PBEST to do report cards on compliance of mining, energy firms with environmental laws

MANILA, Philippines - The newly launched Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship (PBEST) is doing “industry report cards” on the compliance of energy and mining firms with laws on clean air and water, renewable energy and waste management along with their efforts to help address climate change in and out of the workplace, as part of its initial advocacy campaign for industries to adhere to a more responsible stewardship of the environment. 

PBEST lead convenor Victor Andres Manhit said these report cards are meant to somehow influence these corporations to initiate or further step up their ongoing programs addressing such environmental concerns as climate change, the devastating impact of which has been underscored by  Super Typhoon Yolanda that is now considered the country’s deadliest natural disaster after killing an initial count of 2, 400 people in Tacloban City alone. 

Manhit said that alongside such report cards, this advocacy group has lined up more activities all aimed at raising public awareness of, and support for, a regulatory framework more conducive for Big Business to pursue eco-friendly Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs. 

These include, he said, a school tour or civic literacy campaign to educate the youth on the principle of environmental stewardship, partnership with civil society organizations on an awards program for businesses and institutions making exemplary decisions for the environment, along with reforestation and reef conservation programs.

 â€œWe are committed to actively promoting sound developmental policies and advocating right governance that will ensure responsible stewardship of the environment as a requisite in the operations of all Philippine industries,” Manhit said. 

Manhit and other policy experts from the academe, business and government are at the forefront of this first-ever advocacy campaign for development initiatives designed for the effective regulation of Philippine industries when it comes to laws pertaining to environmental stewardship. 

PBEST convenors trained at the University of the Philippines (UP), De La Salle University (DLSU) and Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) aim to pursue their novel advocacy by, among others, monitoring the implementation of existing environmental policies and regulations, the compliance of regulated industries with such rules, and helping expose and prosecute offenders. 

The former head of the DLSU political science department and a fellow at the Foundation for Economic Freedom, Manhit has served as undersecretary at the Department of Education (DepEd) and deputy secretary at the Philippine Senate, and is now president of the Stratbase Research Institute, which is one of the country’s leading think-tanks doing consulting work for both local and foreign clients. 

Aside from Manhit, PBEST’s other convenors include Carlos Primo David, a faculty member at the UP National Institute of Geological Sciences, and Lysander Castillo, a legal consultant at the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). 

David had obtained his Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Geology at Stanford University; while Castillo had finished his law degree at ADMU and then served as lawyer for Upholding Life and Nature Inc. (ULAN). 

“Many local companies have adopted good environmental practices that even go beyond what is required of them,” David said. “Still, some prefer to ignore their environmental contracts. PBEST aims to provide an assessment tool that will segregate those that take to heart their environmental responsibilities and those that do not.” 

Added David: “We are going to engage various sectors in Metro Manila and other regions to share our advocacy and recruit them to become responsible stewards of the environment. We hope to represent their concerns by proposing policy reforms. Alliances with the academe and professional sector will also be harnessed in gathering the scientific bases for our proposals.”

Manhit said PBEST is now working on planned grassroots-based campaigns to improve public awareness of the core principles of environmental stewardship, proposed policy reform initiatives, legislative advocacy and networking and performance monitoring of regulated industries’ compliance with environmental laws. 

He said these core principles include resource management, or the quest for maximum benefit with the least damage and adequate rehabilitation; and pollution management, or the control of toxic contamination of the environment. 

These principles further consist of solid waste management, or the promotion of recycling as a new resource; and productive and efficient land use, or the rational approach that conforms to the community’s economic, social and environmental needs, he added. 

Manhit said PBEST aims to push these four alliance-building messages:

• Environmental stewardship is everyone’s responsibility. 

• Partnerships in environmental stewardship are essential to sustainable development.

• Policy and regulatory reforms are requisites to enabling and encouraging environmental stewardship.

• Managing the environment in partnership with communities, the private sector and environment professional makes smart business sense.

PBEST will also “actively advocate for and educate the people on good policies, research solutions and innovations, promote programs that are proven to be effective, and link up with like-minded organizations,” he said.