DENR chief wants mining permits evaluated

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will start evaluating all mining permits issued to companies to determine if they are complying with mining laws.

Environment Secretary Gina Lopez said President Duterte directed her during their Cabinet meeting to assess mining operations and come up with a report after a month.

“There is a need for evaluation to see if these companies are complying with the laws. Responsible mining means people should not suffer,” Lopez told reporters after she assumed the DENR post. 

Last year, the DENR issued Administrative Order No. 2015-07 requiring mining firms to secure an ISO 14001 environmental management certification within one year upon issuance of the order.

According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, only 30 percent of mining companies complied with the order.

“Mining firms must bear in mind that the common good of the people is paramount in their operations and not the money they make,” Lopez said.

She stressed the need for the agency to be pro-active and undertake policies and programs which would protect the environment.

Graft-free agencies

At the Department of Justice (DOJ), newly appointed Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II vowed to make his agency graft-free.

He said he has an order from the President to end corruption in his department and its attached agencies, help in the fight against illegal drugs and prosecute heinous crimes.

There have been reports that some high-ranking DOJ officials are involved in illegal activities.

However, there is no evidence yet submitted to support the reports, and that calls for thorough investigation, Aguirre said.

One of the alleged anomalies, he said, was the raffling or assigning of cases to some favored prosecutors.

“On the raffling or assignment of cases, some are particularly favored. We will make some improvements. What was happening in the past was some prosecutors were being favored to get good cases, big cases.”

He said he would form a fact-finding team to look into this allegation.

“I know that there are still a lot of good members in the DOJ and only a few got lost along the way. To those who got lost in the DOJ and its attached agencies, let us help them so they would change. Let’s put a stop to these illegal activities,” he said.  

Aguirre also promised to address the backlog of cases by recalling prosecutors originally assigned to the DOJ main office in Manila but requested to be given city or provincial assignments to gain some perks being given by some local government units. – With Evelyn Macairan, Rainier Allan Ronda