Lawmakers to vote whether to confirm or reject Lopez
MANILA: There is a 50 per cent chance that Philippines Environment Secretary Regina Lopez may lose her confirmation vote after holding the position for nearly a year, said the head of the country’s Senate environment committee yesterday.
“It’s still a 50- 50 chance for Gina,” Senator Manny Pacquiao, chairman of the committee, told reporters after Lopez gave testimony at a committee hearing, referring to the minister by her nickname.
Congressional confirmations in the Philippines typically happen months after ministers start work. President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Lopez on June 30, 2016. Lawmakers will vote on her fate today.
Lopez, a committed environmentalist, angered the mining industry after ordering the closure of 22 of the Philippines’ 41 mines in February to protect water resources in the world’s top nickel ore exporter.
She later cancelled dozens of contracts for undeveloped mines and just last week banned future open- pit mining projects as she tightened her crackdown of a sector she blames for extensive environmental damage.
At yesterday’s hearing, Lopez struggled to defend the legal basis for requiring nickel miners that remove their ore stockpiles to set aside an additional 2 million pesos ( US$ 39,948) per hectare of disturbed land on top of funds already set aside to repair environmental damage, only saying that she wanted to help farmers in those areas.
“I’m a very out of the box person,” she said.
Reuters reported in March that eight nickel miners suspended last year for environmental infractions were allowed to remove previously mined ore that could pose environmental hazards. But, the order added the additional funds be set aside to fix any further environmental pollution.
“You can’t invent fees without congressional authority,” Senator Alan Peter Cayetano later told reporters. — Reuters