Bringing PENCAS to Cebu: A Legal Challenge to the City’s New Land Use Plan
Environmental planner and economist Gus Agosto has taken a significant step in Cebu City’s ongoing land‑use debates by filing a formal notice and r...
Read ArticleEnvironmental Governance
Natural capital, environmental regulation, climate risk, quarrying, uplands, flooding, and ecological accountability.
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Environmental Rights Are Human Rights: Why Cebu Must Defend Its Constitutional Right to a Balanced and Healthful Ecology
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY MESSAGE Today, the world commemorates International Human Rights Day , marking the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Hum...
Read ArticleWhy I Choose to Speak Out on Upland Development — And Why the Public Must Be Informed
In recent days, a former Cebu City planning official publicly commented on the concerns surrounding the Monterazzas development. This matter has be...
Read ArticleWho Controls the Uplands? Cebu’s Extractive Landscape and Flood Vulnerability
The upland regions of Cebu represent the island’s watersheds, recharge zones, forests, limestone formations, and mineral deposits. These regions ar...
Read ArticleWhy Cebu Must Value Both Use and Non-Use Benefits of Its Uplands
Public discussions on Cebu’s upland resources often rely on a narrow and misleading definition of “economic value.” For years, local discourse has ...
Read ArticleWhen Nature Shows the Evidence
For weeks, many have asked me a simple question. It is an important question: “Why speak out only now about the unlicensed ENP preparer and violati...
Read ArticleEnvironmental Planner Flags Legal and Technical Violations in Upland Development
A recent climate change consultation attended by Cebu Governor Pam Baricuatro, Environmental Planner Gus Agosto raised compelling concerns. He is a...
Read ArticleWhy I Wrote to the Senate: Strengthening ECC Governance and Enforcing RA 10587
The recent events surrounding the Monterrazas de Cebu development—and the Senate investigation that followed—have brought national attention. These...
Read ArticleThe Political Economy of Flooding in Cebu
Every flood follows the laws of physics—but the damage it brings follows the laws of politics and economics. To understand Cebu’s recurring floods,...
Read ArticleBeyond Compliance: Why the ECC Fails to Capture the True Value of Cebu’s Uplands
Environmental decision-making in the Philippines has long relied on the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC). It serves as the ultimate regul...
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