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Legal Ethics is environmental ethics

As stewards of earth, every person has a responsibility to promote and

protect the environment. Such responsibility is neither rooted from a statute or a

treaty but ultimately sourced from our natural survival instinct. The dissipation of 

the environment would result to dissipation of human life since humans rely on the

environment for existence. The treat to existence has already bestowed uponhuman being the responsibility to sustain and safeguard the environment.

Furthermore, enacted statutes or laws positively compel individual to

conserve and protect the natural environment with corresponding penalty for any

violation thereof. Laws lay down framewor and protocol for environmental

protection and development which are in coherence with all individual sub!ect. Laws

further confer additional responsibility for the protection and sustenance of the

environment. Thus, laws resulted to greater responsibility than mere existence.

"embers of the bar and the bench lies the greatest role in the protection and

promotion the environment. The responsibility arose not !ust from their mere

existence nor from compulsion of law but from their positive une#uivocal oath whenthey too their Lawyer$s %ath. Lawyers voluntarily and unambiguously declared that

they &will support the 'onstitution and obey the laws as well as the legal orders of 

the duly constituted authorities( of the )epublic of the *hilippines. +nmistaably,

their support and obedience to the 'onstitution, laws and legal orders include

environmental protection.

Environmental protection is stressed in the very *reamble of the -/

'onstitution which states that &0e, the sovereign Filipino people xxx in order to

build a !ust and humane society that shall embody our ideals xxx conserve and

develop our patrimony.( Further, Article 11. 2eclaration of *rinciples and State

*olicies provides in Section 3 that &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 411 emphasi5ed the need to e6cient utili5ation of natural

resources and further its Section 7 declared that &the State shall protect the

nation$s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive

economic 5one xxx.(

 The legislature also enacted various laws for the protection of the

environment i.e. ).A. 8o. /9- or the 'lean Air Act, ).A. -9/ or the 0ildlife

'onservation and *rotection Act, and ).A. -7/: or the 'lean Air Act. The Supreme

'ourt itself contributed in the protection of the environment by issuing A.". no. ;-<

3.). 8o. ;//B >.). 8o.

:7/, April 7, 7;: to emphasi5e the necessity for protecting and promoting

the environment.

 The 'onstitution and the various laws, administrative orders and decisions of 

the Supreme 'ourt shall be the guiding light of lawyers in their undertaing to

support the 'onstitution and obey the laws and the legal orders. Every lawyer must

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and always comply with their oath otherwise they could be considered of be unCt to

practice law. Legal ethics aDords extraordinary duty to protect and promote the

environment to a lawyer. Thus, we can now say, Legal ethics transcends

Environmental ethics.