DEPARTMENT of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga has ordered a minor revamp in the agency’s regional offices following complaints of inefficiency and complacency in the discharge of their duties of some DENR officials.
Loyzaga announced the reassignment of several regional executive directors (REDs) and officials of two regional offices of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).
Given new assignments were Lormelyn Claudio, who was designated as regional executive director of Eastern Visayas (Region 8), Arturo Fadriquela named as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Zamboanga Peninsula (R-9), Felix Mirasol Jr., also as OIC of Mimaropa (R-4B), Ronald D. Gadot as OIC assistant regional director for technical services of Northern Mindanao (R-10), Cesar Odi as OIC of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) of Romblon, and Arnold Blaza Jr. who was assigned to the Office of the regional executive director in Mimaropa.
On the other hand, Martin Jose Despi was named regional director of the EMB in Central Luzon (R-3) and Wilson L. Trajeco as regional director of EMB’s Eastern Visayas office.
Leyte Rep. Richard Gomez earlier appealed to Yulo-Loyzaga to “transfer all the heads of the different offices of the DENR Region 8 to other regions,” pointing out that over familiarity between the DENR employees and the local governments have resulted to the personnel’s complicity with illegal acts that caused damage to Leyte’s water, air and land resources.
Among the officials whom Gomez has asked the DENR leadership to reshuffle were Fadriquela and Despi, who both appeared before the House Committee on Environment and Natural Resources during its inquiry into the alleged massive environmental damages caused by the DBSN Farms Agriventures Corp. to the Ormoc Bay.
Gomez has accused the DBSN, which is owned by Palompon Mayor Ramon Oñate and his wife Lourdes, of gross violation of the country’s land and environmental laws, particularly for polluting the waters of the Albuera-Tinag-an stream system with the solid waste discharge from its chicken farms.
He has likewise alleged that corrupt DENR executives were complicit with the illegal activities of the DBSN, including the unauthorized digging of compost pits in a watershed area in Barangay San Joaquin in Palompon, Leyte.