Communicable Diseases Common to Man and Animals Essay

Communicable Diseases Common to Man and Animals - Essay ExampleThese respiratory diseases entail influenza (flu), pneumonia, tuberculosis (TB) and honey oil cold among separates. A nonher malady includes intestinal disease whereby transmission is through food or water that has contamination via urine or feces of a person who is infected or an animal. Example of these diseases includes cholera, dysentery and typhoid among others (Acha & Szyfres, 2001). On the same note, such infections are found in waters that people have been grade in containers and used to prepare food. Additionally, these transmissions come because of poor water treatment and living in squalid conditions such as slums. These are places that do not have proper radiation control and environmental management. Alternatively, these diseases are caused by lack of insect and rodent control such as mice that feast on both feces and food inside the house. In the same respect, poor discard techniques such as contaminated solid material either in rivers or in dumpsite spread these diseases. Therefore, this calls for an urgent need to implement control factors to prevent contamination for sympathetic life. For example, it is essential to find better methods of dumping waste materials such as feces and dirty water in order to reduce transmission of the communicable diseases such typhoid and cholera among other diseases. Additionally, rodent and insect control should be reduced through use of anti rodents in order to reduce the transmission of contaminated materials and components consumed by human beings. In the same aspect, there should be effective swimming pool guidelines that ensure proper drainage to avoid contact of drinking water with dishwashing water (Heymann, 2008). Furthermore, effective solid waste management should be instituted through digging of toilets and latrines that do not encourage more contamination.

Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 20

Management - Essay ExampleThe said structure may be considered as bureaucratic or post-bureaucratic depending upon the performance. Bureaucratic is considered when there is a value for merits, hierarchy and definite separation of responsibilities and roles. On the other hand, a post-bureaucratic organization may start the hierarchy but there is a sense of equality in voicing out opinions and ideas through dialogues. Post-bureaucratic also favors consensus which means the decision would depend upon the mass of votes or prevailing idea (DuBrin, 2012 263). Despite of the majority wins mentality, hierarchy still exists in post-bureaucratic organizations. Kraft was sort of a centralized rigid organization delegacy back before its acquisition of Cadbury. After one and a half year of acquiring Cadbury, the company decided to split the organization into two viz. the snack food business and grocery business (Geller, 2011). In addition, it also made efforts to decentralize its structure by allowing more staffs to participate in decision-making and alter the company as a whole. The decision-making involving the product development and manufacturing would be the ones transferred to the lower levels of the organizational hierarchy. In addition, the structure might look like a ground substance because the information technology, human resources and logistics teams would be shared across the organization (Ferrari, 2010).Organizational structure is not the only concern in the paper as the ethical issues are also important in the productivity and performance of a company. It is already an accepted fact that making mistakes is inevitable but can be reduced by careful preparations, best practices and sound decisions. Each mistake can be detrimental to the overall state of the company so the purity or wrongness of an action or practice is being looked at by the professionals and even by the public. After all, a business depends upon the profit that impart be gained from

Presentation Critique Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Presentation Critique - Essay ExampleThe introduction did, however, cook up the foundation well and give some general themes that would be explored better further in the presentation, though one thing I would commence liked to see would be some explanation of context (a power outage that affects a huge area vs a small area, or home vs emplacement etc.)The content was good, though some parts of it were more disjointed than was necessary. The introduction gave some topics that would be discussed, but some of these were either missing in the presentation (such as how to stop equipment damage) or else not clearly correlated with those introductory ideas. However, all content presented was on topic, appropriate and effective.This was one of the weaker areas of the presentation. Some of the visuals were good (the lightning one, for instance) slice others seemed very out of place the Key to success visual was both off topic (equating success to money, which was not really what success is in call of power outages), while also being low resolution and overly

People, Power & Politics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

People, Power & Politics - Essay ExampleHe was a Minister of Christian views based on Biblical principles. Malcolm X did not have the same opportunity afforded female monarch. Malcolm X was almost entirely self educated and grew up in a poor family. Malcolm X was a follower of Islam as opposed to Kings Christian convictions. Obviously, the4se two men came from very different backgrounds.King in his famous speech entitled American Dream, outlines his desire for equality not unless in treatment between blacks and whites but as well in possessions and class standings. He wanted to see cultural change that allowed for blacks and whites to be afforded the same opportunities both educationally and economically. Malcolm X, for much of his time as a public speaker and representative for black youth, felt that the black community had suffered enough injustice at the hands of the white man, and deserved to not only receive what they were deprived of but also deserved to seek revenge from wh ite society. Malcolm X countered the speech the American Dream given by King, by giving the equally famous speech the American Nightmare where he details his notion of an eye for an eye. Kings method of fashioning a change was done through a passive mode of justice whereas Malcolm X sought revenge for the many years of oppression inflicted on African -Americans at the hand of whites.Both Malcolm X and King sought racial justice and equality. Kings approach was to pursue though non-violence, a coexistence of love between blacks and whites alike. King once said the reason I cant follow the old eye for an eye philosophy, is that it ends up loss everybody blind. Inversely, Malcolm X saw violence as a necessity as the only way to achieve change would be to challenge asperity by fighting or physically rising up. As the two great leaders approached the end of their lives, they began to see things in a more

Total Quality Management (TQM) Survey Paper Essay

Total Quality Management (TQM) Survey Paper - Essay ExampleHowever, many line of credites make the try but fail to fully achieve Total Quality Management.TQM incorporates all the vital concepts of product quality, process control, quality assurance, and quality improvement. Consequently, it is the control of all geological fault processes of an organization to better satisfy customer needs in the most economical way.TQM is a technique used by manufacturing and service organizations to meet or exceed the expectations of the customer. The focus of TQM is the customer. In order to satisfy customers, organizations attempt to provide them with quality product or service at the right time and at the right place. A quality product or service has the features, characteristics, and attributes to satisfy a given need. The dimensions of quality argon performance, features, reliability, conformance, durability, serviceability, and aestheticAll members of TQM organization tense up to systemat ically manage the improvement of the organization through the ongoing participation of all employees in problem solving efforts across functional and hierarchical boundaries in a way to meet the customers requirements and expectationsThe organizations that provide be studied in this paper represent the manufacturing sector, non-profit sector, and the service sector. Every one of these economic sectors has diverse set in quality of customer relations, and strategies towards TQM based on their customer needs along with their level of development in their sector.Manufacturing SectorAs of today, successful organizations are extremely driven by consumers, which increase customer satisfaction by providing quality products/services, and meeting target expectations (James 2004). The first focal point representing the manufacturing sector will be the Sunny new-fangled Foods Company. Sunny Foods is in the food service industry producing primarily value added egg based foods. Their headquar ters is located in Monticello, Maine, and other factories in Big Lake, LAKE ODESA, MI, Mason City, IA, and Panora, IA. Sunny Foods has more than 2,000 consumers, including schools, healthcare, military, and quick service restaurants. They produce more than 160 different goods that are labeled on a lower floor Sunny Fresh Foods, or privately for other sell marketers and food services. Sunny Foods manufacture fat and cholesterol free products, refrigerated and polar meals, pre cooked frozen diced or scrambled eggs, peeled hard cooked eggs, frozen liquid egg mixes, and pasteurized eggs, SFF received a Baldrige Award in 1999 in the small business category.. Sunny Fresh Foods currently employs 620 people (called stakeholders). Sunny Fresh Foods Location include Monticello, MN (headquarters, and plant), Big Lake, MN (Plant), Lake Odessa, MI (Plant), Mason City, IA (Plant), Panora, IA (Plant). Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc. was selected as the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige Award Winner for the manufac turing sector.Consumer driven quality is required in order for SFF to retain its large market share in the wholesale and retail food markets. The companys leadership must insure improvement in their

Personnel Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Personnel Economics - Essay ExampleThe company has the pursuance operational units Enterprise Fleet Management, Enterprise Car Sales, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, and Enterprise Rent-A-Truck. In spite of the fact that a customer within each and both one of these markets is in need of different products, every customer, whether private or craft, requires a convenient, speedy and reliable service. Car rental as a business continues to be competitive. Enterprise is continually expanding the range of services it has, in a bid to meet the needs of the consumers (Kazanjian 40). Apart from business rentals at city and airport locations, the company as well avails replacement cars for the repair of accidents, holiday rentals at short-term intervals for special occasions or breaks, and courtesy cars to be used in garages. Moreover, the attempt offers a service of collecting consumers and taking them to their cars for hire. Upholding high customer satisfaction levels is an essential proponent o f growth within the company. Enterprises emphasis is delivering elegant customer service. It has on regular occasions won awards to this accord. The small and local office structure of the company and their entrepreneurial teams of employees have the capacity to whip pop out crucial decisions independently, and are, as such, able to attain their goals. The case study herein examines the manner in which the enterprise is able to screen and recruit the right force play and skills in order to attain its business objectives and aims (Kazanjian 44). The Human Resource Managements Role The human resource managements purpose is to hire, accordingly train, and ultimately develop staff. Where necessary, the department disciplines personnel or dismisses them. Though comprehensive training and development, the enterprises employees are promoted in the company and attain their entire potential. This modus operandi reduces the companys need for recruiting external personnel by making maximal use of the existent talent (Compton and William 36). In terms of cost strongness, this is an effective way in which a business can manage its personnel. The human resources department not only functions to manage present staff but also plans for approaches of effecting changes bound to affect its staffing needs in the future. This phenomenon is referred to as workforce planning. For instance, the business whitethorn accrue growth into emerging markets such as truck rental. It may also adopt the use of new technology that necessitates new skills, such as global positioning. Moreover, personnel can retire or may be promoted, hence leaving gaps that have to be filled (Kazanjian 48). External changes in the labor market may occur, and this means that fewer skills will be ready(prenominal) in a particular area, with other areas being inundated with professionals. Human resource management takes charge of planning for all tenets that define the companys strategy for planning and recrui tment. The human resource management function of the company, therefore, plays a focal role in the business since all the managers make use of their expertness in their quest to acquire staff. The enterprise has an intrinsic policy of manager promotion from within its existent workforce. What this means is that the business has an obligation to recruit individuals who give potential for growth. On an annual basis, an average of 1,000 employees is recruited into the

Issues, concerns, and challenges in environmental adjucation in the philippine court system Essay Example for Free

Issues, concerns, and challenges in surroundingsal adjucation in the philippine court system EssayIntroduction The court system is an integral part of environmental enforcement in the Filipinos and has made many great contributions to the field. However, environmental contingencys do non always progreticuloendothelial systems smoothly by means of the judicial system. This paper is intended to key out significant lawful issues in the judicial system that affect or limit environmental adjudication. 2 The issues are divided amidst access to and strength of justice, and intelligent actions.While many of these issues could be analyzed further, this paper will highlight the ones to which attention should be paid in any more(prenominal) omnibus(prenominal) study of Philippine environmental case law. 3 This paper will withal enjoyment examples and case studies from the United States to illustrate important legal points, since the U. S. and Philippines engender similar legal systems. II. Issues A. Legal Procedure and Rules of the philander Because of their unique and complex nature, environmental cases are some ages hindered by legal mechanisms and rules of procedure designed for non-environmental cases.These embroil rules on stand up and mark encounterion suits that lots do non take into account the fact that environmental damage impacts all citizens. Furthermore, the nature and recognition of environmental violations often means that statutes of limitations, evidentiary rules, and burdens of proof are non suit satisfactory. whatever of these issues commode be handlight-emitting diode internally by the judicial system by instructing discredit courts to apply rules liberally. The impact of all of these issues, and how many actually present problems for plaintiffs, is all important(p). 1.Standing of Plaintiffs and Citizens Suits In environmental cases, a plaintiff may non necessarily be legally injured in the traditional sense by an act of environ-mental destruction to impair his livelihood. For example, plaintiffs laughingstock non recover damages for fish killed by defilement because they lack stand up, contempt the obvious economic loss they suffered. 4 While the destruction of pictorial aesthetic beauty is a moral outrage that indirectly harms all citizens, beneath traditional legal standing person no would turn out standing to sue.5 Furthermore, environmental laws are designed to pr veritable(a)t blasting harm that is often not im tapnt or contained to one geographic area, as opposed to the narrow, immediate harms that provide the basis of closely standing requirements. 6 Strict rulings on standing could stifle environmental enforcement, especially since the Philippines lacks sufficient enforcement capacity and personnel. The Philippine ultimate Court has held that standing requiresSuch personal guess in the outcome of the controversy as to assure that concrete adverseness which sharpens the p resentation of issues upon which the court depends for illumination of difficult constitutional questions. 7 The plaintiff himself must engender some cognizable and redressable injury. Litigating for a command public interest, or mere invocation of plaintiffs duty to preserve the rule of law is not sufficient to coiffure it with standing. 8 However, the standing requirement is considered a technicality that courts may waive if the case concerns a predominant public interest.9 In its authorization in Oposa v. Factorum, the Court said that children might counterbalance shed intergenerational standing to sue to pr stillt the destruction of forests for future generations. 10 There are questions as to the strength of these to reduce the standing threshold for environmental plaintiffs. While courts may waive technical standing provisions when a case deals with a paramount public interest, it is not required to do so. 11 Furthermore, judge may reasonably differ on what constitutes a paramount public interest since thither is no overridingtheme o define it. For example, in Kilosbayan, the Court found that find out the legality of an online lottery system fell within this definition, whereas in Integrated Bar, it held that determining whether deploying marines for crime deterrence appalls the disposition does not. 12 The Court did reduce some of this ambiguity in Oposa by declaring that the right to a equilibrate and healthful ecology concerns nothing less(prenominal) than self-preservation and self-perpetuation, presumably a paramount public interest.13 However, because the Courts discussion on standing in Oposa was dictum, neither this claim nor the right to intergenerational standing is binding law upon the lower courts. 14 Without further guidance from the Court, it is likely that many lower court adjudicate would be loth to act boldly by declaring that a particular issue is a paramount public interest and would deny standing. Congress tried to reduce the standing threshold with citizen suit provisions in environmental statutes, but these have been of limited use thus far.First, only the Philippine easy Air and Ecological Solid Waste Management Acts contain citizen suit provisions15 notably, the Philippine Clean Water Act, enacted after these two laws, does not. 16 Second, citizens still bear the risk of paying a winning defendants attorneys fees, which could be costly enough to discourage even valid suits. Most importantly, these suits are still subject to the actual controversy requirement of the Constitution. 17 What this means in the context of citizen suits has not yet been to a great extent litigated in the Philippines.However, lower court settle often require plaintiffs to show actual injury in the narrow or traditional legal sense. 18 Likewise, when prosecutors deputize citizens to enforce a suit, judges sometimes insist that much(prenominal) deputization is only valid for a single case or even disable infra the Ru les of the Court. 19 As a result, citizens suit provisions have been largely unused. 20 Standing under environmental laws is hotly contested in the U. S. 21 The U. S. has put citizens suit provisions into almost all of its environmental laws.22 Plaintiffs are required to show 1) an injury in fact, 2) causation between the injury and the defendants actions, and 3) redressability in court. 23 NGOs can sue upon a showing that any of their members would have had standing to sue. 24 The focus is not on the injury to the environment, but rather the injury to the plaintiff or NGO representing him. However, the injury can be economic or non-pecuniary, including aesthetic or recreational value. 25 The Court also held that civil penalties payable to the U. S. Treasury serve as redress as they deter polluters.26 Causation is often the more difficult element to prove, which will be discussed below in 4. In New Zealand, the Environment Court has taken a more groundwork approach. It has elimina ted formal standing provisions, requiring only that a plaintiff have a greater interest than the public loosely in a controversy or that he represents a relevant public interest. 27 This makes citizen enforcement very easy. However, one might also be concerned about whether this would overburden the court granting standing is a fine balance between permitting valid environmental claims and risking frivolous litigation.2. Class Actions and Large Number of Plaintiffs As the notorious mudslide at Ormoc in 1991 and Marcopper mine tailings in Marinduque show, injuries from environmental damage can be grave, costly, and affect a huge fall of persons. 28 Even in less publicized events, the number of injured persons may often make individual litigation heavy and complex. Furthermore, some members of an injured shed light on may be too poor to arraign their claims individually. Class action suits can facilitate litigation of such situations by providing forThe encourageion of the defend ant from inconsistent obligations, the protection of the interests of absentees, the provision of a convenient and economic means for disposing of similar lawsuits, and the facilitation of the spreading of litigation cost among numerous litigants with similar claims. 29 other(a) studies have shown that class action suits can provide important social benefits and encourage citizen enforcement to supplement agency regulation. 30 Class actions may the discourage attorney disloyalty that encourages lawyers to plea bargain for less than the actual injury.As happened in the Chinese poachers case in Palawan, lawyers or prosecutors may not canvask full compensation for the damage caused because they have an incentive to expend less time and money on a small case. 31 However, because class actions provide aggregate incentives for lawyers, and fees and settlements undergo higher judicial scrutiny, such disloyal settlements are less likely to occur. 32 While the Philippine Rules of the Cour t provide for class action suits,33 judges will sometimes be reluctant to certify classes and or else treat the injuries of plaintiffs as separate, despite any prevalent questions of law or fact.In Newsweek, Inc. v. IAC, the Supreme Court ruled that a defamatory remark order at 8,500 sugar planters do not necessarily apply to every individual in a group, and therefore are not actionable as a class action. 34 Likewise, a judge might refuse to certify a class of pollution victims because they suffer different types of physical injuries, even if the source was the same pollution. In a more litigated legal system, there would be more case law to guide judges on the nicety of class actions.However, in the Philippines, this does not yet exist. Add to this the high cost for lawyers, and class actions become even less feasible for most Philippine plaintiffs. 35 In the U. S. , it is much easier to litigate environmental class action suits. The Supreme Court has clearly instructed courts to construe its class action rules liberally and encourage class action suits. 36 This limits judicial discretion in refusing to certify classes to only extreme situations. Furthermore, the rules allow plaintiffs to join by de good luck rather than affirmatively.37 For environmental cases, the courts will look at the potential number of plaintiffs or the size of the estimated areas that a pollutant has infected to see if plaintiffs have met the numerosity requirement, but they are not required to meet a certain minimum number. 38 For the Philippines, which, unlike the U. S. , has too few environmental class action suits, adopting some of these mechanisms may wee a more efficient adjudication process for plaintiffs, defendants, and the courts. 3. Statute of Limitations and Delayed InjuriesUnlike a traditional tort or crime, many environmental injuries are not discrete events but only manifest themselves after many years. Pollutants may build up in soils, waters, or human bodies for years without reaching a dangerous level. Cleanup of such sites can take even longer. For example, when the U. S. military left Subic Bay in 1992, it left behind hazardous waste sites with bemire water that continue to poison the land over a decade later. 39 However, for environmental torts, the statute of limitations is four years, a relatively brief time.This could preclude the litigation of injuries from pollutants with an onset delayed for many years. Thus far statutes of limitation issues have not been a significant factor in environmental litigation. The Philippine Supreme Court addresses similar problems in different fields of law with the discovery rule, allowing the statute of limitations to run when the plaintiff actually or should reasonably have discovered the injury. 40 However, as the courts handle more brown environment cases, it will have to address the tensions between punishing past violators and protecting defendants from time-barred claims.41 U. S. courts have adopted the collectible diligence discovery rule, in particular for Clean Water Act and wetlands violations. Because immediate detection of pollution or illegal content into a wetlands is almost unacceptable, applying a statute of limitations strictly would defeat the remedial purpose of the act. 42 Courts try to effectuate the Congressional purpose of the statute with the due diligence discovery rule and giving the government a chance to file action against the polluter once the violation is reported to the EPA.43 Some courts44 realize that a statute of limitation may be inappropriate for cases when pollution continues to cause problems over time. These courts argue that a Defendants unpermitted discharge of dredged or aim materials into wetlands on the site is a continuing violation for as long as the fill remains. Accordingly, the five-year statute of limitations has not yet begun to run. 45 The statute of limitation will not run for as long as the pollution remains.Many c ourts will also treat common law tort nuisances as continuing violations. 46 This approach has the added benefit of allowing the government to fine violators for each day the pollution remains, capturing the more of the costs of environmental destruction. 47 Much of U. S. case law regarding the effect of statutes of limitations on environmental issues comes from ambiguities in the statute of limitation for complex processes, particularly the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), or Superfund law.48 Because Congress anticipated the complexity and long nature of site cleanups, it structured the statute of limitations in a flexible manner, allowing the court hear an initial cost recovery action prior to issuing a declaratory judgment to block letting the statute run. It also allows the plaintiff to file later(prenominal) cost-recovery actions to recapture further response costs incurred at the site. 49 However, the laws different statutes of limitation for remedial and removal actions phases of the cleanup has led to sloppiness over how the phases are defined.Courts often defer to EPA determinations in characterizing the type of action due to its technical dexterousise, rather than making that judgment itself. 50 4. Meeting the inwardness of Proof In environmental cases, there may be no line of direct secernate from the perpetrator to the harm. In pollution cases it is often impossible to prove that the plaintiffs harm was caused by his exposure to the toxic material. 51 For example, if several factories dump pollution into Manila Bay, it is impossible to determine which caused a particular environmental harm.Furthermore, the courts cannot expect absolute scientific certainty on the effects of a health risk such as electro-magnetic fields from former cables. 52 Given these problems, the traditional burden of proof standards, preponderance for civil cases and beyond a reasonable doubt for criminal,53 may prove to be prohibitively high. Philippine courts employ liability-shifting mechanisms to manage this difficulty in environmental cases. For example, pursuant to the Fisheries Code, courts use reverse burden of proof to place the burden of exculpation on defendants found with high-explosive or cyanide fishing gear.54 Furthermore, the courts have begun to experiment with the precautionary principle, placing the constitutional rights to health and safety above development. 55 The courts also employs res ipsa loquitor in tort suits,56 although this has not been a prominent feature of environmental litigation. Plaintiffs may also hold multiple defendants jointly and severally liable for an act of environmental destruction that cannot be traced to a single defendant company, such as the pollution in Manila Bay. 57Until recently, Philippine lawmakers did not see a need to introduce a strict liability58 regime into environmental laws. 59 Strict liability was employed in other fields, but not environ- mental laws. More recent anti-pollution laws such as the Clean Air and Solid Waste Management Acts establish that a violation of the standard is actionable through and through citizen suits. 60 In U. S. , because of its common law tradition, courts are more willing to employ strict liability. Generally, when a defendant, though without fault, has engaged in a perilous bodily function , there is no justification for relieving it of liability.61 Such perilous activities include operating explosives, nuclear energy, hydropower, fire, high-energy explosives, poisons, and other extremely hazardous materials. 62 For citizens suits under environmental statutes, plaintiffs need only show that the law was violated, not prove fault or any actual or threatened harm, without regard to mens rea. 63 When it is impossible to determine the proportion of fault of a large number of defendants, U. S. courts may approximate fault through other indicators, including market share and product output. Fo r example, in Hymowitz v. Eli Lilly Co., the New York Court of Appeals calculated the size of each defendant drug companys market share for DES to determine their fault in the injuries caused by the drug. 64 This also allows courts to address injuries sustained in the past by approximating past fault through data available in the present. The Environment Court in New Zealand has adopted an even more radical approach and done away with formal burdens of proof. It focuses instead on obtaining the scoop out possible evidence for a case. This makes it easier for plaintiffs appealing to the court to dislodge an unfavorable opinion from a lower court.65 While the Philippine Supreme Court may not wish to go this far, the court could more strict liability for hazardous materials and market share liability tools. 5. Damages and Remedies Even if a plaintiff wins damages from a defendant, if the defendant keeps polluting or cutting trees, the damage will continue. 66 In the Philippines, this is particularly problematic as the fines and penalties imposed under law are often not enough to change a companys behavior. In order to encourage development, Congress prohibited interim res steering orders against government projects.67 Since government infrastructure projects can cause massive damage to ecosystems, this prohibition is significant. Some courts try to avoid this loophole by claiming that the prohibition cannot violate a persons constitutional right to health or safety. 68 The extent of this loophole is unclear. Finally, even if a plaintiff or prosecution wins its case, most of the time the true costs of the defendants actions will not be reflected in the pose. Damages in civil cases and punishments in criminal cases generally capture the costs of any suffering caused to humans, not animals or plants.While some settlements may include forcing a defendant to install pollution-control equipment or erect money to conservation programs, this still likely does not re coup the full extent of damage to the environment. It is difficult to regenerate natural forest, coral reefs, or populations of imperil animals. The judicial system does not have much power to remedy this problem. The decision on the purpose of environmental laws and how much plaintiffs recover is for the Congress. However, it is important for judges to understand that environmental cases deal with only a fraction of the true costs of environmental damage.This may convince some judges to be more sympathetic toward environmental cases. While punishments for defendants may seem exorbitant, understanding the unaccounted costs of environmental damage puts these into perspective. B. Access to and Competency of Justice Aside from the legal issues draw above, in any country, there are a host of practical and logistical issues that impede the judicial systems ability to handle environmental cases. This includes the lack of financial resources of plaintiffs, particularly in poorer parts of the Philippines.Plaintiffs and their lawyers must also feel safe from physical and financial harassment while litigating their case. On the other hand, both courts and lawyers are often unfamiliar with environmental laws and science, limiting their ability to adjudicate in the field. Finally, court dockets are often congested, and environmental cases are not given priority. The judicial systems role in addressing these issues ranges from fairly involved to almost no role. Yet, in attempting to understand environmental adjudication in the Philippines, it is crucial to recognize the role these practical realities play.1. Financial Costs of Adjudication In any legal system, filing and litigating a case takes an enormous amount of time and money. Philippine courts impose a filing and transcript fee, although these are waived for citizens suits. Reflecting on his experiences, famous environmental attorney Antonio Oposa suggested that these costs were the greatest inhibitions for most pl aintiffs. 69 Furthermore, for injunctive remedies, plaintiffs must bet on a bond to cover the defendants potential damages, which may be too large for a poor plaintiff with livestock and property as his only assets.70 Most Philippine lawyers do not use a contingency fee system, so plaintiffs must be able to pay for legal services up front and over the lengthy litigation process. 71 On top of this, there is the risk of financially curtailment harassment suits from defendants, or Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP). Even the logistics of feeding and housing witnesses, and their lost time from work, poses significant problems for predominantly poorer plaintiffs. In the U. S. , NGOs often receive enough donations to allow them to engage in litigation and have staff lawyers. More importantly, plaintiffs attorneysoften work on a contingency basis, allowing poorer plaintiffs to avoid large financial risk. Furthermore, NGOs and environmental groups seeking injunctive r emedies are often required only to pay a nominal bond or may be exempted completely. 72 While some might worry this makes litigation in the U. S. too easy, it drastically improves poor peoples access to justice. Pursuant to the Constitutions emphasis on the poor, the Supreme Court of the Philippines has taken some efforts to relieve this problem. Poorer plaintiffs are exempted from paying docket, transcript, and other fees and are granted free legal counsel.Furthermore, the Court provides an annual grant to the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Free Legal Aid Program. 73 However, not all environmental plaintiffs qualify as poor, particularly NGOs, even though they often have limited financial resources. Furthermore, even though the amount of the bond is under the discretion of the judge, judges are reluctant to do this because they worry about being accused of abusing their discretion. 74 2. Harassment of Plaintiffs and Lawyers Because of the high stakes involved in environmental c ases, defendants may go to erratic means to intimidate and harass plaintiffs and their lawyers.It is not uncommon for defendants to lodge harassment or SLAPP suits against environmental plaintiffs or DENR prosecutors to attempt to force them to drop their charges. 75 Enforcers who forfeit the equipment of criminals are often sued for robbery. 76 Some defendants take even more extreme means such as physical violence or even murder. 77 Such dangers were recently illustrated by the murder of environmental advocate Elpidio de la Victoria and death threats against attorney Oposa. 78 This makes lawyers unwilling to take on difficult environmental cases.To stifle SLAPP suits, the courts should promptly apply the anti-SLAPP provisions in the Philippine Clean Air and Ecological Solid Waste Management Acts when applicable. 79 This means dismissing any harassment suits as quickly as possible. However, plaintiffs relying on other laws have less protection. 80 Congress must expand the use of an ti-SLAPP provisions to other environmental laws. Furthermore, law enforcement must vigorously prosecute any defendants who resort to violence. In short, to facilitate environmental cases, the court must protect the ones bringing the cases. 3.Technical Knowledge Among Judges and Attorneys Judges must decide questions of science as well as law in order to slope of most environmental cases. This is particularly true for brown issues, which involve uncertain science regarding the exact effects of a pollutant. In the U. S. , scientific understanding of pollutants led to new classes of trespass and tort suits that held emitters liable for their actions. 81 However, both sides in a case will try to use any scientific perplexity to their advantage, or even create scientific uncertainty even when it does not exist in order to confuse the court.Judges must understand what scientific evidence should be admitted and what is not valid. 82 Judges and lawyers need to understand the science well enough to determine which arguments are unfounded and which are plausible. Because general the courts have general jurisdiction and are not specialized in environmental issues, this problem will have to be addressed by providing judges and lawyers with supplemental training in environmental sciences and law. PHILJA and other organizations are already success in full doing this. 83 Eventually, however, this problem may be resolved through a change in the adjudication system.If the Philippines moves toward environmental courts or administrative adjudication84 (as is being considered), judges would be trained specifically to handle environmental cases. 4. Obtaining and Preserving Evidence For green issues, preserving evidence may be difficult. After an illegal logger or fisher is captured, DENR can confiscate the logs and fish. These goods rot or deteriorate over time. Proper procedure requires taking pictures of the logs and fish for admission into court. Specially trained fish examin ers prepare reports on the cause of death of fish.When done correctly, this preserves the evidence for use at court. However, some areas may not have fish examiners on hand or the prosecution may not properly prepare the pictures for admissible evidence. It is not uncommon for custodians of the confiscated items to lose track of them over time. Because cases take so long in the court system, this can be a real problem. 85 It is also difficult for enforcement agents to find and confiscate the equipment and vehicles used in environmental crimes, as the boats and trucks perpetrators use are highly mobile.Despite the inconvenience it may cause defendants, such equipment must be held as evidence and to prevent further environmental damage. The accused, or unindicted conspirators, will often petition for the release of their equipment. 86 Unfortunately, sympathetic lower court judges may sometimes grant these requests, despite the contravening case law. 87 Moreover, prosecutors must have the vehicles stored in a safe area despite the lack of storage space. Finally, it is important for enforcers to determine the location of violators, particularly close to the boundaries of natural parks.Community enforcers may not be trained in determining the exact location of where they apprehended the violators. Wealthier units can use GPS, but often the location of apprehension is disputed. 88 Any doubt in this area can destroy the prosecutions case. 5. Docket Congestion In many countries, including the Philippines, courts are overburdened with cases. Yet, the Philippines forests and animals are already disappearing quickly. Irreversible damage to ecosystems can occur much more quickly than the many years it may take the court system to resolve a case. As Prof.La Vina noted, the environment cannot wait for the court system. 89 According to Justice Nazario, the Philippines needs over 300 trial court judges to fill the vacancies and resolve pending cases. 90 Low pay discourages th e few who are qualified. Many of these vacancies are in remote parts of the country, such as Nueva Ecija, Occidental Mindoro, and Surigao Norte, where much of the fishing and forestry violations occur. Furthermore, the Supreme Court is burdened by the large amount of cases granted review each year, including the automatic review for death penalty cases. 91Given this burdensome congestion, environmental cases are not given any special treatment on their own merits. Criminal environmental cases may be somewhat more expedited because they involve criminal punishments, but most judges and lawyers show no urgency with regard to environmental cases. 92 The Supreme Court attempted to alleviate this problem with Administrative Order No. 150B-93, setting up special courts to handle illegal logging, but these remain underutilized. 93 Until cases can move through the court system more quickly, the enforcement of environmental law will be delayed.III. Conclusion This paper has highlighted impor tant legal and practical issues preventing efficient adjudication of environmental cases in the Philippines. However, due to logistical and budgetary constraints, this paper focused mostly on case law from the Supreme Court and the personal experiences of lawyers. In order to fully understand environmental adjudication throughout the court system, further research should ideally analyze environmental cases from all Municipal and Regional Trial Courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court.It is important to see how cases area actually treated, particularly with respect to the issues examined in this paper. Furthermore, there may be important regional variations, particularly between areas with more natural resources and more urban areas. Even before such a study is undertaken, the courts can apply several lessons from this paper in the near future. First, while the courts have already taken commendable steps to waive filing fees and other costs for paupers, as mentioned above the definition of pauper may be under inclusive by not including NGOs.The courts should consider other definitions to reflect the realities of environmental NGOs. 94 Second, the Supreme Court should instruct the courts to dismiss SLAPP suits expeditiously. While the natural resource laws may not have anti-SLAPP provisions, Congress clearly did not intend to encourage such suits and there is nothing legally preventing the courts from dismissing them faster. Finally, the courts can address standing for citizens and class action suits. In particular, it should set out a clear position on standing in environmental cases.Other challenges will require long-term planning for the courts. Reducing the docket congestion is critical to expedite justice, although doing this will likely take years and require more judges. Likewise, the ongoing effort to train judges and lawyers in environmental law and science must continue, particularly as new judges and lawyers enter the judicial system. The court s should also familiarize themselves with the legal mechanisms available to them, particularly in shifting the burden of proof.However, this will be most useful in pollution cases as they become more common in the future. Ultimately, the challenges described above will require multifaceted solutions from various stakeholders in the Philippine legal system. For example, Congress must work to improve standing and citizens suit provisions in other environmental laws. To reduce the financial risk of brining a suit, law firms could move toward a contingency fee system. Furthermore, it is the responsibility of DENR and environmental agencies to ensure that evidence is properly recorded and preserved.Finally, as the Philippine grows and wealth spreads, more plaintiffs will be able to undergo the financial costs of adjudication. Eventually, the best solution to these challenges may come not from within the courts but from a new adjudication system. The U. S. has worked successfully with ad ministrative adjudication for environmental issues in the EPA and Department of Interior. Other countries have set up independent environment courts. Based on the results of further studies and the needs of the country, the Philippines may move to adopt one of these models.This would allow expert adjudicators to handle cases under rules that make sense for environmental issues. Finally, it is important for judges at all levels of the judicial system to understand the severity of environmental humiliation in the Philippines. The only redress environmental plaintiffs or prosecutors may have is in their court. Thus, they should not be reluctant to grant standing or award large damages, when appropriate, because doing so will ensure that both humans and the environment have their proper day in court.