Citizen’s Handbook on Environmental Justice

Since 2009, the Supreme Court has actively pursued and implemented projects on Environmental Justice with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) under its Fostering Democratic Governance Programme. Interventions during the early phases focused on capacitating the stakeholders of the criminal justice system through multi-sectoral training on the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases.

To make the Environmental Laws and Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases more accessible to the community, the UNDP included in its 2011 Approved Work Plan the development of user-friendly, action-oriented information, education, and communication (IEC) materials on environmental justice to educate the general public on their environmental rights and on the remedies and mechanisms available for them to assert their rights. Thus, the publication of a Citizen’s Handbook on Environmental Justice was intended to serve as a practical guide on actions citizens can take against environmental violations. It is hoped that this Handbook shall encourage citizens’ vigilance in the protection of the environment and shall contribute to a meaningful institutionalization of Environmental Justice in the country.

The draft Handbook was presented to the participants of a validation workshop consisting of representatives from government agencies, non-governmental and people’s organizations, and was subsequently subjected to consultation with a panel of editors. In this light, the Research, Publications, and Linkages Office of the Philippine Judicial Academy and the Program Management Office of the Supreme Court would like to thank the following persons/agencies for their invaluable contribution towards the production of the Handbook:

• The principal researcher Atty. Gregorio Rafael P. Bueta and the Panel of Editors: Dean Sedfrey M. Candelaria and Atty. Maria Generosa T. Mislang of Tanggol Kalikasan;
• The facilitators of the validation workshop with government agencies and the non-government organizations: Atty. Grizelda Mayo-Anda and Atty. Brenda Jay Angeles Mendoza;
• The government agencies that participated in the validation workshop: the Supreme Court (Office of the Chief Justice and the Program Management Office), the Department of Justice (National Prosecution Service and the Public Attorney’s Office), the Philippine Coast Guard, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau and Mines and Geosciences Bureau), the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, the Philippine National Police and the PNP Maritime Group, and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples; and
• The private offices and non-governmental and people’s organizations that participated in the validation workshop: Kapunan, Garcia and Castillo Law Offices, Upholding Life and Nature (ULAN), and Alternative Law Groups/Legal Resource Center.

And last, but certainly not least, PHILJA would like to thank Tanggol Kalikasan through its Reducing Threats to Philippine Biodiversity Through Environmental Law Enforcement Capacity Strengthening Project supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for funding the printing of this Handbook.

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