(The Philippine Star) | Updated February 18, 2017 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines -
Mining firms are considering filing graft charges against Environment Secretary
Gina Lopez for the alleged lack of due process in her orders to close 28
operations and cancel 75 mining contracts, which may hinder her confirmation by
the Commission on Appointments (CA).
Industry sources, who
refused to be named, bared that majority of the affected mining companies are
looking at possible graft cases to be individually filed by the firms next
week.
“Some will be filing.
We’re hoping that all of them (involved companies) will. As many as possible,”
the legal head of a listed mining company said.
Marcventures Mining and
Development Corp., whose nickel mine was one of 23 ordered to close by Lopez
for environmental violations, said yesterday it will take legal action to
overturn the DENR order and plans to ship out ore next month.
The source also claimed
that Lopez is violating the Revised Administrative Code of 1987 of the Civil
Service Commission, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public
Officials and Employees and Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act.
“(It’s) when you cause
undue injury to a person without due process and with grave abuse of
authority,” the source said.
But OceanaGold
Philippines chairman Joey Leviste said his company does not plan to file graft
charges against Lopez.
“This is purely a
policy dispute with the current Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR). We don’t intend to do that. We have full trust in the President. He
said he is in favor of responsible mining and the Canadian-Australian model,
which we adhere to,” Leviste explained.
The plan to file graft
charges might hamper the scheduled confirmation of Lopez, according to Chamber
of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) legal and policy vice president Ronald
Recidoro.
Lopez has failed to get
the nod of the CA and was just re-appointed by President Duterte as DENR chief.
Her confirmation was originally slated last Wednesday but she requested to have
it rescheduled to March 1.
“The filing itself is
something that the CA can take notice of. It will give them something to think
about, that this woman has apparently abused her authority,” Recidoro told The
STAR.
“We urged everybody who
felt that they are aggrieved to file whatever is necessary, be it graft or
personal case of damages. Just file the necessary cases so she will know that
she has caused damages to many parties,” he added.
Earlier this week, the
COMP filed an opposition to the confirmation of Lopez due to her alleged bias
against large-scale players.
“We just want to relay
the message to the public that we feel that the secretary is not qualified and
that the President should choose somebody who is better suited for the job,”
Recidoro said.
No more future for mining?
Recidoro also claimed
that should Lopez be confirmed by March 1, the industry will no longer have a
future in the country.
“If she gets confirmed,
I don’t think the industry has a future that’s why we are compelled to file
that opposition in the first place,” he said.
Recidoro also claimed
that Lopez’s plan of a green economy and ecotourism to replace the mining
sector is not a long-term solution.
“With the green jobs
she’s saying, what does she want people to do? Plant mangroves? That’s okay but
how much does that make compared with what the workers are currently earning?”
he said.
The Chamber also
challenged Lopez to name the mining company that offered her a bribe of P6
million per month.
“We would like to
challenge the secretary to name names rather than just leave it innuendo. She
should identify who these companies are because by failing to name names, she’s
putting the entire industry under a cloud of doubt,” Recidoro said.
“We commit that if
these companies are members of the Chamber and we found to have really tried to
bribe the secretary, we will remove them,” he added.
Some mining
stakeholders are also studying the possibility of suing the government as their
last resort.
The Chamber claimed
that the current state of the industry might cost the government “several
billion dollars” since contractors are entitled to investment guarantees.
Philexport alarmed
The Philippine
Exporters Confederation (Philexport) has joined the growing number of groups in
the private sector alarmed over the DENR’s directive to shut down some mining
firms, warning it has serious repercussions on jobs and export growth.
Philexport presidnt
Sergio Ortiz-Luis Jr. said while the export group supports sustainable and
responsible mining, such a sweeping crackdown on the mining industry will have
“serious local and global trade repercussions.”
He said one imminent
danger is the loss of jobs as DENR’s closure and suspension order is seen to
affect thousands of workers nationwide that rely on mining and related
industries for their livelihood.
“Where will these
people go for jobs and livelihood, not to mention the effects on their
dependents and the other stakeholders in the communities hosting them? Even if
the environment department has temporary funds to help the displaced workers, I
doubt if these funds can be immediately disbursed,” Luis said.
He noted that overall
Philippine exports have been weakening for nearly two years now due to the
slump in global demand, and the closure of these mining operations could
further worsen the country’s export performance.
He also claimed the crackdown
will severely undermine investor confidence and negatively affect the supply
chain.
“Secretary Lopez’s
action is posing danger not just to the mining sector, but also to other
sectors in the supply chain including drilling, construction, hauling and
shipping, processing companies, manpower and transportation service providers,”
he added.
He claimed that even
local government units also stand to lose potential revenue, including
diminished local taxes, fees and charges, as well as reduced shares from the
national tax.
Ortiz Luis urged the
DENR to focus on “eliminating illegal mining operations that do not pay taxes,
nor help in community development and are destructive to the environment”
instead of targeting legitimate businesses. – With Richmond Mercurio
No comments:
Post a Comment