17/07/2026
STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY
"We stand in solidarity with this important effort to uphold environmental accountability.
The gravest forms of environmental destruction rarely result from a single unlawful act. More often, they arise from a chain of decisions, regulatory failures, weak enforcement, and the gradual erosion of legal safeguards intended to protect ecosystems and communities. When accountability is absent, environmental harm accumulates until its consequences become severe, widespread, and, in some cases, irreversible.
The complaints filed before the Office of the Ombudsman remind us that existing laws on environmental protection, public procurement, anti-graft, and land use remain indispensable tools for demanding accountability. At the same time, they invite us to reflect on whether our legal framework is fully equipped to address the most serious forms of environmental destruction, especially when responsibility is diffused among multiple actors and institutions.
Our criminal justice system is founded on the principle that there is no crime without a law defining and punishing it. Precisely for this reason, efforts to strengthen environmental accountability should also include an honest conversation on whether Philippine law ought to recognize and penalize the gravest forms of ecological destruction through a distinct offense, while ensuring that such legislation remains faithful to constitutional principles, due process, and the rule of law.
Protecting our environment requires more than responding after damage has occurred. It requires integrity in public decision-making, meaningful environmental oversight, transparency, and accountability at every level. Every action that strengthens these principles brings us closer to a legal system capable not only of remedying environmental harm, but of preventing catastrophic ecological destruction before it occurs."
