Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Jose Atienza has vowed to crack the whip within his department to ensure a more effective and efficient enforcement of environmental laws.

According to Atienza, a major reorganization of the department is in the offing and that key positions will be replaced and vital roles will be redefined.

?While we have done so much at the DENR, I know that we can do even more,? Atienza stressed. ?That is why I urge all our employees and personnel to start the year right by redefining themselves for our environment and natural wealth are vital to the country?s economic well-being.?

At the same time, Atienza said that his department will work more closely with local government units and its ?environmental partners? such as Bantay Kalikasan, EcoWaste Coalition, and Mother Earth Philippines.

?We [the DENR] will also revitalize our alliance with the Catholic Church, Iglesia Ni Cristo, and other religious groups to intensify public awareness and involvement in environmental protection and the correct management of our country?s rich natural resources,? Atienza pointed out.

Atienza said the DENR?s legal department will be strengthened to guarantee environmental justice.

Under Atienza?s term, the DENR implemented a Supreme Court decision which, for various reasons, has not been executed for 40 long years, redefining the boundaries of the Zobel de Ayala?s Calatagan hacienda.

It was also only during Atienza?s administration that the DENR filed a case at the Office of the Ombudsman against a local official, Mayor Ceciron Cawaling of Malay, Aklan, for allowing the construction of a hotel resort in a mangrove protected area in Boracay island.

No less than the Supreme Court upheld the DENR?s defense of Boracay island as forest land and as State property except for titled portions.

Moreover, Atienza was responsible for the fast-tracking of the setting up of wastewater treatment facilities by Manila Water and Maynilad, which is the first step in genuinely rehabilitating Manila Bay and other important water bodies.

This too was supported by the Supreme Court ordering all concerned agencies to coordinate for the clean-up, restoration and preservation of the historic Manila Bay, calling these activities an ?extreme necessity? and mandating the DENR, as lead agency, to fully implement its Operational Plan for the Manila Bay Coastal Strategy.