BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL

RESOURCES

Spanish Government

 The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) traces its historical roots from as
far back as the time of Spanish rule in the Philippines.
 In 1863, a Royal Decree was issued by the Spanish authorities creating the Inspeccion General
de Montes, the first Forestry Service in the country.
 The main task of this colonial agency was to protect the forests in the Philippines and regulate
timber cutting.
 Consistent with its mandate, the Inspeccion was able to preserve the forested areas in various
islands of the Philippines because, at that time, the only trading that existed was the galleon
trade which focused on agricultural products.
 Likewise, demand for timber was insignificant during that period.
 Included however in the other functions and responsibilities of the agency are several concerns
related to the management of a wide range of natural resources, such as:
a. forest inventory and protection,
b. land classification,
c. watershed protection,
d. water, biodiversity and
e. mineral resources conservation,

making it the real progenitor of the modern-day DENR.

AMERICAN PERIOD-COMMONWEALTH ERA

 During the American regime, the U.S. Military Governor in the Philippines issued General Order
No. 50 on April 14, 1900 and reorganized the “Inspeccion”, renaming it as the Forestry Bureau.
 A year after, the Forestry Bureau was placed under the Department of Interior created under
Philippine Commission Act No. 222 that was enacted on September 16, 1901.
 The Department of Interior existed for more than a decade until it was abolished on November
18, 1916 by virtue of Reorganization Act No. 2666.
 In its place, the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR) was created.
 The DANR took “direct executive control, direction and supervision of the:
 Bureau of Agriculture,
 Bureau of Forestry,
 Bureau of Lands,
 Bureau of Science and the
 Weather Bureau and
 all matters concerning
 hunting, fisheries, sponges and other sea products and such others as may be hereafter
assigned to it by law”.

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 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL
RESOURCES
 In 1932, a new reorganization act was passed, providing for the renaming of DANR to the
Department of Agriculture and Commerce (DAC) and the addition of other bureaus to its
organizational structure.

JAPANESE OCCUPATION

 The DAC underwent several organizational changes from 1938 up to the outbreak of World War
II in 1941.
 And during the Japanese occupation, the Department was annexed to the Ministry of
Agriculture and Commerce of the Japanese Imperial Army.
 After the war in 1945, the government took on the task of rebuilding the country and
reconstituted many agencies including the DAC.
 Two years later, a reorganization act was implemented and the DAC was renamed the
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources (DANR).
 However, a number of its bureaus were transferred to the newly created Department of
Commerce and Industry (DCI) while some line offices were placed directly under the Office of
the President.

MARTIAL LAW YEARS

 From 1954-1974, the reconstituted DANR did not undergo significant changes.
 But with the issuance of Presidential Decree No. 461 on May 17, 1974, the Department was split
into two, namely, the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Natural
Resources (DNR).
 The DNR absorbed the following line bureaus and agencies:
1. Bureau of Forest Development (BFD), Bureau of Mines (BM);
2. Bureau of Lands (BL);
3. Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR),
4. National Committee for Mineral Exploration and Survey Operations (NACOMESCO),
5. Presidential Committee on Wood Industries Development (PCWID),
6. Fishery Industry Development Council (FIDC), Surigao Mineral Reservations Board (SMRB),
and
7. the Presidential Action Committee on Land Problems (PACLAP).
 Following the shift of the country into a parliamentary form of government in 1978 however, the
DNR became the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).
 The only notable changes in the MNR at that time was the transfer of the concerns on fish and
fishery agriculture to the Ministry of Agriculture in 1985, leaving the agency with only three line
bureaus (among other attached agencies).

1986 TO PRESENT

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 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL
RESOURCES
 Then came the 1st EDSA Revolution in 1986.
 Under the new democratic regime, the MNR was abolished with the issuance of Executive Order
No. 131 on January 30, 1987. E.O. 131 created the Department of Energy, Environment and
Natural Resources (DEENR).
 Not long after, the DEENR was reorganized anew and became the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR) that we know today.
 Executive Order No. 192, issued on June 10, 1897, served as the legal basis for the
reorganization.
 Under the E.O., the Department was given the mandate to exercise supervision over the
environment and natural resources concerns of the whole country through its national and
regional offices.

DENR-NCR

 The present-day National Capital Region (NCR) office of the DENR is the result of the integration
of the regional offices of the
1. Bureaus of Forest Development (BFD) and
2. Lands (BL); the research centers of
3. Forest Research Institute (FRI); and the transferred functions and resources of the
4. National Pollution Control Commission (NPCC).
 It first held office at El-Al Building along Quezon Avenue, Barangay Tatalon Quezon City with
Pedro C. Hipolito as Regional Executive Director.
 Since then, DENR-NCR has had the opportunity in being led by ten (10) male and five (5) female
Regional Executive Directors.