LEGAZPI CITY -- Albay Gov. Joey Sarte Salceda last Tuesday hailed the Supreme Court’s move to create 117 Environment Courts across the country.

        Salceda in a press statement said, the creation of the “green” courts is a clear manifestation that the highest court of the land believes that judicial activism is warranted by the rising risk of global warming.

        He said “the SC move was an affirmative action on behalf of the next generations of Filipinos by strengthening execution of environmental laws.”

        The SC has designated 117 trial courts to handle all environmental cases like those involving illegal activities in fishing, logging, mining and dumping of toxic wastes.

        The SC resolution said the trial courts designated as “green” courts will be identified after all pending environmental cases shall have been verified.

        Of the 117 designated “green” courts, 45 would be called “forestry courts,” while 48 first level courts and 24 second level courts would handle all environmental cases .

        While Salceda lauded the SC he also suggested that the SC should designate four divisions of the Court of Appeals as Environmental Appellate Courts (EAC), two for Luzon, one for Visayas and one for Mindanao.

        The designation of the EAC would be similar to that of the Court of Tax Appeals which handles highly technical cases of national concerns such as the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

        Under Salceda’s administration it had passed ordinances and launched projects to enforce environmental protection.

        Salceda has launched the Climate Change Adaptation as well as Albay In Action on Climate Change (A2C2) during the three-day “National Conference on Climate Change Adaptation” on Oct. 22 last year.

        As RDC chairman, Salceda also gave priority focus on the “Green Bicol” project patterned to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s “Green Philippines” Project designed to plant billions of trees across the country.