THE Congress' Commission on Appointments (CA) rejected for the third time environmentalist Gina Lopez for the post of environment secretary.
That is disaster.
Disaster because 16 million voted for a Duterte government who promised change. And then 16 "honorable" people in Congress just signed off a death sentence on that promised change.
Disaster as Lopez later said business won the day, pointing out that CA members are linked to mining interests like Zamora (his family owns Nickel Asia), and Cayetano (his party president Villar invests in Kingking Mines in Pantukan). The conflict of interest is apparent, and President Duterte is blunt about this, saying "money lobby talks."
Envi groups call this a disaster. Disaster indeed, when change was coming in the DENR. How Lopez turned that office from a stamp pad for mining firms and tree-planting hype, to a serious wall against mining firms. How in her 10 months of office, she shut down 23 mining firms and cancelled 73 permits. In the name of the community protection, in the name of the people.
By not confirming Gina, Congress confirmed that what matters to them is money. Oligarchs are smiling. Stocks and graphs are soaring. But the communities, the lumads, farmers and their fields that feed us, will be threatened again.
Let's confirm our disgust on this decision next election, and on our protests to protect our communities from mining giants.
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In other news, the vendor Larry Buenafe who was accidentally hit by the NPA's offensive on Lapanday in Mandug succumbed to shrapnel wounds last Thursday morning.
The local government issued a strongly worded statement mourning, and condemning the NPA's action that has cost an innocent life.
While we all mourn, we try to put perspective on the reality of the ongoing conflict of workers and farmers demanding justice, and a group that has acted on such issues.
One friend did ask this: Do our dreams and hopes die with Larry?
She refers to the dreams of peace, how political leaders, and even us ordinary citizens, can see that beyond mourning his death and condemning, one must look at the broader horizon.
As another friend, an anthropology professor puts this in perspective: There are errors and condemnations, and there are errors and condemnations. A civil war has this consequence. But we should see what perspective we make on these errors.
We strive to find peace. We strive to find an end to struggles, to exploitations. We hope words of condemnations would not drown the deeper words that call for justice, for community, for healing. One person may die as an unintended victim. But many more are victims of a system that oppresses. And they need saving as well.
These are perspectives we have to put in mind.
tyvelez@gmail.com