SAN BEDA UNIVERSITY, COLLEGE OF LAW

Subject: Nat Res & Envi Law

Prof: Comm. Wilhelm D. Soriano
Date: 22 August 2018
=======================================

Concept of Forest and Forest Products

Forest is defined as “a large tract of land covered with natural

growth of trees and underbrush”. Mangrove is a term applied for the
type of forest occurring on tidal flat along the coastal area, extending
along streams where the water is brackish

Forest products include timber, pulpwood or plywood, bark, tree-

top, resin, gum, oil, honey, beeswax, nipa, rattan, or other forest growth
such as wild grass, wild botanical plants and flowers, and shrub

Historical Development

A) In 1521, Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer but the

leader of an Spanish Expedition discovered the Island of Cebu and
claimed it in the name of the King of Spain and named the Island
as “Islas de San Lazaro”. He introduced Roman Catholicism among
the natives. He was killed in the “Battle of Mactan” by Lapu Lapu

In 1543, a Spaniard Ruy Lopez de Villalobos led an expedition to

the Islands and named it “Las Islas Filipinas” after King Felipe of
Spain, including the islands of Samar and Leyte

In 1564, another Spanish expedition this time lead by Miguel

Lopez de Legaspi, arrived in Manila and established a permanent
settlement, and became the center of Spanish Civil, Military,
Commercial, and Religious activity

The Philippine Islands passed on to Spain by virtue of discovery

and conquest. Consequently, all lands became the exclusive
patrimony and dominion of the Spanish Crown. The Spanish
government took charge of distributing the lands by issuing Royal
Grants and Concessions to Spaniards, mostly coming from the
military, and also to some Influential Spanish Family

The Regalian Doctrine or the Julia Regalia is a western legal

concept that was first introduced by the Spaniards into the
Philippine Islands through the Laws of the Indies and the Royal
Cedula, which set clearly the policy of the Spanish Crown with
respect to the Philippine Islands, which provides, among others –
 “We (Spanish Crown), having acquired full sovereignty over the
indies, and all lands, territories, and possessions not heretofore
ceded away by our royal predecessors, or by us, or in our name,
still pertaining to the Royal Crown and patrimony, it is our will
that all lands which are held without proper and true deeds of
grant be restored to us as they belong to us, in order that after
reserving before all what to us or our viceroys, audiencias, and
governors may seem necessary for public squares, ways, pastures,
and commons in those places which are peopled, taking into
consideration not only their present condition, but also their
future and their probable increase, and after distributing to the
natives what may be necessary for tillage and pasturage,
confirming them in what they now have and giving them more if
necessary, all the rest of said lands may remain free and
unencumbered for us to dispose of as we may wish

We therefore order and command that all viceroys and presidents

of pretorial courts designate at such time as shall to them seem
most expedient, suitable period within which all possessions of
tracts, farms, plantations, and estates shall exhibit to them and to
the court officers appointed by them for this purpose, their titles
thereto. And those who are in possession by virtue of proper
deeds and receipts, or by virtue of just prescriptive right shall be
protected, and all the rest shall be restored to us to be disposed of
at our will”

Under the Regalian doctrine and the Laws of the Indies, private
lands titles could only be acquired from the Spanish Crown either
by Royal Grants or by purchase

The Philippine Islands was administered as a province of Spain

from 1571 until 1898, when Spain ceded the Philippine Islands to
the United States of America in the Treaty of Paris (December 10,
1898) in exchange for US$20 million

B) During the American Administration, the United States 57th

Congress, enacted - Act 235, also known as The Philippine Organic
Act of 1902, which authorized the establishment of a Temporary
Civil Administration in the Philippine Islands

Section 1 – Created the Office of Civil Governor, and four

Executive Departments, namely; 1) Department of Interior; 2)
Department of Commerce and Police; 2) Department of Finance
and Justice; and 4) Department of Public Instructions
 Section 4 – All inhabitants who were Spanish subjects as of April
11, 1899 and choose to reside thereafter are now called “Citizens”
of the Philippine Islands, and are entitled to the protection of the
United States of America

Section 13 – Authority of the Civil Governor to classify lands

according to agriculture and productiveness, allow Homesteads to
natives with maximum area of 16 hectares

Section 17 – Timber, trees, forests and other forest products on

land leased or demised by the government of the Philippine
Islands shall not be cut, destroyed, removed or appropriated
except by a special permission of said government under such
regulation as it may prescribe

Section 18 – That the forest laws and regulations now in force in

the Philippine Islands shall continue in force x x x

Provided that the government shall have the right and

power to issue license to cut, harvest, or collect timber or other
forest products on reserved or unreserved public lands in
accordance with forest laws

C) Act No. 4007, also known as “The Reorganization of Law of 1932

(December 5, 1932), An act to reorganize the Departments,
Bureaus and Offices of the Insular government, section 7 placed
the Bureau of Forestry under the Department of Agriculture and
Commerce

D) Commonwealth Act No. 452, also known as The Pasture Land Act
(June 8, 1939)

Section 2 – No person shall occupy or use any parcel of public land

for pasture purposes without first securing therefrom a lease or
permit from the Director of Forestry in accordance with the
provisions of this Act

Section 9 – The Director of Forestry may, with the approval of the

Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, grant pasture lease
agreements by auction or bidding after proper investigation of the
areas applied for has been made, subject to such conditions as
may be prescribed by him
E) Republic Act No. 4715, An Act setting aside Timberland (Upland)
Areas within certain municipalities in the Province of Cebu for
Reforestation Development Purposes (June 8, 1966, lapsed into
law without the approval of President Marcos)

Section 1 – Creation of Southern Cebu Reforestation Development

Project headed by a Project Manager

Section 2 – The Reforestation Development Projects is to be

managed and administered by the Southern Cebu Reforestation
Development Project Manager

F) Presidential Decree No. 330, Penalizing Timber Smuggling or

Illegal Cutting of Logs from public forests and forests reserves as
qualified theft (Nov. 8, 1973)

G) Presidential Decree No. 389, Codifying, Revising and Updating All

Forestry Laws; Title – Forestry Reform Code (Feb 5, 1974)

Name of Office – Bureau of Forest Development

H) Presidential Decree No. 705, also known as, The Revised Forestry
Code (May 19, 1975)

State Policies on Forests under P.D. No. 705

1) The multiple uses of forest lands shall be oriented to the

development and progress requirements of the country, the
advancement of science and technology, and the public welfare

2) Land classification and survey shall be systematized and

hastened

3) The establishment of wood-processing plants shall be

encourage and rationalized

4) The protection, development and rehabilitation of forest lands

shall be emphasized so as to ensure their continuity in
productive condition
Prohibition under P.D. No. 705, sections 3 and 20

No person may exploit, utilize, occupy, possess, or conduct any activity

within any forest land, or establish and operate any wood-processing
plant unless he has been authorized to do so under a lease, license,
license agreement, or permit

Meaning of Lease, License, License Agreement, and Permit

1) Lease is privilege granted by the State to a person to occupy and

possess, in consideration of a specified rental, any forest land of
the public domain in order to undertake any authorized activity
therein;

2) License is a privilege granted by the State to a person to utilize

forest resources, or, establish and operate wood-processing plant,
or, conduct any activity involving the utilization of any forest
products, within any forest land, without any right of occupation
or possession over the same, to the exclusion of others

3) License Agreement is a privilege granted by the State to a person

to utilize forest resources within any forest land with the right of
possession and occupation thereof to the exclusion of others,
except the government, but with the corresponding obligation to
develop, protect and rehabilitate the same in accordance with the
terms and conditions set forth in said agreement

4) Permit is a short-term privilege granted by the State to a person

to utilize any limited forest resources or undertake a limited
activity within any forest land without any right of occupation
and possession

I) On March 18, 1989, President Corazon C. Aquino announced a ban

on Timber Exports

J) Executive Order No. 192, Revised Administrative Code (June 10,

1987)

Section 13 – new name of office – Forest Management Bureau

K) Executive Order No. 23, issued by President Benigno C. Aquino,

declaring a moratorium on the cutting and harvesting of timber in
natural and residual forests nationwide

L) Office charged with authority over forests land

 For the purpose of implementing the provisions of the Revised
Forestry Code (R.A. No. 705), the Bureau of Forestry, the Forestation
Administration, the Southern Cebu Forestation Development, and the
Parks and Wildlife Office, were merged into single agency known as
Forest Management Bureau, pursuant to Executive Order No. 192,
section 13 (10 June 1987), under the control and supervision of
Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Note: Forester is a recognized Academic Profession. Latest law is R.A.

No. 10690 (Oct 23, 2015)

Historical Data on Philippine Forests

1) The Philippine archipelago has Seven Thousand One Hundred

(7,100) Islands and has a land area of Thirty (30) Million
Hectares. Scientific Study reveals that in order to maintain a
balanced and healthful ecology, the country’s land area should be
utilized on the basis of a ration Fifty Four Per Centum (54%) for
forest cover, and Forty Six (46%) for Development and Utilization
of Agricultural, Industrial, Commercial, Residential, and other
uses

2) During the Pre-Colonial period, the almost ninety percent (90%)

of the Philippines Islands land area is covered with forests (27
Million Hectares), home to ancestral domains of some twelve
million (12M) Indigenous cultural people’s community

3) During the Spanish Colonization (1521 to 1898), trees were felled

to build houses and structures, roads, bridges, docks and ships for
the galleon trade, as well as, in the guise of promoting agriculture
and food productions, forests were replaced by sprawling
haciendas owned by Spanish Friars, Government Officials, and
Influential Families (Deforested 6 Million Hectares/400 years)

4) At the start of the American Colonization (Year 1900), the

Philippine Islands has Twenty-One Million (21M) hectares of old
growth forests covering seventy percent (70%) of its land area

5) The American, pursuant to Act 235, introduced and authorized

large-scale export oriented commercial logging. Logs were
exported mainly to the United States

By the year 1946, when they have formally withdrawn their

sovereignty over the Philippine Islands, only nine million (9M)
hectares of forests covering thirty percent (30%) of the
Philippine’s total land area was left (12 Million Hectares/44
years)
6) Deforestation further worsened during the Marcos
Administration (1965 to 1986), the logging industry was
monopolized by foreign companies, friendly to President Marcos,
and to his favorites Filipino Cronies. During that period, the
Philippines lost seven million (7M/20 years) hectares of forests

7) During President Cory Aquino’s administration (1986 to 1992),

only two million (2M) of forests cover was left. As a result of the
Oposa vs Factoran case, a Phase-Out Policy was adopted where
the Timber License Agreement were no longer renewed, as well
as, applications for new TLA’s were no longer acted upon

8) During President Fidel V. Ramos administration (1992 to 1998),

there were no large-scale logging concession were given. Instead,
President Ramos intensified the campaign on Illegal Loggings and
minimized “kaingin” (On November 7, 2002, Congress enacted
R.A. No.9175, An Act Regulating the Ownership, Possession, Sale,
Importation and Use of Chain Saws, Penalizing violations thereof
and for other purposes)

9) During the short period of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada

administration (1998 to 2001), there were very few commercial
logging activities done by his special friends

Based on satellite images taken sometime 1998 showed that there

remained at least One Million Two Hundred (1.2m) Hectares of
Rain-Forests, or only about Four Per Centum (4%) of the
country’s land area

10) During the nine years (9) of President Gloria Macapagal

Arroyo (2001 to 2010), five (5) logging concessions (TLA’s)
covering an area of one million (1M) hectares, were revived and
allowed, including those owned by powerful politicians, like
Senator Juan Ponce Enrile

President Arroyo further posed dangers to the Philippine Forests

by giving license to Foreign Mining Companies to operate even
within old growth forests. These Foreign Mining Companies are
also given Timber Rights which allow them to cut trees inside
their mining sites

In fact, President Arroyo issued Presidential Proclamation No.

1064 (2006) classifying Boracay Island into Four Hundred (400)
Hectares of Reserved Forest Land and Six Hundred Twenty Eight
(628.96) Hectares of Agricultural Land. Presidential Proclamation
No. 1064 likewise provides for a Fifteen (15) Meters Buffer Zone
on each side of the Center Line of Roads and Trails, which are
reserved for Right of Way
 11) During the Administration of President Benigno Cojuangco
Aquino (2010 to 2016), pursuant to his Executive Order No. 23,
Declaring a Moratorium on the Cutting and Harvesting of Timber
in the National and Residual Forests, the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources withheld the approval and
issuance of new logging permits

However, in the same E.O. 23, particularly, section 2.2, it allows

the cutting of trees for monoculture plantations. This will reward
old logging concessionaires because they are allowed to cut trees
and convert said forests land, now without trees into plantation,
supposedly of “Biofuel Variety” (Jatropa, Nipa)

President Aquino issued E.O. No. 26, the National Greening

Program which aim to plant one billion and five hundred
thousand trees covering one million and five hundred thousand
hectares, and allocating funds therefore

President Aquino also prompted the Congress to pass a law that

will totally ban logging nationwide, but to no avail

Latest satellite images taken 2007 showed that a mere Eight

Hundred Fifty Thousand (850,000) Hectares of Rain-Forests are
left, barely a mere Two and Half Per Centum (2.5%) of the entire
Land Area of the Philippine Archipelago is covered

The distortion and disturbance of this balance of ecology as a

consequence of deforestation (Timber License Agreement and Logging
Concession) have resulted in a host of environment tragedies, such as

1. The reduction of the country’s capacity to process carbon dioxide

gases which has led to perplexing and catastrophic climate change
such as the phenomenon of global warming known as the
“Greenhouse Effect”

2. Increasing velocity of typhoon winds and storm surge due to the

loss of rainforests which serves as windbreakers (an average of
Twenty (20) typhoons enters the Philippine Area of
Responsibility every year)

3. Recurrent spells of drought and heavy rainfalls brought about by

the El Nino and La Nina phenomena

4. Massive erosion and the consequential loss of soil fertility and

agricultural productivity, with the volume of soil eroded
estimated at one billion cubic meters per annum
5. The flooding of lowland due to the absence of the absorbent
mechanism of forests

6. The disturbance and location of Cultural Minorities, including the

disappearance of the indigenous cultures

7. Water shortages resulting from drying up of the water table,

otherwise known as the “aquifer), as well as of rivers, brooks and
streams

8. Salinization of the water table as a result of the intrusion of salt

water

9. Endangering and extinction of the country’s unique, rare and

varied flora and fauna

10. Siltation of rivers and seabeds and consequential

destruction of corals and other aquatic life leading to a critical
reduction in marine resource productivity

11. The siltation and shortening of the lifespan of dams

constructed and operated for the purpose of supplying water for
domestic use, irrigation and the generation of electric power