Philippines
The Philippines is leading Southeast Asia in advancing protections for the rights of nature.
In October 2019, for the first time, national rights of nature legislation was introduced into the Filipino Congress. Senator Risa Hontiveros introduced the bill in the Senate as S.B. 1097, which was then followed by the bill’s introduction In November 2019 by Representative Jose Belmonte, along with four co-sponsors, in the House of Representatives as HB 5603. The bills were referred to committees in both chambers, and the legislation is expected to be introduced again in the next Congress.
The campaign on the rights of nature is led by CDER country-based partner Partnership Mission for People’s Initiatives (PMPI), formerly the Philippine Misereor Partnership. PMPI is a social development and advocacy network of 250 members from faith-based groups, non-government organizations, and people’s organizations grouped into 15 regional clusters all over the Philippines.
The proposed legislation recognizes the rights of nature to exist; to the maintenance of nature’s vital cycles and functions, and to the conditions necessary for nature’s renewal and restoration. Further, the legislation ensures that the Government of Philippines “shall take all necessary action to protect and enforce" the rights of nature. Importantly, the bills empower the Filipino people themselves to act on behalf of nature and protects their individual right to defend nature from being targeted by “Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation” (SLAPP).
Much of the work within the Philippines regarding the rights of nature has existed within the faith communities. The Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights assisted PMPI to develop the legislation, as well as local legislation to secure the rights of nature in law.
As the largest Catholic nation in Southeast Asia, the Catholic Church has also had a hand in shaping the conversation on the rights of nature in the Philippines. In 2019, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines issued a Pastoral Letter titled “An urgent call for ecological conversion, hope in the face of climate emergency.” The letter expresses support for the rights of nature, stating:
The recognition of the Rights of Nature is at the core of the call for ecological conversion, as Pope Francis emphasized in his speech at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2015. There he suggested that a “true ‘right of the environment’ does exist because we human beings are part of the environment. We live in communion with it, since the environment itself entails ethical limits which human activity must acknowledge and respect. Any harm done to the environment, therefore, is harm done to humanity.”
To learn more about the growing movement in the Philippines, watch our webinar “Focus on the Philippines” with PMPI’s attorney Mario Maderazo and National Coordinator Yolanda Esguerra.
