An environmental group on Tuesday criticized President Duterte on the lack of action complementing the open-pit mine suspension lifted by then Environment Chief Regina Paz Lopez last May.
Kalikasan-People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan-PNE) urged the government to “walk the talk,” not only reflecting through the Environment Department but across all branches of the governing body, the BusinessMirror reports.
“Duterte’s repeated pronouncements on upholding the open-pit mine ban are welcome, but we need more concrete actions from his administration to walk the talk. Almost a year after the administration announced a closure and suspension of 28 big mines, it remained only on paper,” Campaign Coordinator Leon Dulce said in a statement.
Dulce also pointed fingers at current Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, who he says has been releasing contradictory statements under the Mines and Geosciences Bureau despite the moratorium.
If Cimatu is really firm in its decision to keep the ban, Dulce suggests he release a “clear-cut pronouncement” of Administrative Order 2017-10 and immediately cut permits issued to all present open-pit operations.
“He [Duterte] should compel his Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu to immediately desist from releasing contradictory statements through the various offices of the DENR, especially through its ‘rogue’ Mines and Geosciences Bureau,” Dulce stressed.
The group earlier coaxed the president to finally pass a proper policy on open-pit mining, which would “declare a moratorium on prospective open-pit mines” until a much more comprehensive bill, such as House Bill 2715 (“People’s Mining Bill”), is passed — a “miraculous decision” in Dulce’s terms.
“If the supermajority of Speaker Pantaleon D. Alvarez could incredibly pass the tax-reform law with less than 20 lawmakers in session, surely a simple moratorium on open-pit mining can likewise enjoy the same political will,” Dulce added.
Moreover, Dulce reiterates that the Duterte administration is already at the hands of mining oligarchs, especially since the Dominguez and Zamora clans are among his cronies, both of whom own respective mining firms.
