MANILA, Philippines – Following the destruction caused by typhoon Yolanda, the Department of Justice (DOJ) allowed the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to push through with its plan of adopting a green building regulation in the National Building Code of the Philippines (NBCP).

In a nine-page legal opinion made public Wednesday, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima said the DPWH has the authority to issue implementing rules and regulations for effective implementation of the NBCP.

With such power, De Lima said the authority includes the power to amend or revise under the doctrine of necessary implications.

Section 203 of both the NBCP and its IRR explicitly authorizes changes and/or amendments to existing referral codes.

“Indeed, the provisions of the referral codes should be allowed to evolve to respond to the needs of the changing times,” De Lima said in her legal opinion.

“Verily, amending all the pertinent provisions of existing referral codes to include the green building regulation may be considered as one of the needed changes envisioned at the time of the adoption of the law,” she said.

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– Tetch Tores-Tupas

Featured on Inquirer, 27 November 2013