Issues and Awareness (Human Security Act (Version of 2007)

SUSTAINABLE

DEVELOPMENT

JOJO S. BASCUG

President, Asia-Pacific Society for Sustainable Development, Inc.

Issues and Awareness

The basic question is, what kind of world are we going to give to our children in the future? It is pointless to just say that our society is facing great environmental problems. There is an overall degradation of the components of our biosphere. The quality of air we breathe, the water we drink, the soil in which we grow our food, and the land where we live, are deteriorating to a disturbing extent. In this transitional period of rapidly increasing awareness of the conflict between human activities and the environmental constraints, our commitment to protect the environment must stand supreme. The need to protect our already depleted natural resources can hardly be more emphasized. This of course cannot be done if humans continue to pursue the progressing patterns.

The environment is an outcome of millions of years of evolutions and mutations, harboring all kinds of countless life forms and ecosystems. Our fundamental goal is its preservation. Man as an intelligent being capable of understanding his surroundings, is the ultimate product of this long and complex evolution. Since life began on earth, nature has evolved its different faces – fauna, flora, the climate and the entire biosphere, each of which play their own specific roles in this grand scheme of things. Everything that exists has a meaning, an objective and a purpose to fulfill. Man, just as other living organism, depends on nature for its food, water, clothing and shelter. Nature, in turn, has its own methods of checks and balances that replenish the depleted air, water, energy, fauna and flora. It is marvelously complex and dynamic, yet balanced system of interchange between matter and energy contained within the environment. But during the rapid growth of civilization in the last few centuries or so, man’s methods of fulfilling his needs have increasingly strained this delicate balance.

Environmental problems are mounting day by day and they need a solution. This solution doesn’t just entail the curbing of environmentally offensive activities of larger bodies – industries and the government. We must also increase awareness amongst ourselves, so that our activities themselves are carried out with due respect to our surroundings.

Human Security Act (Version of 2007)
-This Act which is from consolidated Senate Bill No. 2137 and House Bill No. 4839 was finally passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on February 8, 2007 and February 19, 2007, respectively.
- SEC. 2. Policy Declaration
- It is declared a policy of the State to protect life, liberty, and property from acts of terrorism, to condemn terrorism as inimical and dangerous to the national security of the country and to the welfare of the people, and to make terrorism a crime against the Filipino people, against humanity, and against the law of nations...the Act shall take effect two months after the elections are held in May 2007."

Under the Human Security Act of 2007 (RA 9327)
-The accused who is acquitted from the charge shall be entitled to damages in the amount of 500K Php for each day that he has been detained. The Human Security Act also provides for detailed mechanism on how the damages should be paid. The pertinent provision of the Human Security Act reads:
Section 50 Damages for Unproven Charge of Terrorism. – Upon acquittal, any person who is accused of terrorism shall be entitled to the payment of damages in the amount of Five Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 500K) for every day that he or she has been detained or deprived of liberty or arrested without a warrant as a result of such an accusation. The amount of damages shall be automatically charged against the appropriations of the police agency or the Anti-Terrorism Council that brought or sanctioned the filing of the charges against the accused. It shall also be released within fifteen (15) days from the date of the acquittal of the accused. The award of damages mentioned above shall be without prejudice to the right of the acquitted accused to file criminal or administrative charges against those responsible for charging him with the case of terrorism.
Any officer, employee, personnel, or person who delays the release or refuses to release the amounts awarded to the individual acquitted of the crime of terrorism as directed in the paragraph immediately preceding shall suffer the penalty of six (6) months of imprisonment.
If the deductions are less than the amounts due to the detained persons, the amount needed to complete the compensation shall be taken from the current appropriations for intelligence, emergency, social or other funds of the Office of the President.
In the event that the amount cannot be covered by the current budget of the police or law enforcement agency concerned, the amount shall be automatically included in the appropriations of the said agency for the coming year.

A public officer shall not be personally liable for damages for acts done in the performance of official duties, unless there is a clear showing of bad faith, malice or gross negligence. The Human Security Act follows the general rule that official duties are regularly performed. The police officers, in enforcing the Human Security Act, are acting as mere agents of the State. The State, on the other hand, cannot be sued without its consent.
Consent may be express or implied. Express consent may be embodied in a general law or a special law. Consent is implied when the state enters into a contract or it itself commences litigation. However, not all contracts entered into by the government will operate as an implied consent; distinction must be made between its sovereign and proprietary acts. Stated differently, a State may be deemed to have tacitly given its consent to be sued only when it enters into business contracts.
In instances where the State may not be sued, the only legal remedy is to file the claim under Act No. 3083 (1923), the general law expressly waiving the immunity of the state from suit. The claim must first be filed with the Commission on Audit (COA), which must decide the claim within sixty days from the date of its submission for decision or resolution. If the COA fails to decide the matter within said period, the appropriate action may then be filed with the regular courts. If the COA decides within the said period and denies the claim, the decision may be brought to the Supreme Court on certiorari.
Assuming that a party succeeds in asserting its claim, it cannot execute the judgment may like ordinary civil cases. Within five days from the finality of the judgment, the clerk of court will forward a copy of the decision to the President of the Philippines, who will transmit the same to the Congress at the commencement of each regular session for appropriate action. This will be considered by Congress in preparing the annual national budget. Funds should be appropriated by Congress for the specific purpose of satisfying the judgment before the same may be paid.
By providing for a procedure in claims against the State or its agents, the Human Security Act makes it “relatively” easier for victims to get compensation. If this provision is not present, victims of abuses under the Human Security Act will again be victims in going through the difficult maze of suing - and getting paid by - the State.