Legal issues affecting sustainability of integrated coastal management in the Philippines

Most integrated coastal management projects that are implemented in developing countries have generally failed to continue after donor support is withdrawn. The Integrated Coastal Management Sustainability Research Project conducted a multi-disciplinary study on the sustainability of integrated coastal management activities in the Philippines after formal project termination. The legal research, one of its components, aimed: (a) to identify the policy, legal and institutional framework that provide support for the implementation of integrated coastal management, and (b) to show the importance of a legal framework and its effective enforcement in sustaining integrated coastal management even after support is gone. aper will argue that a legal framework and its effective enforcement foster the sustainability of integrated coastal management. Laws, regulations, ordinances and other legal instruments buttress the sustained implementation of integrated coastal management programs, if they are applied or enforced. In the Philippines, while there are numerous laws that provide policy and regulatory framework for integrated coastal management, however these laws are not enforced properly for a variety of reasons. To find out what issues were affecting enforcement field research was conducted in two sites in the Philippines: Mabini, Batangas and Bais Bay, Negros Oriental. Semi-structured interviews with key informants in these sites were done. Results of the qualitative analysis show that because of conflicting policies, confusion of roles, political interference, lack of interest to fully prosecute cases, selective enforcement, and informal enforcement mechanisms, enforcement in the two above-mentioned sites was weak.