The Department of Justice has supported the enactment of the Philippine Green Jobs Act, which was recently signed into law by President Aquino.
In a two-page legal opinion, Undersecretary Zabedin Azis said it has found no constitutional or legal objection to the green jobs law or Republic Act No. 10771, which consolidated Senate Bill No. 3092 and House Bill No. 6100.
“Now is the time to plant and nurture the seed of environmentalism in every Filipino by creating green goods and services towards the transformation of our consolidated enrolled bill into law,” the opinion stated.
The Justice department stressed that the new law is consistent with sections 16 and 18, Article II of the Constitution, which respectively uphold the right to balanced and healthful ecology and right of workers.
It said the new law also strengthens the earlier Climate Change Act and the government’s National Climate Change Action Plan by “making explicit the State policy for jobs and employment creation as an integral pillar of measures to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of climate change and to maximize whatever potential benefits climate change may bring.”
“The government must take an active role in preventing further environmental degradation and disasters brought about by climate change and accordingly must formulate major policy reforms to address the most pressing environmental issues, like overpopulation, pollution, global warming, rain forest destruction, overflowing landfills, etc.,” the legal opinion stressed.
“The creation of green jobs, the establishment of a green economy and the development of green technologies will greatly help in the protection and conservation of our environment and natural resources and in the process, insure that development meets the needs of the present populace without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs,” it said.
RA 10771 defines “green jobs” as employment that contributes to preserving or restoring the quality of the environment, be it in the agriculture, industry or services sector.
In promoting the creation of environmental jobs, the law grants special tax deductions and duty-free importation of capital equipment for companies that will help create a “green economy” for the country.
It covers industries that hire professionals including solar PV system designers and installers, engineers and technicians of turbines; energy- and resource-efficiency consultants; sanitation and waste management experts; biodiversity and ecology fieldworkers; forest guards; river clean-up crew; organic farmers and recycling plant workers, among others.
The new incentives will be in addition to fiscal and non-fiscal incentives already granted or provided for under existing laws, orders, issuances and regulations of the government.