Master_thesis

government. When Marcos was removed from the office in 1986, the 1973 Constitution
was jettisoned and replaced by the 1987 Constitution.
Under the 1987 Constitution, many new provisions were recognized. One of these is the
recognition of national parks or protected areas. The 1987 Constitution now became the
primary legal basis for establishing protected areas. Two significant clauses acknowledged
this and state the following:
“Section 3. Lands of the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest
or timber, mineral lands and national parks.” (Article XII, Section 3)
“Section 4. The Congress shall, as soon as possible, determine by law the
specific limits of forest lands and national parks, marking clearly their
boundaries on the ground. Thereafter, such forest lands and national parks
shall be conserved and may not be increased nor diminished except by law.
“(Article XII, Section 4)
The first provision heightened the importance of national parks and distinctly identified
them as one of the land classifications in the Philippines. This is a crucial development for
natural resource law in the Philippines. In the previous constitutions, for example the 1935
Constitution, there was no specific provision for classifying public lands but merely
mentioned agricultural, timber and mineral lands in Article XII, Section 1. In the 1973
Constitution, lands were classified into seven categories, namely: (1) agriculture, (2)
industrial or commercial, (3) residential, (4) resettlement, (5) mineral, (6) forest or timber
and (7) grazing land, and protected areas or national parks were not included in the
classification.
The second provision under the 1987 Constitution directs the congress to determine the
specific areas and legal identities of national parks as soon as possible. Furthermore, the
provision modifies the old practice of establishing and defining national park boundaries by
presidential proclamations.
In the 1987 Constitution, there are new provisions requiring that the State and particularly
the congress shall recognize the rights of the people, especially the IPs, as follows:
“Section 16. The State shall protect and advance the right of the people to a
balanced and healthful ecology in accord with the rhythm and harmony of
nature.” (Article II, Section 16.)
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