The Law of Nature by
Atty. Antonio A. Oposa Jr.
as published in:
The Role of the Law in Environmental Protection

ANTONIO OPOSA
The Law of Nature

(Excerpts of this paper were first presented before
the LAWASIA Conference in Manila, Aug. 30,
1997. )

In the panorama of the Earth's geological age of 4.5
billion years, the appearance of the precursors of
Homo sapiens two million years ago is but a
microsecond. This brevity of time not withstanding, it
is alleged that Homo sapiens is the species at the apex
of the animal kingdom, having risen the evolutionary
ladder because of his cognitive, analytical, synthetical
and creative mental powers. As a species however, it
must be recalled that man, as an animal, is but a strand
in the web of life, inextricably bound to the other
strands by the elements of land, air and water.

We are therefore part and parcel of Nature, a mere
link in the entirety of the world around us. Being the
species that allegedly possess the powers of thought,
we bear the responsibility and play the role of being
the thinking part of Nature.

Anthropocentric humans however, seem to have (mis)
taken the biblical passage of subduing the earth too
seriously. Since the Industrial Revolution a mere
hundred or so years ago, we have trodden and
tou-ched with ruinous feet and hands the farthest ends
of the earth. We have traveled far and wide in search
of materials to manufacture products for our
convenience, comfort and luxury with little, if any,
thought of its consequences.

In the process, we have over-fished or dirtied our
waters, exhausted or contaminated our land, and
spoiled the quality of the very air that we breathe.
Thus, the statement that we are the most intelligent
animal is an allegation that is at best a prima facie
presumption that is on the brink of complete rebuttal.

These environmental consequences began to manifest
themselves only in this generation, a period of some 40
years, a nanosecond in the Earth's age. In the
Philippines for example, with its land area of 30 million
hectares, it is said that 40 years ago we had 16 million
hectares of virgin forests. In 1988, it was indicated by
satellite photography that this forest reserve had been
reduced to a mere 800,000 hectares.

Policy, Law and the Courts.

Policy declares the desire and plan to give attention to
and address a particular public concern. Laws and
regulations reduce the details of the policy in distilled
form. Courts interpret the laws when there are
ambiguities that arise in a controversy between parties
of competing interests.

Policy is generally reactive to situations of concern
with which the body politic is faced. Often, it is
crisis-driven in the sense that a situation must reach
crisis proportions before attention is given focus.
Indeed, because of the silently-creeping characteristic
of environmental degradation, the world looked the
other way as economics took the front seat in the
global agenda of development.

It was not until the 1972 Stockholm Conference that
countries began, even if lackadaisically, to awaken to
the issue of environmental damage on a global scale.
During those days, people who talked of
environmental issues were looked upon as either
prophets of doom, alarmists or outright hippies.

Over the last 20 years, these manifestations of abuse
began to become more and more apparent: fish stocks
declined, forests were and are being alarmingly
depleted, and the air in urban areas became thoroughly
unhealthy. Even the very climate and the earth's
atmosphere are facing serious threat of potentially
disastrous disturbance as a result of anthropogenic
activities, in the name of economic development.

Policies were proclaimed. And as law is but the
formalization of policy, a series of laws were
promulgated in the Philippines. As early as 1964, we
already had a National Air and Water Act to control
industrial pollution. It was revised and strengthened in
1976. Concern for the degradation and competing
interests prevalent in the Laguna Lake _ the second
largest inland body of water in South East Asia _ led
to the enactment of the law creating the Laguna Lake
Development Authority (LLDA)

Atty. Antonio A. Oposa Jr.
may be reached at:

Oposa Law Office
1807 Cityland 10 Tower I
6815 Ayala Ave. North
1227 Makati
The Philippines
Tel Nos. (632) 816-6775, 817-7088, 813-2656
Fax: (632) 816-6775
Email: oposa@psdn.org.ph
or aoposalaw@oposa.com