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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Appointment of new environment chief gets mixed reactions
MINES and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Director for Southern Mindanao Edilberto Arreza welcomed the appointment of Angelo Reyes as the new secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
In an interview Monday, Arreza said Reyes's appointment, as the new DENR chief, is a welcome development considering the recent criticisms the department is facing.
Arreza admitted that during the administration of Secretary Michael Defensor they encountered quite a few controversies.
Unconfirmed reports revealed that this is because of Defensor's "politician ways."
"He cannot say no to people. He always says yes, and so at the end it's the personnel below who gets caught in a bind," a DENR employee who requested anonymity said.
Meanwhile, militant Bayan Muna lambasted Reyes's appointment.
The group warned that Reyes's fascist streak would pave the way for widespread human rights violations amidst large-scale mining plunder in the country.
"It was merely grandstanding and lip services all along when incoming Presidential Chief of Staff Mike Defensor claimed that Malacañang will consider CBCP's call now that Arroyo appointed a corrupt and fascist large-scale mining patron," said Jeppie Ramada, Bayan Muna regional coordinator.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines called to review and repeal the Philippine Mining Act.
In a press statement, Ramada said, "Reyes heads the National Task Force Diwalwal and a major player in National Resource and Management Development Council, which has been instrumental in keeping multi-national interests in Diwalwal."
"As head of the National Resource and Management Development Council, Reyes is responsible for putting up military detachments -- the 28th Infantry Batallion -- in civilian populated areas in Diwalwal, virtually making the largest mining community in Mindanao as a garrison," Ramada added.
Ramada said Reyes and the Philippine Mining Act are dangerous recipes to mining disaster and greater crisis, which Bayan Muna fears of wanton displacement of mining communities in Southern Mindanao and elsewhere in the country.
Ramada then urged the committee on appointments of both Houses of Congress to reject the appointment of Reyes especially that he had not been exonerated for his participation in the Davao bombings and other state-sponsored terrorism.
"The CBCP called to repeal the Philippine Mining Act to protect the environment and the people from the perils of corporate and foreign-owned open-pit mining. Arroyo's appointment to the juicy DENR post indicates of the Arroyo regime's desperation to execute with iron-fist the full liberalization and the exploitation of the environment," Ramada said. (BOT with Press release)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (February 7, 2006 issue)
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