tony oposa, eco-warrior wins Ramon Magsaysay Award

professory tony oposa, eco-warrior

The Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation announced Monday that Filipino Antonio Oposa Jr., Yu Xiaogang and Ma Jun from China, Thai Krisana Kraisintu, Deep Joshi from India, and Burmese Ka Hsaw Wa would be recognized for their achievements in awarding ceremonies to be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on Aug. 31.

Oposa will be recognized for “his path-breaking and passionate crusade to engage Filipinos in acts of enlightened citizenship that maximize the power of the law to protect and nurture the environment for themselves, their children and generations still to come.”

Environmental law

Instead of pursuing a lucrative law practice, the Harvard Law School graduate decided to focus on environmental law and made his first mark with an unusual case that later popularized the “Oposa Doctrine” in international legal circles, the foundation said.

“This was a class action suit he filed in which 43 minors asked the government to cancel timber licenses on the grounds that rampant logging violated their constitutional right to a healthy environment,” it said.

In a 1993 decision, the Philippine Supreme Court upheld the principle of “intergenerational equity,” affirming Oposa’s argument that the interests of future generations could be protected in court.

“A triumph of principle, the case set a precedent for how citizens can leverage the law to protect the environment,” the foundation said.

It said Oposa demonstrated this in 1999 when a citizens’ group filed a case holding the government liable for the pollution of Manila Bay and responsible for its cleanup.

“Marshalling the resources of the law and pursuing the case for all of 10 years, he won a Supreme Court decision compelling 11 government agencies to coordinate their efforts in rehabilitating Manila Bay, submit action plans, and regularly report to the court on the progress of their work,” the foundation said.

It also noted that Oposa risked his life to stop illegal dynamite fishing in the Visayan Sea through his Law of Nature Foundation.

read in full here: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20090804-218663/Filipino%2C_5_other_Asians_named_RM_awardees

 

An environmental lawyer who won a landmark case ordering government to clean up Manila Bay will ask the Supreme Court to cite government officials, including six Cabinet members, in contempt and jailed for failing to do their part in the cleanup.

 In a motion to be filed Monday, lawyer and University of the Philippines professor Tony Oposa asked the high court to cite in contempt Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya and Education Secretary Jesli Lapus.

Also facing possible contempt charges are Jojo Allado of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, and the heads of the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Ports Authority and Maritime Police.

read in full here: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090824-221725/6-Arroyo-men-face-contempt-raps