ENVIRONMENT Secretary Lito Atienza yesterday announced that he decided to suspend the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) of a Norwegian mining firm in Mindoro after speaking with local government officials from the provinces of Mindoro Occidental and Oriental Wednesday afternoon.

Earlier, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in his weekly news briefing that Atienza gave the assurance during a phone conversation yesterday morning on allegations that the DENR had issued an “illegal” ECC to Intex Resources.

A TEMPORARY restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court (SC) is preventing the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) from proceeding with the distribution of the 5,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita owned by the Cojuangco family in Tarlac.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman said his office is ready to distribute among farmer-beneficiaries the vast sugar estate any time the SC lifts the TRO.

TAYABAS, Quezon—Quezon Gov. Raffy Nantes is pushing to make the province’s hero Apolinario de la Cruz, also known as Hermano Puli, declared as one of the country’s national heroes.

“Hermano Puli should be declared a national hero and not just a provincial hero in Quezon because of what he did, which sparked Filipino revolution against the Spaniards,” Nantes said during the celebration of Puli’s 168th death anniversary early this month.