MANILA, Philippines – Environmental groups welcomed the approval of the Philippine Ecosystem and Natural Capital Accounting System (PENCAS) which aims to measure the Philippines’ natural resources and their impact on the economy.

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) said Republic Act No. 11995 or the the PENCAS act could help determine the social and ecological costs of mining in specific areas in the Philippines.

“These are needed in the cost-benefit analyses of past, present and future mining projects and in evaluating whether certain projects are even worth pursuing,” said Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator of ATM.

ATM is a coalition of organizations that oppose large-scale mining. The coalition is pushing for a nationwide moratorium of such projects, as well as the passage of an alternative people’s mining act.

“It is important that there is an information system and a way of accounting our natural resources or natural capital, not only in terms of knowing their contribution to the economy but also the costs when these are devastated or destroyed,” Garganera said.

In light of the new law, ATM urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to revise guidelines for mining permits, and for the Supreme Court to update rules on procedures for the issuance of writ of kalikasan and temporary environmental protection orders.

On May 22, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed PENCAS which will make “a comprehensive information system and accounting framework that will take into consideration the role of our natural capital” and impact on the economy.”

Natural capital refers to resources such as plants, animals, air, water, soils, ores, and minerals, and ecosystem services, like air and water filtration, flood protection, and carbon sequestration.

“We hope that local governments can consciously strive to do resource valuation in their land use planning and decision-making in allowing or not mining projects in their localities,” said Garganera.

The new framework will also cover the country’s marine resources. Dennis Calvan, director of conservation group RARE Philippines, said the PENCAS could be “the basis for investment for our sustainable management of coastal and marine resources.”

Monetized resources?

While IBON Foundation shares optimism over the law, the policy think tank also warned against “overstating the positive impact of having improved data.”

IBON executive director Sonny Africa said getting values of natural capital and incorporating them into national accounting frameworks “potentially enables more inclusive and sustainable economic measures that go beyond GDP (gross domestic product).”

“However, it’d be naive to think that lack of information is the main barrier to promoting ecological balance and resilience,” he added.

Africa said that when resources are valuated, this can justify their depletion for the sake of economic gains.

“Assigning a monetary value to natural resources may inadvertently commodify them within a market system and make it easier to justify their extraction and exploitation under the guise of economic development,” he said.

The PENCAS framework would include officially designated statistics on depletion, degradation, and restoration of natural capital.

The law says it recognizes that there are limits to natural ecosystems’ capacity to regenerate and “that human development that alters of affects them must be sustainable and must allow for their renewal and restoration.”

“Nothing in this Act shall be construed to mean that nature has no inherent and intrinsic value separate and distinct from its economic value,” the law read. – Rappler.com