Tuluyan nang sinibak bilang kalihim ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) si Gina Lopez matapos na ibasura kahapon ng Commission on Appointments (CA) ang kumpirmasyon sa kanya.
Si Lopez ang ikalawang opisyal ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na hindi nakumpirma ng CA, kasunod ni dating Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay, na kinuwestiyon naman ang citizenship.
Tatlong CA committee hearing ang hinarap ni Lopez mula noong Pebrero—at matindi ang naging oposisyon sa kanya sa nasabing mga pagdinig—bago tuluyang ibinasura ang kanyang appointment kahapon.
Pangunahing isyu kay Lopez ang pagsuspinde niya sa operasyon ng 22 mining company at pagkansela sa kontrata ng iba pa.
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Napaulat na itatalagang kapalit ni Lopez ang 37-anyos na si Atty. Mark Tolentino, kasamahan ni Pangulong Duterte sa Lex Talliones Fraternity.
‘GREATEST ENVIRONMENTALIST’
Nagpahayag naman ng matinding pagkadismaya si Fr. Joel Tabora, presidente ng Ateneo de Davao University, at sinabing ang hindi pagkumpirma sa “greatest environmentalist of our day” ay isang pagtataksil sa kalikasan at sa bayan.
“It is amazing that the CA rejected one of the greatest environmentalists of our day to lead the DENR,” tweet ni Fr. Tabora. “This is a national disaster. The CA has betrayed the environment and the nation.”
Sinabi naman ni Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary ng Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-NASSA), na hindi rito nagtatapos ang laban para sa kalikasan, iginiit na “the fight for the environment and the poor victims of mining will continue!”.
Dismayado rin ang iba’t ibang cause-oriented group sa nangyari, na ipinakahulugan ni Greenpeace Southeast Asia executive director Yeb Saño na “rejection of change.”
“Her rejection as DENR Secretary by the Commission on Appointments is very disappointing and worrying, and shows how destructive industries continue to hold Philippine lawmakers by their necks,” ani Saño.
Nagtakda rin ng kilos-protesta ang mga grupong sumusuporta kay Lopez sa harap ng DENR central office at Boy Scout Circle sa Quezon City nitong Miyerkules ng gabi para sa dating kalihim.
‘I HAVE NO REGRETS’
Samantala, sa kanyang pagharap sa mga miyembro ng media ilang minuto makaraang ibaba ang desisyon ng CA, emosyonal na sinabi ni Lopez na wala siyang pinagsisihan sa nangyari at tanggap na niya ang kanyang kapalaran.
“I have no regrets. I think the mining industries were scared of me,” sabi ni Lopez.
“The first CA hearing, I came here, I was very naïve. And then I got shocked (later on), what happened here? People who said they were nice and now, they changed suddenly, was a shock to me. That’s the time I got emotional. Then after that..I realized you can’t control the outcome. You have no control over politics kasi magulo (it’s crazy),” ani Lopez.
“So I have already decided the most important thing for me is to be true, since politics is so unpredictable,” dagdag niya.
Binatikos din niya ang mga mambabatas na bumoto laban sa kanyang appointment at sinabing mistulang pinatunayan na rin ng mga ito na walang kakayahan ang gobyerno laban sa malalaking kumpanya ng minahan.
“If government co opts to big business, which I think it has, at least some of them, then what hope do the poor have?
What message are we giving here? If you want to be confirmed never go against big ones? That’s what they’re saying,” sabi ni Lopez. “If you wanna do this, do you think any DENR secretary would do what I have done? You’ll never get confirmed. Yeah? And it’s not like I went against all mining.
IBANG PUWESTO SA GOBYERNO?
Tinanggap naman ng Malacañang ang naging desisyon ng CA at nagsabing isang “possibility” na ikonsidera si Lopez para sa ibang posisyon sa pamahalaan.
“Secretary Lopez had served the Department of Environment and Natural Resources well. She had profound insight into the deep damage of the Philippine ecological system caused by the mining industry and came up with innovative solutions to the socio-economic conditions of the affected communities,” sabi ni Presidential Spokesman Ernesto Abella. “We just have to accept what the CA has decided.”
KINASUHAN NG GRAFT
Nauna rito, kinasuhan si Lopez ng graft ng Citinickels Mines Development Corporation sa Office of the Ombudsman kahapon.
Nakapaloob sa 41-pahinang reklamo na inihain ni Atty. Lorna Kapunan ang paglabag umano ni Lopez sa Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, kasama na ang kasong administratibo na paglabag sa Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, at sa Red Tape Act of 2007. (May ulat nina Genalyn Kabiling at Jun Fabon) (LEONEL M. ABASOLA, LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO, ELLALYN DE VERA-RUIZ at HANNAH L. TORREGOZA)
