Press Release
August 24, 2007

Loren lauds Ombudsman for giving
teeth to RP's environmental laws

Senator Loren Legarda lauded yesterday an initiative by the Ombudsman and a non-profit foundation to regularly check if government agencies and local government units (LGUs) are fully implementing the country's environmental laws.

Loren said that the "Environmental Compliance Audit" to be conducted by the Ombudsman and the Law of Nature (Batas Kalikasan) Foundation, under a memorandum of cooperation they signed yesterday, is "a big leap forward in environmental protection."

"I take special mention of the Ombudsman's pledge under the memorandum to initiate legal action against government officials who continuously fail or refuse to comply with basic environmental laws," said Loren.

An awardee of the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), Loren lamented that at least 150 LGUs in the country are being remiss in their duties to protect the environment.

"For example, it's been seven years already since the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, which I authored during the 12 th Congress, had been passed. But to this day, the provisions of this law are largely being ignored by many government officials," she said.

The law (Republic Act No. 9003) mandates the government to promote the establishment of waste treatment, recycling and composting facilities, in partnership with the private sector. It prohibits environmentally damaging waste disposal measures like incineration and the establishment of open dumps.

Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and Antonio Oposa, Jr., president of the UNEP-affiliated Batas Kalikasan, signed the memorandum of cooperation in undertaking the regular environmental compliance audit of government entities.

Loren, who chaired the Senate environment committee during the 12th Congress, also co-authored and shepherded the passage of another landmark environmental law, the Clean Air Act.

"This move by the Ombudsman will give teeth to the implementation of our environmental laws," said Loren, the founding chair of the environmental organization Luntiang Pilipinas.

Since its establishment by Loren in 1998 when she won her first term as senator with over 15 million votes, Luntiang Pilipinas has already planted over two million trees all over the country.

Loren said that if fully implemented, RA 9003 would bring down the level of solid waste generated all over the country.

The law mandates the adoption of environmentally friendly solid waste management measures, including volume reduction, recycling and re-use prior to waste collection and treatment.

"RA 9003 involves households in minimizing the volume of solid waste through segregation and re-use of non-degradable materials like plastic," said Loren.

"At the same time, it calls for the establishment of solid waste processing facilities that further reduce the volume of waste through materials recovery and the creation of so-called green charcoal."

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