OPOSA ET AL. vs. FULGENCIO S. FACTORAN, JR.

ET AL
G.R. No. 101083, 30 July 1993

FACTS:
The petitioners, Opsa et al., claiming that they not only represent their generation but
they represent as well the generations yet unborn, filed a case against the Honorable
Fulgencio S. Factioran (Factoran), the then Secretary of the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources (DENR), to cancel all existing Timber License Agreements (TLA) in the
country, and cease and desist from receiving, accepting, processing, renewing or approving
new timber license agreements. This is based on the reasoning that only “850,000 hectares
of virgin old-growth rainforests are left, barely 2.8% of the entire land mass of the Philippine
archipelago and about 3.0 million hectares of immature and uneconomical secondary growth
forests.” whereas 25 years ago, the rainforests in the Philippines occupied about 53% of the
country’s land mass. Public records have shown as well that Factoran have approved TLA’s
for corporations for logging amounting to 3.89 million hectares. Petitioners claimed that
Factoran have violated their constitutional rights to a balanced and healthful ecology by
allowing this and by refusing to cancel the existing TLA’s and that the continuance of the
TLA’s will also adversely affect the generation yet unborn.
Factoran filed a motion to dismiss the complaint on 22 June 1990 and was granted by
the court on 18 July 1991 on grounds that “the complaint states no cause of action against
him and that it raises a political question” and that “granting of the relief prayed for would
result in the impairment of contracts which is prohibited by the fundamental law of the land.”
Thus this instant petition.

ISSUE:
Whether or not the right to a balanced and healthful ecology encompasses the right of
future generations to a healthy environment and whether or not the DENR’s issuance of TLA
violates that right.

HELD:
The SC recognized the petitioners’ representation of the generation yet unborn,
stating that “We find no difficulty in ruling that they can, for themselves, for others of their
generation and for the succeeding generations, file a class suit. Their personality to sue in
behalf of the succeeding generations can only be based on the concept of intergenerational
responsibility insofar as the right to a balanced and healthful ecology is concerned.”
The SC ruled in favor of the petitioners, that “the right of the petitioners (and all those
they represent) to a balanced and healthful ecology is as clear as the DENR's duty — under
its mandate and by virtue of its powers and functions under E.O. No. 192 and the
Administrative Code of 1987 — to protect and advance the said right.” The SC granted the
instant petition of the petitioners that bears upon “the right of Filipinos to a balanced and
healthful ecology which the petitioners dramatically associate with the twin concepts of
"inter-generational responsibility" and "inter-generational justice." Specifically, it touches on
the issue of whether the said petitioners have a cause of action to "prevent the
misappropriation or impairment" of Philippine rainforests and "arrest the unabated
hemorrhage of the country's vital life support systems and continued rape of Mother Earth."”

RESIDENT MARINE MAMMALS vs. SECRETARY ANGELO REYES

FACTS:
Petitioners in this case are the Resident Marine Mammals represented by their legal
guardians, the human petitioners, Gloria Estenzo Ramos and Rose-Liza Eisma-Osorio, who
seek the betterment of the welfare of the Resident Marine Mammals, with reference to
Oposa v. Factoran Jr. as basis for “asserting their right to enforce international and domestic
environmental laws enacted for their benefit under the concept of stipulation pour autrui.”
Resident Marine Mammals include toothed whales, dolphins, porpoises, and other cetacean
species, which inhabit the waters in and around the Tañon Strait, a declared protected
seascape in 1988.
The Department of Energy (DOE) entered into a Geophysical Survey and Exploration
Contract-102 (GSEC-102) with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co., LTD. (JAPEX) on 13 June
2002 which involved geological and geophysical activities in the Tañon Strait. GSEC-102 was
converted into SC-46 on 21 December 2004 for exploration, development, and production
of petroleum resources in a block covering approximately 2,850 square kilometers offshore
the Tañon Strait. JAPEX committed to drill an exploration well for the project, agreeing to
comply with the Environmental Impact Assessment requirements pursuant to Presidential
Decree No. 1586 and on 31 January 2007, the Protected Area Management Board of the
Tañon Strait (PAMB-Tañon Strait) issued Resolution No. 2007-001, wherein it adopted the
Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) commissioned by JAPEX, and favorably
recommended the approval of JAPEX's application for an Environmental Compliance
Certificate (ECC). The ECC was granted by the DENR to DOE and JAPEX on 6 March 2007
and JAPEX began to drill an exploratory well on 16 November 2007 to 8 February 2008.
In light of these events, the petitioners applied for redress, claiming that SC-46 was in
violation of the 1987 Constitution, and that it would cause irreparable damage to the
environment of the Tañon Strait, moreso to it’s marine ecosystem, which is home to a diverse
range of marine species.

ISSUES:
 1. Whether or not the on-going exploration and proposed exploitation for oil and natural
gas at, around, and underneath the marine waters of the Tañon strait protected
seascape is inconsistent with the Philippine commitments to international
environmental laws and instruments.

HELD:
The SC found that SC-56, the on-going exploration and proposed exploitation for oil
and natural gas at, around, and underneath the marine waters of the Tañon strait protected
seascape is null and void for noncompliance with the requirements of the 1987 Constitution.