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THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
Greenpeace and two senators on Monday lauded the move of Supreme
Court that designated 117 environmental courts to speed up the
resolution of environmental cases in the country.
“This is a very welcome move.
We have long wanted to have green courts which would give special
attention to violations of environmental laws,” Environment
Secretary Lito Atienza said.
He added the establishment of the
green courts will help encourage environmentalists from various
sectors and organizations.
“They will now pursue their
advocacies with more passion and dedication because they know that
their actions will bear fruit because the environmental criminals
who have been reversing their gains will be prosecuted and
convicted,” he said.
DENR records showed that in 2006,
there were 1,529 cases filed in court for violation of forestry laws
alone. Of this number, 962 were still under litigation; 10 were for
arraignment and pre-trial; 75 were dismissed; four were lined up for
provisionary dismissal; eight were inquested at Regional Trial
Courts; 83 were filed with the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office; 18
were archived; and 172 were still pending in court.
Greenpeace Southeast Asia
Campaigns Director Von Hernandez also lauded the designation of the
green courts.
“The Supreme Court directive
establishing green courts is a good development which we hope will
not only expedite the resolution of pending and future environmental
cases, but also enhance the enforcement of existing environmental
laws.”
The creation of 117 environmental
courts was also lauded by Senators Pia Cayetano and Loren Legarda.
“To me, the initiative of Chief
Justice Reynato Puno to designate special courts to adjudicate
environmental cases comes like a whiff of fresh, unpolluted air,”
Cayetano, chairman of the Senate committee on Environment and
Natural Resources said.
“It shows that the highest
tribunal of our land is at tune with our rapidly changing times,”
said Legarda, the chairman and founder of the environmental
organization Luntiang Pilipinas which has planted over two million
trees nationwide since 1998.
--Ira Karen Apanay With Sammy Martin
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