A VISITING US expert on Monday underscored the importance of applying the “precautionary principle” (PP) to ensure a toxic-free and life-sustaining environment to protect people and the environment from harm.

Paul Connett, a specialist on environmental chemistry and toxicology who has gone to 52 countries promoting zero waste and chemical safety, told participants to a seminar on toxicology at the Occupational Safety and Health Center in Quezon City that precautionary measures should be taken whenever an activity raises threats of harm to the environment or human health “even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.”

PRESIDENT Arroyo has ordered the release of P6.37 billion to tobacco-producing provinces, representing their 15-percent share in excise-tax collections on tobacco products from 1997 to 2007.

The President, who expressed confidence that her order would have no bearing on the government’s fiscal targets, authorized the fund release through Executive Order (EO) 843 dated November 5, 2009.

THE Court of Appeals (CA) has affirmed the order issued by  the Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA) directing the Gokongwei-owned Universal Robina Corp. (URC), a local food-and-beverage conglomerate, to pay a fine of more than P1 million for polluting Pasig River.

In a 10-page decision penned by Associate Justice Marlene Gonzales-Sison, the CA’s Fourth Division dismissed the petition for certiorari filed by URC seeking the annulment of the LLDA order dated January 21 directing the corporation to pay a P1,274,000 fine for discharging  pollutive wastewater to Pasig River for a period of 1,247 days.