Duterte surprises again... with Gina

Just when you think you have president-elect Rodrigo Duterte all figured out, he does something totally out of the realm of the possible — like appointing Gina Lopez as Secretary of DENR. No one was more surprised than Gina herself.

Stock analyst and business columnist John Mangun had this reaction: “Connect the dots... Duterte signs a deal for a P39 billion Davao seaport... which is 50 km from the $2 billion KingKing copper/gold mine... which has Manuel Paolo Villar as president... and then puts Gina Lopez in charge of the environmental protection.”

Mr. Duterte must have a hidden message there or I guess we should just be ready for more surprises in the next six years. Mr. Duterte has a way of thinking that is so out of the box, so different from conventional wisdom that you need time to process what it is all about. Many times you are not sure, but something in your gut tells you Mr. Duterte is so right about it.

No one of Mr. Duterte’s rivals for the presidency in the last election would have considered appointing Gina to head DENR. For one thing, Gina is so openly anti-mining and most, if not all of them, must have taken money from mining interests to fund their campaigns.

Then it also seems obvious that as president, you want to minimize trouble with a fairly influential business constituency. It isn’t just the big mining companies listed in the stock exchange that you must think about. Mining is a fairly important source of income for local governments and a horde of unemployed people in the countryside.

Gina, from the 30 years I have known her, isn’t likely to budge from her lifelong crusade against anything that degrades the environment. Mining does that. She likely believes “responsible mining” is an oxymoron, nothing more than an attempt by PR people to make a distinction where there is none.

Indeed, Cathy Yang riled Gina last Tuesday evening on ANC’s Business Nightly when she insisted in putting forward the economic contributions of “responsible mining.” No such thing, Gina insisted, and she went on to cite study after study that shows mining’s lack of positive impact on the poverty levels in the communities where they operate.

Actually, I have long felt an anomaly in combining environmental protection with the management of natural resources in one Cabinet portfolio. The two are by nature opposed to each other. Protecting the interest of one is always at the expense of the other.

Having a Cabinet member who has made no secret of her staunch opposition to mining definitely means environmental protection is now front and center in the Duterte administration.

Maybe that is not such a bad thing. Gina’s acceptance of the Duterte offer to head DENR came on the same day the Supreme Court granted a petition for a Writ of Kalikasan to aggrieved residents of Zambales against five mining companies for spoiling their environment and threatening their livelihood sources.

Television news footage showed how badly the miners damaged the Zambales landscape. I understand the problem in Zambales can be traced to a governor who lost in the last election. What happened there should be proof that issuance of mining permits shouldn’t be devolved to LGUs.

In a way, the president-elect may have thought of Gina in the face of this runaway problem in the mining sector. We can try to differentiate the big and supposedly responsible miners from the small scale miners, but in the end it all boils down to a national crisis.

Mr. Duterte, who promised change, must have thought the only way he can deliver on his promise is to appoint someone who is a certified game changer. Indeed, Mr. Duterte promised the position to the communists shortly after he was elected. Then he talked of appointing a retired general. And out of the blue he offered it to Gina.

Perhaps, Mr. Duterte thought that anyone else appointed to the position would be severely tested by opportunities for corruption. Mr. Duterte promised a corruption free regime and he can be assured on this point only by someone like Gina.

Gina can be really bullheaded on things she is totally convinced of. In a way, she is like the female version of Mr. Duterte himself. She is not afraid to step into controversies and she can be very feisty in defending her position.

Of course, as Secretary of DENR, she will have to start thinking in terms of whole pictures and not remain absolutely focused in her version of reality. She will have to consider that she cannot always be correct and what she had seen as an environmental activist is only part of a bigger reality.

Some people say the mining industry is as good as dead in the next six years. It was barely alive in the last six. But that’s the point too.

The reluctance of the Aquino administration to approve any new mining activity must have been rooted in P-Noy’s own inability to convince himself that “responsible mining” is possible under our current conditions.

Maybe a hiatus in the industry is not a totally bad thing. We can use the time to get a national consensus on how we can protect the environment while exploiting our natural resources. The mining industry must convince the Filipino people they can be trusted. DENR and Malacañang officials may be influenced by a wider and more obvious public buy-in. 

Maybe it is also a good idea to leave some of our natural wealth to the next generation who may hopefully be wiser than us. We have after all, used up almost all our timber and we have spoiled wide tracks of land from irresponsible mining.

One thing I have learned not to do when Gina talks to me about her next bold, audacious project is to say it is impossible. She cleaned up the Paco Estero, a waterway that had been murky and stinky way back in the mid ‘50s when I was in Grade One at Paco Catholic School in a classroom near its bank.

She cleaned up the estero beside Malacañang, too, but complained to me about how bureaucrats, including Mar Roxas, made the task more difficult than it should have been. The Pasig River is proving more difficult, because as she explained, she has to clean the esteros flowing to it first, particularly the San Juan River. I guess she needs more resources to get the work done.

Maybe it is the Ananda Marga mind discipline in her that enables Gina to have laser focus on the things she wants to do. My only worry is that the bureaucracy and its rules may prove frustrating to Gina. It is good she will have the assistance of DENR career Usec Mitch Cuna who will guide her through the legal labyrinth.

Again, columnist and stock analyst John Mangun sums up how owners and investors in mining companies should view Gina’s appointment:

“You own a mining company. Gina Lopez and the anti-mining activists are not going to go away. Do you prefer to have Ms. Lopez:

1. As head of DENR where she must listen to the mining companies, follow the law, and justify her decisions based on law and regulations?

2. Stand outside your mine holding a sign and leading protesters against your business?”

Change is coming, as Mr. Duterte promised, and if Gina is even half successful as DENR Secretary, it will be dramatic in a sector of the economy that needs tough regulation for the sake of our future generations.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco