THE Commission on Appointments on Tuesday failed to make a decision to confirm or reject Environment Secretary Regina Lopez, with some members saying she should be given the opportunity to respond to the various objections raised against her when she returns from her vacation in the United States.
The decision to bypass Lopez was made during an executive caucus of the CA committee on environment and natural resources chaired by Senator Manny Pacquiao, after a briefing given by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, who co-chairs the Mining Industry Coordinating Council with Lopez.
“The voting is set on May 3,” said the chairman of the House contingent of the CA, Rep. Ronaldo Zamora.
The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, which was most vocal in its opposition to Lopez’s staying on as Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary after 23 mining companies were ordered closed and 75 mineral production sharing agreements had been canceled, welcomed the non-confirmation of Lopez but maintained its call for the CA to reject her confirmation.
Senator Panfilo Lacson was quick to clarify that the non-confirmation had nothing to do with the pronouncements made by President Rodrigo Duterte, who gave his full backing to Lopez, in a joint press conference in Malacañang with Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez on the eve of the CA executive caucus.
“Whatever the pronouncements made by President Duterte would not render our decision here academic. We are independent no matter what the President says,” said Lacson, during the briefing given by Dominguez to the CA members.
But in the House, lawmakers slammed Lopez and found it “unacceptable and arbitrary” that Lopez kept the mining audit report “secret.”
At the hearing of the House committee on good government and public accountability, chaired by Agusan del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel, DENR consultant Leo Jasareno and Mines and Geosciences Bureau assistant director Danilo Uykieng admitted the MGB was not furnished a copy of the audit report.
“We have been asking Secretary Lopez to provide us copies of the audit report and up to now, she has not complied. Keeping the audit report secret from us, the public, the mining companies is just unacceptable,” Pimentel said.
The House probe, which was an offshoot of the privilege speech delivered by Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers, wanted to find out the manner by which Lopez allegedly violated laws by arbitrarily closing down mine sites and cancelling MPSAs.
Barbers and Pimentel also lambasted Lopez for constituting an audit team made up of rabid anti-mining advocates.
“It is just illegal to comprise the mining audit team with members of a non-government organization that is formed to do nothing but oppose mining from the start, some priests, who have no technical expertise to know what is mineral or not because as we all know, the priests are all anti-mining advocates,” Pimentel pointed out.
“Now we know that Secretary Lopez did not even honor the recommendation of MGB, whose report neither recommended suspension nor closure. That’s arbitrarily closing down the mines. There was no due process observed here. We will lose a lot of income and thousands of jobs. In my district, there is no other industry that could absorb the workforce that will be displaced,” Barbers said.
“The Committee decided to hear Secretary Lopez and give her a chance to respond to the various objections to her confirmation on May 2, when Congress resumes; and to vote and announce the results on May 3,” Zamora said.
Uykieng said the most stringent recommendation the MGB did was for the DENR to declare a status quo until the violations were rectified.
He said the violations ranged from non-compliance with the highest standard ISO 14001 and the recommendation was to suspend the erring mining firms’ Environmental Compliance Certificate and transport permit.
The mining firms were meted fines until corrective measure were instituted.
“Your group did not recommend closure?” asked Occidental Mindoro Rep. Henry Oaminal, to which, Uykieng responded, “No closure.”
Jasareno, who headed the team that conducted the audit, said insofar as his list was concerned, there were 22 companies recommended for closure, four for suspension, one for deferred action and 12 for show cause order or a total of 41.
“In the audit, most of the 41 passed. But in the review of the secretary, she found violations so 23 were ordered closed,” Jasareno said.
“I commiserate with our resource persons. We know that deep in their hearts, they do not agree with the standard imposed by the secretary,” said Ako Bicol Rep. Rodel Batocabe.
“Not just deep in their hearts. They admitted it openly in this hearing that they did not agree with Secretary Lopez,” Pimentel butted in.
During the MICC presentation, Dominguez stressed that as co-chairman of the MICC, it was his job to make sure the “deficiencies of others are covered.”
“I want to make sure that once you close the mines, it stays closed. If due process is not followed, the mines may open again,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez said he was protecting the government from possible lawsuits and potential damage claims that would be more expensive than the P50 million allocated for the review of the DENR closure orders.
The MICC co-chief said he has received complaints that due process was not observed, and that other mining stakeholders such as the local government units were not consulted.
“The MICC is trying hard to ensure coordination with all mining stakeholders. It is not a policy question. It is more of risk management. If due process is not followed, we will face lawsuits or legal challenge that we will lose. They might sue the government for damages and I will not allow the government from paying for other’s mistake,” Dominguez said.
The Labor Department and the Social Welfare Department were also not consulted, he said.
Dominguez said he also sent a memo to the President, in reply to the memo sent by Lopez opposing the MICC review of her closure decisions.
Dominguez said he was surprised that Lopez opposed the MICC review after she had agreed to it by signing the order earlier.
He said Lopez’s lawyer, Christian Monsod, was among those who drafted the joint resolution.
The Chamber of Mines said Tuesday the government may spend an estimated $16 billion if arbitration cases are filed by mining firms whose mineral production sharing agreements (MPSAs) are canceled.
“Arbitration cases may be filed by the mining companies as a result of the MPSA cancellations announced by Department of Environment and Natural Resources secretary-designate Regina Paz L. Lopez. The government is a party to the agreement contracts in the development of the country’s mineral resources as provided in the Philippine Mining Act,” said the chamber’s executive vice president, Nelia Halcon.
A good number of the mines ordered for closure or suspension have bilateral investment treaties that ask host countries to provide certain protections for foreign investments, such as limiting expropriation of investments without due regard for international law standards.
Halcon said affected foreign investors, under the BIT, could claim for prompt, adequate and effective compensation for their capital investments, liabilities, other investments and advances stemming from the arbitrary cancellation of the MPSAs.
At the same time, the chamber denied any involvement in any destabilization efforts against the administration, an accusation made by President Duterte earlier this week.
“The Chamber of Mines fully supports the administration of President Duterte and are unaware of any mining company that is supportive of any destabilization efforts against the administration. We condemn such efforts and reaffirm our commitment to work with this administration, and to follow the law and the Constitution,” chamber said.
It also said they share the concern of the President for the environment and the communities that will be affected by large-scale mining.
The chamber condemned all illegal and irresponsible mining being undertaken by unscrupulous individuals and companies that have managed to secure permits from either the national or local governments.
“Illegal mining is a scourge that must be eliminated, and we are committed to help government achieve this objective in any way we can. Unfortunately, so much misinformation has been spread by anti-mining advocates,” the group said.
It also clarified that the pictures given to the President show active mining areas and do not present a complete picture of responsible mining.
“Like any project still under construction, an active mine does not look green or pleasing to the eye. However, mining areas, once completed, are rehabilitated, planted with local species, and made useable for agriculture or forestry, or preserved as an eco-tourism site. We will be glad to clarify these matter with the President, if given the opportunity,” the group said.
On Monday night, Duterte said he would let Lopez proceed with her plan to suspend the MICC review.
“She has the authority to do what she thinks she likes. She knows her oath of office. I do not bother,” the President told reporters.
The President said over the weekend that while the government does not intend to close the mining industry, he criticized the mining companies for their failure to care for the environment.
Duterte added that he is willing to let go of the P70-billion government earnings from mining operations just to keep Lopez as his environment czar.