President has final say – DENR chief

President Duterte has the final say on the fate of 23 mines ordered closed for operating in or near watersheds, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Gina Lopez said yesterday, as she rebuffed criticism from a mining industry group that she had sidestepped procedures in issuing the order.

In a briefing, Lopez said her closure order on 23 of the country’s 41 mines was aboveboard. She also ordered the suspension of operations in five mines.

“It’s totally in my right to close down the mines,” Lopez said.

The mines ordered closed account for half of the nickel ore output by the world’s top supplier of the metal. Of the 23 mines, 15 are within watershed areas. However, sources told

Reuters that a team that reviewed an audit of the country’s mines recommended suspension of operations and payment of fines for environmental violations, rather than closures.

“It would take a miracle to convince me to allow mining in watersheds. As far as I know it’s against the law. It’s against social justice, it’s against the Constitution. He ( Duterte) said ‘I agree there should be no mining in watersheds,’” she stressed.

An environmentalist, Lopez said the miners could appeal her decision to the Office of the President. If they fail to convince Duterte to withdraw the DENR order, the mining firms are likely to turn to the courts for help.

Ordered closed include mines operated by Hinatuan Mining Corp, a unit of top Philippine nickel ore producer Nickel Asia Corp., and BenguetCorp Nickel Mines Inc.

The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines is pushing for the release of the audit used by the DENR to justify the closure.

“We are not just requesting for the mere summation of the audit results. We need the actual test results which were used as bases for determining whether or not these mining firms have violated environmental regulations,” Artemio Disini, the chamber’s chairman, said in a statement on Thursday.

“The executive branch has been advocating transparency in its policies and programs and on this basis, we feel we have the right to know the process involved and the results of the audit,” Disini said. Lopez promised to provide all the information the group needed.

The DENR chief also rejected claims that the closure would affect some 195,000 direct and indirect workers and their families or a total of 1.2 million people.

Citing statistics, Lopez said the mining industry contributed P82.4 billion to the economy as of 2014, while the tourism industry churned out P982 billion in the same period and created 4.7 million jobs.

“So, where I feel we should go in terms of area development is we have to look at the specialness of each and every part of the Philippines and develop that area for the people of that area,” she said.

Lopez also reiterated her opposition to the operations of the $5.9-billion mining project of Sagittarius Mines Inc. in Tampakan, South Cotabato, where operations would cover the size of seven football fields.

“All mines at one point in time take a crack. I mean, even Philex – which was a poster boy of mining – had a crack a few years back,” she said.

“So we are sacrificing the food basket of Mindanao for nothing. We might not even get any money there because we can’t get anything unless there’s a windfall profit. That’s why… that’s how the agreement was designed, it’s so unfair. That was my story,” Lopez said.

Corruption

She also revealed there is “serious” corruption in her department as she revealed an attempt by a mining firm to offer her millions of pesos to sign some papers.

Lopez said the owner of a mining company coursed the offer through a friend but she did not name names.

“A friend went to me and then she said, Gina if you sign this paper, the person (who) owns the mine, he didn’t tell me, will give me P6 million a month,” she told reporters.

“The role of government is to play the middle path, you know. If you co-opt your role to the side of big business, who is going to protect the poor? How will the poor ever stand against big political, big business interests?” Lopez said.

“The only institution, the only entity that can stand against political and business interest is the government. And if we co-opt our role to the side of big business, what’s going to happen to these guys? The farmers and fishermen who have been suffering for decades,” she added.

Lopez said corruption in her agency allowed errant mining firms to continue their operations. She said the environmental destruction caused by irresponsible mining firms would not have happened had people from the environment department and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau performed their job with integrity.

“I think it’s serious. That’s why I want to clean it up right away. I’m very careful about the money... I’m really strict. If they don’t do what they promise to do in the planning... out, out, go away, bye-bye,” Lopez said.

Lopez said while the environment department has “very, very good employees,” there are some who “are not really good at all.”

“Anything that entails regulation, there will always be some people who would want to make money,” she said. “I fault the government for not being strict in implementing rules.”

She is optimistic that she would be able to make a difference in the agency in one year.

Lopez also said her announcement of the closure order came days after the completion of the technical committee report, as she had to follow some legal procedures recommended by lawyers.

“When the press con was done, the evaluations have been completed days before. What happened was an omnibus directive. It was prepared for all mining companies and our lawyers have decided it should be issued to individual mining companies. That’s why there’s been a delay,” she said.

This means each of the 28 mining firms would be furnished a copy of the suspension order as well as the audit report within the day.

In a press conference last Thursday, the DENR announced the closure of 21 mining firms, which supposedly failed the DENR’s audit. The agency later corrected its announcement and said that 28 firms failed the test.

But despite the DENR’s announcement, the mining firms continue to operate as no suspension order has been released by the department. – With Elizabeth Marcelo, Reuters