ENVIRONMENT Secretary Roy A. Cimatu ordered the creation of an “interim environmental law enforcement office” in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) while waiting for the enactment of a law establishing its own police-like bureau.
Cimatu signed an administrative order on June 10 during the DENR’s 34th founding anniversary celebration establishing the Environmental Law Enforcement and Protection Service (Eleps) that he hopes would “strengthen environmental law enforcement” in the country.
“We have a growing number of fallen environmental heroes. This is how serious we do our jobs here at DENR, but I hope and pray that no more lives will be lost because of defending our environment,” said in a statement.
“Our Department has many laws to implement, but we are lacking when it comes to enforcement,” DENR Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and International Affairs Jonas R. Leones said. “While we are waiting for the passage of the EPEB [Environmental Protection and Enforcement Bureau], our Secretary has allowed to craft this order to install an enforcement service for the effective protection of our forests and other natural resources.”
Under the DENR administrative order, Eleps will cover “all environmental laws as enumerated in the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases involving enforcement or violations of environmental and natural resources laws, rules and regulations,” such as terrestrial laws, coastal, marine and aquatic resources laws, aerial law and other environment and natural resources laws.
Cimatu said he ordered the creation of the Eleps “as a defined authority that will promote effective and strong enforcement of environmental laws, establish coordinative mechanisms, utilize science and technology and develop highly competent manpower that will encompass existing enforcement units (e.g., the Environmental Protection and Enforcement Task Force and the Philippine Operations Group on Ivory and Illegal Wildlife) and other enforcement task forces of the DENR.
With bigger scope and functions from the EPETF, enforcement units of DENR’s regional offices, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Environmental Management Bureau, Protected Area Management Office, Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Offices, and Community Environment and Natural Resources Offices will be under the operational control of ELEPS and its supervising officials.
The DENR’s bureaus and attached agencies will also maintain close coordination with ELEPS in networking with national and international organizations that address environmental crimes.
The Eleps’s lead team will be from DENR’s Central Office to complement its daily operations.
Among its several functions, the Eleps has end-to-end duties’ from the enforcement, stoppage of ongoing violations, arrest, management of confiscated items, investigation, the preparation for prosecution of environmental criminals until execution of decisions by the court.
The Eleps will also coordinate with the Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police (PNP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and government-owned and -controlled corporations to aid in the prevention and fight against environmental crimes, according to Cimatu.
The new service plans to equip enforcement officers with agency-issued firearms and self-protective gears and provide capacity building to effectively perform their official functions.