(The Philippine Star) | Updated February 6, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines
- Mining stakeholders are now pressuring the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR) to release the audit results after Secretary Gina
Lopez vehemently refused to make public the actual documents on the 23 closed
and five suspended large-scale mining firms.
Mining companies are
wary after reports came out that Lopez made decisions in contrast with the
actual recommendations of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), the
DENR-attached agency that led the audit.
“At the end of the day,
I make the decisions. Their only play here is to recommend but the mining audit
was done on July and it took them so long. MGB has been really slow, I’m not
happy with them at all,” Lopez said.
The Philippine Mine
Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA) said the full details of the results
of the audit has yet to be furnished even to the concerned companies.
“In the spirit of
transparency and due process, the PMSEA exhorts the DENR to release the results
of the mining audit to clear any doubts and air of suspicions,” PMSEA president
Louie Sarmiento said.
“A lot of people will
be affected and will lose their jobs for decisions that are arbitrarily done.
The President wants reduction in poverty and this is not helping in anyway,” he
added.
Despite calls for from
mining stakeholders to release the results, the Environment chief remained firm
on her decision.
“What’s important here
is the decision I made as Cabinet secretary, not the recommendations. I don’t
want to show it to you (to the press) whatever it may be,” Lopez said referring
to the MGB recommendations.
“Just leave it already,
I’ve made my decision. I’m under no obligation to let you know what’s happening
here,” she added.
The MGB has refused to
comment on the issue since the audit result announcement.
The Chamber of Mines of
the Philippines (COMP) said there is an urgent need to look into the basis of
the arbitrary closure and suspension of mines.
“The executive branch
has been advocating transparency in its policies and programs and on this
basis, we feel we have the right to know the process involved and the results
of the audit,” COMP chairman Artemio Disini said.
Amid issues of lack of
due process, the DENR maintained the audit was meticulously observed and the
results were anchored on integrity.
No comments:
Post a Comment