PRESIDENT Bongbong Marcos (PBBM) has been announcing members of his cabinet as they are appointed. I have been waiting for the next Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), but none has been chosen as of this writing. I asked some friends in the environment circle but they are clueless either.
So what challenges await the next DENR Secretary? Well, he or she will inherit unfinished, big-ticket and long term-projects like the Manila Bay clean-up and the National Greening Program (NGP). The Manila Bay Rehabilitation Program started during the term of President GMA while the NGP commenced during the term of President Noynoy Aquino and was continued by President Duterte.
Then there’s the lingering solid waste management problem. During the term of Pres. Duterte, a DENR Undersecretary was even appointed to focus on this environmental concern. More than twenty years after the passage of RA 9003 of the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, proper disposal of solid waste, especially plastic, is still a major concern among LGU’s. PBBM in his inaugural speech made a commitment when he said “we are the third biggest plastics polluter in the world, but we won’t shirk from that responsibility. We will clean up.”
Mining is also a hot issue particularly on social acceptability. The government has lifted the ban on open pit mining in December last year. It will be recalled that former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez issued an administrative order in 2017 banning all prospective open-pit mines in the country.
Pollution is another major concern. “We have yet to see large scale practical solutions to pollution”, said PBBM. Along this line, the new President mentioned the wind mills in Ilocos Norte which he said he built, probably referring to clean sources of energy as a way to address air pollution. No mention though on how to tackle water and land pollution.
Towards the end of his inaugural address, he talked about climate change. On how the Philippines, a small contributor to global warming, is one of those who will suffer the brunt of climate change and how rich countries are not doing enough to address this global issue. “The rich world talks a great deal but does a lot less about it than those with much less but who suffer more death and destruction from climate change and lack of adaptation”, PBBM said.
The next DENR Secretary will oversee the country’s compliance to our commitment to cut greenhouse gas emission in the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change of which the Philippines is a signatory.
My choice for the next DENR Secretary is someone who has a heart for the environment and has the technical competence to do the job. My friend Ms. Bebet Gozun, fits this criteria. She is an environmentalist, a former DENR Secretary and former Presidential Assistant for Climate Change. She was recognized by the United Nations Environment Programme as the Champion of the Earth for Asia and the Pacific. She can go down to work immediately and needs no period of adjustment.