Before deciding to bypass the nomination of Regina (Gina) Lopez as Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources after two days of hearings, the members of the Commission on Appointments hears numerous reasons why President Duterte’s choice as DENR chief should not be approved just yet.
One of the reasons was that, technically speaking, Ms. Lopez did not make the grade. Upon intense grilling from the CA members, the would-be DENR chief could not define ‘watershed’ accurately. And yet her entire case against most of the mining companies that she closed down or suspended was founded on the charge that they were operating in watershed areas (as was an un-suspended company controlled by her family’s corporate group).
When leveled against a Cabinet nominee, a charge of incompetence is horrible. One would think that Gina Lopez would have taken the trouble to read up on ‘watersheds’ considering that all of these years she has been very preachy about the social crime committed by mining companies that operate in watershed areas.
That Gina Lopez was shown in public to be incompetent is extremely troubling, but that is not what exercises me about Mr. Duterte’s appointment of her as, and her aspiring to be, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources. Nor am I going apoplectic about her arrogance, insufferable though that is at the best of times.
In all of my born years I have not seen and heard a Cabinet nominee who appears to truly believe that she is The Chosen One, that the position was reserved in Heaven for her and, worst of all, that the rest of her countrymen care little or nothing about the domain of her would-be Cabinet department – in her case, the environment. Like her boss the President, Ms. Lopez qualifies virtually all the norms that she uses with the pronoun ‘my’, e.g. “my country,” “my department” and “my people.”
I’m likewise prepared to pass on the charges of graft, favoritism and so forth that have been hurled at her. Those are really nasty things, and I’d rather not go there.
But what I’m prepared to just let go – and the issue against Gina Lopez’s nomination that I think is the key to the CA’s decision on her – is her total and absolute misconception about the job of a Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources. I, and, I dare say, countless other Filipinos, were horrified when she told the CA members, without batting an eyelash, “I don’t see myself as a regulator. I am a social advocate.” Horror of horrors.
That is a total misconception of the legislature’s intent in passing a law creating the department called DENR and the position known as Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources. Congress wanted a department that would draft rules and regulations intended to put the nation’s natural resources – land, waters, air and below-ground resources – to uses that would benefit Philippine society and promote the development of the Philippine economy. If you don’t believe me, Ms. Lopez, check out the records of the pertinent Congressional discussions.
Lest anyone get me wrong, I commend and applaud Regina Lopez’s concern and love for this country’s environment. God bless you for that, Gina. But the DENR is not the place for your book-no-opposition view of your would-be position. You belong in civil society. There are numerous worthy non-governmental organizations where you can put your social advocacy skills to excellent use.
Gina Lopez’s gross misconception of the job of a DENR chief is the most damning of the issues against her. On that score alone the CA can justifiably reject her nomination.
E-mail: [email protected]