c. Polluter Pays Principle

Polluter Pays Principle

Concept

The polluter pays principle places the cost of addressing pollution on the person responsible for it, rather than leaving the cost with those affected or the public. In the provisions supplied, this idea appears through duties to pay for water-pollution clean-up, liability for ship-source pollution damage, and the Rio Declaration’s call for laws on liability and compensation. (Sec. 16, Rep. Act No. 9275)¹ (Sec. 6, Rep. Act No. 9483)² (Principle 13, Rio Declaration)³

Governing provisions

Principle 13 of the Rio Declaration calls on States to develop national law on liability and compensation for victims of pollution and other environmental damage. It also calls for cooperation in developing international law on liability and compensation for environmental damage extending beyond the jurisdiction of the State where the activity occurs. (Principle 13, Rio Declaration)³

Section 16 of Republic Act No. 9275 addresses responsibility for containing, removing, and cleaning up pollution of water bodies. Section 6 of Republic Act No. 9483 makes the shipowner liable for pollution damage caused by the ship as a result of an incident and identifies recoverable categories of damage. (Sec. 16, Rep. Act No. 9275)¹ (Sec. 6, Rep. Act No. 9483)²

Requisites / Rules

• Water pollution: A person who causes pollution in, or pollutes, a water body in excess of applicable and prevailing standards must contain, remove, and clean up the incident at that person’s expense, to the extent the water body has been rendered unfit for utilization and beneficial use. (Sec. 16, Rep. Act No. 9275)¹
• Emergency clean-up: If emergency operations are necessary and the polluter fails to act immediately, the Department, in coordination with concerned government agencies, conducts the operations. Persons found to have caused the pollution reimburse the expenses upon proper administrative determination; reimbursement goes to the Water Quality Management Fund or the fund from which the expenses were drawn. (Sec. 16, Rep. Act No. 9275)¹
• Ship-source pollution: The liable owner is the owner when the incident occurs or, for a series of occurrences, when the first occurrence takes place. The pollution damage must be caused by the ship as a result of that incident. (Sec. 6, Rep. Act No. 9483)²
• Scope of ship-source damage: Listed damages include reasonable clean-up and preventive-measure expenses; specified consequential and pure economic losses; directly resulting harm to human health or loss of life; and environmental damage and reasonable restoration measures. (Sec. 6, Rep. Act No. 9483)²

Distinctions

Do not treat the Rio Declaration provision as though it itself sets out the detailed domestic clean-up or shipowner-liability rules. Principle 13 addresses what States should develop and how they should cooperate; the two statutes identify particular responsible persons, triggering circumstances, and costs or damages. (Principle 13, Rio Declaration)³ (Sec. 16, Rep. Act No. 9275)¹ (Sec. 6, Rep. Act No. 9483)²

Key doctrines

Responsibility may cover more than physical clean-up: the ship-source provision also lists preventive measures, economic losses, health-related damage, and environmental restoration. The water-pollution provision separately ensures that government action in an emergency does not necessarily leave the government bearing the clean-up expense. (Sec. 6, Rep. Act No. 9483)² (Sec. 16, Rep. Act No. 9275)¹

Exceptions

The supplied provisions do not state a general exemption from the polluter’s responsibility. They do, however, condition the cited water-pollution duty on the statutory standards and extent of impairment, and condition government recovery of emergency expenses on a proper administrative determination of who caused the pollution. (Sec. 16, Rep. Act No. 9275)¹

Bar tip

Identify the source and type of pollution first. Then state the applicable person’s duty or liability and distinguish direct clean-up expense from the broader damages listed for ship-source pollution. (Sec. 16, Rep. Act No. 9275)¹ (Sec. 6, Rep. Act No. 9483)²