July 28, 2016
Environment Secretary
Regina Paz L. Lopez has vowed to invest in enterprise development, in
partnership with rural communities, through the Natural Resources Development
Corp. (NRDC).
The NRDC is an attached
agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). It
was created by virtue of Executive Order 786, signed on March 19, 1982, by the
late strongman Ferdinand E. Marcos.
Tasked to undertake
business or development projects, NRDC, among others, is mandated to engage in
the production of charcoal pig iron and small- and medium-scale steel mills as
production of wood for fuel; encourage private sector to engage in
reforestation and industrial forestry operations; and ensure a stable market
for natural resources-based products by coordinating the production and
marketing activities of critical natural resources-based products.
It is also mandated to
promote investment in natural resources-based industries by providing
financial, technical and/or management support/assistance; conduct research and
development on natural resources-based products; and engage in the production
and marketing of minor forest, aquatic and marine products.
Lopez
told reporters during the kick-off of her weekly “Meet the Beat” news
conference in Quezon City on Wednesday that through NRDC, the
DENR can create joint-venture agreements with rural communities to start
business ventures anchored on the use and exploitation of the country’s natural
resources.
“I like business.
To my delight, I found out that one of the GOCCs [government-owned and
-controlled corporations] is called Natural Resources Development Corp. We
should go into business,” Lopez said.
Many people in rural
areas continue to experience hunger and poverty, she noted, despite the fact
that mining companies are raking in huge profits in mining areas at the expense
of the environment and natural resources.
Worse, Lopez added,
people suffer from environmental degradation, instead of benefiting from mining
operations.
In Palawan, she said
the adverse impact of mining far outweighed its benefits, as far as communities
are concerned, with the losses incurred mostly in agriculture, fishing and
health.
A case in point is the
Bicol area, where people could have benefited more had the area used in
small-scale mining had been used for the development of residential areas or
ecotourism.
Lopez said she was
saddened about the plight of poor farmers and fishermen affected by the adverse
impact of nickel mining in their incomes and livelihood.
An environmental
advocate, Lopez suspended the permits of at least four nickel-mining companies
since assuming the top DENR post as part of a mining audit that goes beyond the
usual technical or physical audit by including in the criteria environmental
and social impact. Two of these are in Palawan, the country’s last
ecological frontier, Berong Nickel Corp. and Citinickel Development Corp.
A week after her
appointment to the DENR post, Lopez ordered two large-scale nickel mines
operating in Palawan indefinitely suspended in view of the writ of kalikasan
issued by the Supreme Court, Executive Order 1, issued by the provincial
government of Palawan suspending all mining activities in the province, and the
numerous complaints of the people against mining operations.
Suspended were
Diversified Metals Corp., Benguet Corp., and Nickel Mines Inc. Two other
nickel-mining companies have been suspended since 2014. These are Eramen
Minerals Inc. and LNL Archiepelago Minerals Inc.—all of which operate in Santa
Cruz, Zambales.
Just this week, Lopez
declared that the $5.9-billion Tampakan Copper-Gold Project, dubbed as
potentially Asia’s biggest mining gold-copper mining project in Southern
Philippines, would not start mining operations under her watch.
Lopez had earlier
assured miners of suspended nickel-mining companies help and support,
particularly indigenous peoples (IPs), whose environment and natural resources
were destroyed by mining.
She said miners could
find jobs in rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by mining operation, such
as cleanup of rivers and reforestation of mined-out areas.
“[For] people who
worked at the mining companies, we will get them involved in rehab. They
have families, and they are poor. There is money for rehab. The
rivers are silted, farmlands are [destroyed]. The companies are mandated
to fix it. So we will use the fund for them to fix it,” she said.
According to Lopez,
poverty and hunger are strongly felt in areas where mining is prevalent, such
as Palawan.
She said she want to
help the poor by making them entrepreneurs using natural resources as their
primary capital, through the various programs of the government.
Lopez said she wants to
revive the NRDC by lending small capital or entering in a joint-venture
agreement with rural communities.
“NRDC can do it, which
means we can [create] joint venture with IPs. If they lack resources, we
can give it,” she said.
Lopez said she would
ask President Duterte’s approval to start her plan to develop rural enterprises
through
the NRDC.
the NRDC.
“If that is allowed,
the DENR can be a great tool in poverty alleviation in areas where there are
environmental concerns. Business is the way to go. I can feel it,”
Lopez said.
She added that the DENR
would help partners in the implementation of the National Greening Program
(NGP) develop NGP sites for ecotourism, adding that she wanted to replicate the
success of the La Mesa Nature Reserve, which she said is earning P40 million a
year.
“I want to replicate
that kind of entrepreneurial venture in all our NGP areas. Not just
planting of the trees, but doing business, value-adding,” Lopez said.
She said rural
communities would be the primary beneficiary of such business venture with the
DENR through the NRDC.
“If we [DENR] can
invest in business, then we should and we let the community get the money,” she
ended.
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