“All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely,” according to British historian Lord Acton. Perhaps, no government agency has more absolute power than the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Although rarely, if ever, talked about, ask almost any member of the mining industry “off the record” and you will hear stories of the corruption in the DENR during past administrations.
It is with comfort that we assume these practices have ended under the Duterte/Lopez administration of the DENR. However, the controversy over the moves by Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez to suspend certain mining operations and cancel some 75 mineral production sharing agreements is not going to go away soon.
Issues of the transparency of the decisions and due process are probably going to be decided by the courts, and that is both a necessary and important development. It is vitally important the mining industry be held to the letter of the law and is equally vital the government properly enforces the law.
The legal mandate of the DENR, as stated in Executive Order 192, Series of 1987, says: “There is a need to protect and enhance the quality of the country’s environment. It is hereby declared the policy of the State to ensure the sustainable use, development, management, renewal and conservation of the country’s forest, mineral, land, off-shore areas and other natural resources”.
But also part of the mandate is to “increase the productivity of natural resources in order to meet the demands for forest, mineral and land resources of a growing population” and to “enhance the contribution of natural resources for achieving national economic and social development”.
While Lopez declares she is not “antimining”, it is difficult to find any series of statements from her about enhancing the contribution of natural resources, including mineral wealth, for achieving national economic and social development.
Further, nowhere in the DENR mandate is there a call to pick business-sector winners and losers in favoring “green jobs” over mineral-wealth extraction.
Lopez calls reference to the ecotourism project of Ugong Rock in Puerto Princesa, which is a success and can be duplicated across the nation. However, can we assume that the DENR is currently and actively cataloging other sites for a similar program?
Mining operations must protect the environment. But how can we compare a 25- to 50-year mining project, delivering sustainable revenue and employment, to that of Ugong Rock? It is unlikely tourists will return year after year for an annual pilgrimage to ride the zip line. Both are necessary, but this is an apples and mangoes comparison.
Now that the DENR has taken the first step of shutting down certain mining operations, can we expect that illegal mining—which is equally or even more destructive to the environment—will come under prohibition?
The current estimated value of the total proven mineral resources of the nation is $2.1 trillion. If the DENR—and Congress—is not willing or capable of fulfilling its legal obligation to “ensure equitable sharing of the benefits derived therefrom for the welfare of the present and future generations of Filipinos”, then the country has a problem.
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And another question has to be asked: ARE MINERS and the COMP DOING THEIR JOBS IN REHABILITATING THE MOUNTAINS AND RIVERS THEIR MINING ACTIVITIES HAVE AFFECTED? We should also challenge the COMP to audit all its members to honestly declare the extent of destruction they have done in their mining activities.
The problem really is that COMP does not acknowledge the problem of environmental destruction. Have they declare any destruction in these areas? Beside they don’t need DENR to audit them all they have to do is declare the destruction and put a price tag to see if they are really honest, transparent and sincere. The ISO compliance is empty without their own audit. COMP should make its own “mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!”