By: Jaymee T. Gamil:46 AM May 04,
2017
Opponents of Gina Lopez on Wednesday
celebrated the congressional rejection of her nomination as environment secretary,
while her supporters lamented the lawmakers’ decision, saying strong public
support was no match for business and political interests.
In the mining region of Caraga,
Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel said he was “very elated” at the
rejection of Lopez’s nomination.
“We can now finally return to a
stable regulatory environment with her gone [from] office. [During] her
stint in [the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, or DENR], Ms
Lopez did a horrible job because she refused to follow existing laws and
instead let her biases define her leadership. She will not be missed,” Pimentel
said.
Back to work
He said retrenched miners could now
go back to work because “the market outlook will [surely] improve.”
According to Pimentel, one of
Surigao del Sur’s mines, CTP Mining Corp., retrenched hundreds of employees
after Lopez ordered its suspension, along with 13 other mines in the province.
Dulmar Raagas, president of the
Chamber of Mines-Caraga Inc., welcomed the decision of the congressional
Commission on Appointments (CA).
“While we sought to work with Ms
Lopez [during her 10 months] in office, she constantly avoided forging a
constructive relationship with the mining sector. Instead, she showed her
deeply ingrained biases against mining, even responsible ones,” Raagas said.
“With her departure from the [DENR],
we [expect] the investment climate [to] finally clear up and investors [to]
resume pouring [money into] the Caraga mining industry,” he added.
‘Betrayal of the people’
Surigao del Norte provincial board
member Fernando Larong said the board heaved a “monster sigh of relief” and
applauded the lawmakers who voted to reject Lopez’s nomination.
“Let’s hope life here and other
mining-dependent provinces can now go back to normal. Let’s pray the President
will stop experimenting and appoint someone who knows the job and is more than
just a dreamer,” Larong said.
Environmental activists and
progressive groups who supported Lopez denounced the lawmakers’ decision,
lamenting that business and political interests trumped strong public support
for her.
“This is a tragedy for the
environment as well as for the rights and welfare of our people,” Jaybee
Garganera, national coordinator of Alyansa Tigil Mina, said in a statement.
Garganera called the lawmakers’
decision a “betrayal of the people,” especially of communities who were
“protecting their lives and livelihoods by resisting destructive large-scale
mining.”
“Clearly our Congress does not
represent the Filipino people,” Garganera said. “It (the decision) only shows
that politicians are still not to be trusted to think and decide beyond their
self-interests.”
“Today the big corporate powers won
over our suffering and struggling communities,” Aileen Lucero, national
coordinator of the environmental group EcoWaste Coalition, said.
Lucero described Lopez’s rejection
as a “dark day” in the Filipinos’ fight against mining operations that had
destroyed “our mountains and wrecked people’s lives.”
Clemente Bautista, national
coordinator of the group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment,
blasted the appointments commission for “kowtowing to mining oligarchs” and
“trapo” (traditional politicians).
Renato Reyes, secretary general of
the left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), denounced the victory of
“mining oligarchs,” “bureaucratic capitalism” and “vested interests” in the
rejection of Lopez.
‘Grave disappointment’
“Compromises appeared to have been
made along the way. Big business interests continue to hold sway in the Duterte
regime, both in the executive and the legislative branches. Mining interests
[on] the Commission on Appointments are proof of this,” Reyes said in a
statement.
Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani
Zarate expressed “grave disappointment” over the rejection of Lopez.
“This is certainly a blow [to] the
fight against the plunder of our natural resources and protection of our
environment,” Zarate said in a statement.
“We hope that the Palace will
appoint a successor [who] will approximate if not exceed [Secretary Lopez’s]
ardent advocacy for the environment and no-nonsense fight against destructive
mining and corporate greed,” he added.
People’s interest
Anakpawis Rep. Ariel Casilao called
on Filipinos to be vigilant and urged whoever would replace Lopez “to uphold
the interest and welfare of the people and not succumb to the pressure and
temptation of profitable but destructive mining operations.”
“We are very much disappointed. We
fear that environmental degradation due to large-scale mining and other
projects that harm the environment will worsen,” said Bong Sanchez, president
of Save Antique Movement.
The Capiz Environmental Protection
Alliance also decried the lawmakers’ rejection of Lopez.
“We are saddened because [Lopez] was
a staunch advocate and our ally in the defense of our environment,” said
Darlene Surriga, advocacy officer of the alliance.
‘Lip service’
Yoly Esguerra, national coordinator
of the environmental group Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc., said the
lawmakers’ decision was a “rejection of the change that this government
purportedly professes to uphold.”
“Change is just lip service for this
government because it is still dominated by big business, especially miners,” Esguerra
said.
Josephine Ignacio, coordinator of
Defender of the Environment for Genuine Development of Zambales, blamed the
rejection of Lopez on “pressure from powerful mining companies” on the
appointments commission.
“For sure, mining companies and their
supporters are in a celebratory mood. But the communities affected by mining
activities will remain vigilant against irresponsible mining,” she said.
In Batangas province, Fr. Dakila
Ramos of the Archdiocesan Ministry on the Environment of the Archdiocese of
Lipa, said he was saddened by the rejection of Lopez.
“But the fight will continue,” Ramos
said.
The Marinduque Council for
Environmental Concerns also lamented the rejection of Lopez.
“This only goes to show how powerful
mining companies are,” said Elizabeth Manggol, the group’s leader. —WITH
REPORTS FROM DANILO ADORADOR III, KARLOS MANLUPIG, NESTOR P. BURGOS JR., JOEY
GABIETA, REDEMPTO ANDA, ALLAN MACATUNO, YOLANDA SOTELO AND VINCENT CABREZA
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