Renowned environment lawyer Antonio A. Oposa Jr. said that the Philippines is known to have the most voluminous legislation concerning the environment and its preservation. However, the record of implementation, he further said, suffers in the sickbed of non-compliance. His observation seems to be validated by the World Wildlife Fund International when it listed the environmental problems besetting the country and made the observation that these environmental problems are brought about by weak enforcement of laws and poor regulation.
In 1991, the Philippine legislature enacted Republic Act 7160 or the Local Government Code, transferring, among many others, certain environmental management functions to local government units (LGUs). Among the LGUs that is taking this stewardship responsibility seriously is Batangas City.
With impetus provided by Presidential Decree No. 1152 or the Philippine Environment Code, it entered into an agreement with the School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM) in February 2009 for assistance in drafting the “Environmental Code of Batangas City, Philippines.”
