Groups tag DENR chief ‘plastics king’
By Melvin Gascon
Environment groups on Tuesday blasted the “hypocrisy” of government to drumbeat the closure of Boracay island as a measure to protect the environment, while elsewhere, it has allowed mining companies to plunder the country’s natural resources “with impunity”.
Anti-mining group Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) expressed dismay over the “blatant inaction” of Environment Sec. Roy Cimatu on complaints against mining companies operating in various sites in the country, while rushing to shut down Boracay.
“Cimatu is not a real (environment) Secretary; he is a secretary for the mining industry. He is plastic for riding on a popular issue while people are dying in the mining communities and he is turning a blind eye,” the group said, a play on the agency’s anti-plastic campaign.
The group said that while Cimatu ordered the closure of Boracay and is eyeing to extend his crackdown against mining violators on other beach tourist destinations, he has ignored communities that continue to suffer from “grave effects” of mining.
“Cimatu stated after his (confirmation hearing) that mining is not the only environmental problem. Now, he has proved that mining will never be ‘his’ environmental problem that he is a protector of mining interests,” ATM added.
The group said it will closely watch Cimatu and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in the coming months whether they would live up to President Duterte’s latest directive.
“President Duterte said in his departure speech [before leaving for South Korea] last Sunday that he will ban open-pit mining before the year ends. We will not forget his promise,” ATM said.
This writer sought for comment Undersecretary Jonas Leones, DENR spokesperson, but he did not respond to messages sent to his mobile phone on Tuesday.
In a separate statement, the Philippine Misereor Partnership, Inc. (PMPI), a social development and advocacy network, an alliance of advocacy groups on Tuesday said campaigns to protect poor Filipino communities against the bad effects of mining have failed to gain headway because of the government’s “failure” to the most pressing environmental problems.
The group on Tuesday wound up the Salakyag (SAkay, LAKad laYAG) para sa Sangnilikha 2018, a nationwide caravan, march and sailing for protection of the environment, to call for a stop to destruction of the environment especially by mining companies and to push for a law that would give legal rights to nature.
PMPI is also pushing for a review of the Build! Build! Build program, and a scrapping of the special use agreement for protected areas (Sapa).
“We are doing Salakyag because we are concerned about the continuing and massive environmental destruction brought about most especially by large scale mining companies, and other aggressive development projects of big corporations on logging, coal mining, or hydro-dams which always have great impacts on environment,” the group said.
The groups launched the caravan on May 28, taking off from Zamboanga City and made stops in Ipil, Dipolog, Iligan City of Cagayan de Oro, and Butuan City in the next three days.
On June 1, they reached Palo town in Leyte, then travelled through the provinces of Samar and Northern Samar until they reached Allen town.
They then sailed to Bicol region and continued the journey to Atimonan town in Quezon and San Pablo City in Laguna before finally reaching Manila on Tuesday.
About 200 participants in 18 vehicles joined the caravan, consisting of residents in affected communities of the threatened watershed areas in Zamboanga, illegal logging operations in Ipil and Cagayan De Oro, and threats of coal mining in Dipolog.
Other participants are opposing the large-scale mining in Butuan, Surigao, Easter Samar and in Rapu-Rapu Islands and in the province of Quezon, as well as quarrying activities in Samar and Northern Samar provinces.
“We are also worried about our climate experts’ projection of global warming’s irreversible impact to all creation, and the Philippines being the second most vulnerable country in the world,” the group said.
With Salakyag, the groups also waged a national campaign for the passage of the so-called “green bills”, composed of alternative legislative proposals, including the Alternative Minerals Management Bill (AMMB), the National Land Use Act (NLUA), and the Forests Resources Bill (FRB). MG
