commi
ssi
on,
vol
.4,
913.

13 Fori
nst
ance,
thePr
eambl
eandAr
ti
cleXI
Iont
heNat
ional
EconomyandPat
ri
mony
.

14 TheReor
gani
zat
ionActoft
heDepar
tmentofEnv
ironmentandNat
ural
Resour
ces.

15 E.
O.No.292.

16 Sect
ion1.

17 Sect
ion2.

18 Ma-aoSugarCentral
Co.vs.Barr
ios,79Phi
l.666[1947];
Communi t
yInv
est
mentand
Fi
nanceCor p.v
s.Garci
a,88Phi
l.215[1951];Remi
terevs.Vda.deYulo,
16SCRA251[1966]
;
Caseñasvs.Rosal
es,19SCRA462[ 1967];Vir
atav
s.Sandiganbayan,
202SCRA680[1991]
;
Madronavs.Rosal,
204SCRA1[ 1991].

19 Sect
ion1(
q),
Rul
e16,
Rev
isedRul
esofCour
t.
20 Adamosvs.J.
M.TuasonandCo.
,I
nc.25SCRA529[
1968]
;Vi
rat
avs.Sandi
ganbay
n,
supr
a;Madr
onav
s.Rosal
,supra.

21 39SCRA473,
479[
1971]
.

22 1991ed.
,226-
227.

23 180SCRA496, 501-502[1989].Seeal
so,Cosetengvs.Mit
ra,
187SCRA377[1990]
;
Gonzalesvs.Macarai
g,191SCRA452[ 1990]
;Ll
amasv s.Orbos,
202SCRA844[1991]
;Bengzon
vs.SenateBlueRi
bbonCommi t
tee,203SCRA767[ 1991].

24 Rol
l
o,44.

25 125SCRA302,
325[
1983]
.

26 190SCRA673,
684[
1990]
.

27 Ar
ti
cleI
II
,1987Const
it
uti
on.

28 110Phi
l
.198,
203[
1960]
;foot
not
esomi
tt
ed.

29 291U.
S.502,
523,
78L.ed.940,
947-
949.

30 22SCRA135,
146-
147[
1968]
.

31 Ongsi
akov s.Gamboa,86Phi
l.50[1950]
;Abevs.FosterWheelerCorp.supra.
;Phil
.
Ameri
canLifeInsuranceCo.v
s.Audi
torGeneral
,supr
a.;Alal
ayanvs.NPC,24SCRA172[ 1968]
;
Vi
ctor
ianovs.Eli
zaldeRopeWorker
s'Union,59SCRA54[ 1974];
Kabil
ingvs.National
Housing
Aut
hor
it
y,156SCRA623[
1987]
.

TheLawphi
lPr
oject-Ar
ell
anoLawFoundat
ion