17 the mix of energy sources in a company’s portfolio,”53 and, therefore, controls and/or influences the activities of its subsidiaries. The Honorable Commission must not -- by sheer attempt of these corporations to avoid scrutiny of their responsibilities -- concede its authority over the respondents. C. The Honorable Commission has authority to conduct a national public inquiry on the subject matter of the Petition. C.1. The Petition invokes infringements of civil and political rights—the very rights enshrined in the Constitution, Omnibus Rules of the Honorable Commission and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 2.31. The human rights enumerated in the Petition, including environmental rights, are the very essence of the civil and political right to life -- the violations or threats of violations of which the Honorable Commission is duty-bound to investigate. 2.32. International jurisprudence and instruments are replete with pronouncements regarding the right to life as embracing the right to a healthy environment and other rights mentioned in the Petition.54 2.33. In the Philippines, the Supreme Court in the recent cases of Henares, Jr., et al. v. Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, et al.55, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, et al. v. 53 ClientEarth’s amicus submission dated 21 November 2016, p. 48, available at http://www.documents.clientearth.org/wp-content/uploads/library/2016-11-21-amicus-curiae-briefpresented-by-clientearth-re-national-inquiry-on-the-impact-of-climate-change-on-the-human-rights-of-thefilipino-people-ce-en.pdf, last accessed on 08 February 2017. In general, it appears that parent companies often take responsibility for climate change on behalf of their organization. This can be seen in corporate disclosures on climate change to investors. CDP provides a “global disclosure system” for companies to manage their environmental impacts and for investors or purchasers to access environmental information for use in financial decisions. Investors can request information from companies through CDP's climate change questionnaires. The climate change questionnaire asks companies, “[w]here is the highest level of direct responsibility for climate change within your organization?” See CDP, Climate Change 2016 Information Request, available at https://www.cdp.net/en, last accessed on 08 February 2017. 54 See cases of T. Damodhar Rao v. Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad, Shantistar Builders v. Narayan Khimalal Totame, Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar, M.C. Mehta v. Union of India, Forum, Prevention of Environment and Sound Pollution v. Union of India, and Centre of Environmental Law v. Union of India, Shehla Zia v. WAPDA, P.L.D. and West Pakistan Salt Miners Labour Union v. Industries and Mineral Development, Mohiuddin Farooque v. Bangladesh, Gbemre v. Shell Petroleum Dev. Co. Nigeria Ltd., Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay and Yakye Axa Indigenous Community v. Paraguay. See also Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW), amicus curiae brief, which discusses these cases succinctly, dated 07 November 2016, on file with the Honorable Commission and also available at https://business-humanrights.org/en/amicus-briefs, last accessed on 08 February 2017. 55 G.R. No. 158290, 23 October 2006.

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