By PRINCE GOLEZ
Manila Reporter
MANILA — Two legislators proposed the creation of an independent agency that will push for environmental protection and conservation.
Representatives Rufus Rodriguez and Maximo Rodriguez filed House Bill 3696, which seeks the establishment of the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA).
The Rodriguez brothers cited the “clash of interests” within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
DENR is mandated to protect the environment and maximize the use of the country’s natural resources at the same time.
However, it is “caught between conservation and utilization,” they said. “Officials and employees are put in an uneasy position and difficult balancing act.”
In the United States, they said, another body focuses on the protection of human health and the environment: the Environmental Protection Agency.
NEPA will be placed under the executive branch, according to the legislators.
It will manage offices such as the Environmental Management Bureau, Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau, Pollution Adjudication Board, National Integrated Protected Area System, and the National Water and Air Pollution Control Commission.
“NEPA would consolidate a variety of research, monitoring, standard-setting, and enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection,” they said./PN
