In what may be described as an event to watch keenly, Gina Lopez the dynamic environmental advocate has been offered the post of Secretary, DENR under the administration of the incoming President Rodrigo Duterte; what’s even more interesting is that, to the chagrin of some, she has accepted the post.
This brings to the fore an incident four years ago in which there was a heated conflict between her and businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan and whether they will be interact and agree on the future of the mining industry.
However, it became apparent that Manuel is a seasoned businessman and will not let such incidents come in the way of his business dealings since he might have to face a tough Lopez whose work and thinking on mining activities is quite well known.
In what may not be so amusing to the mining lobby, the stocks of the mining companies crashed as soon as it was declared that Gina Lopez had been offered the post of Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); what is even more amusing is that, as soon as she conveyed her acceptance of the coveted post, the shares continued to tumble for a second consecutive day.
While explaining herself in a television interview she conveyed her resolve to be a part of the team that President-elect Duterte and to carry forward the patriotic agenda that is close to the heart of the Filipino common man.
While accepting gratefully the offer from the incoming President, she expressed the sentiments that, through this assignment, she was being provided a remarkable opportunity of dedicating herself to the service of the nation and doing some good for the homeland.
She also opined that the proper use of power could prove to be a boon to the nation if it was prudently employed; she also went on to clarify as to why she had always campaigned against the illegal exploitation of the vital resources which actually belonged not to a privileged few.
She stated that the reason for her activism was due to the devastation of the environment that it caused while it increased the suffering of the poor.
It is known now that she had gone to the temporary office of the incoming President in Davao City to make a courtesy call to congratulate him on his victory; this was when she was offered the post.
On the optimistic side, she was pleased that the very offer itself had caused the shares of the mining companies to go down drastically; it is common knowledge that this country had been almost tottering against the stream of natural disasters which can be attributed to man-made conditions.
Philippines is considered as one of the countries that are quite vulnerable to the effects of this destruction of the environment.
She was quick to refer to the steps taken to protect the countries from environmental degradation by the Chinese government; All coal plants in America had been totally closed for a long time now while the Chinese, who had been suffering from severe results of environmental pollution in their industrial cities, had also shut down about 100 of their coal plants.
Seen against these steps to save the environment, Philippines still had 118 coal plants which were causing a massive devastation to the environment; it was of the utmost importance that this ravishing of the country’s climatic conditions be stopped immediately.
She also informed that she had passed on the information of her appointment and acceptance to all her family members; her brother, who is the Chairman of the giant ABS-CBN Corporation, has also been informed by her. His immediate response was that she would now need security to keep herself safe from her detractors.
Coming back to Manuel V. Pangilinan, he has sent a message that states that it will remain unchanged.
However, the sentiments displayed by the market point to a feeling of foreboding and doom amongst the stock market investors who are predicting “curtains down” for the mining industry even before she takes over as the chief of DENR.
The investors who had been keeping the cherished oil and mining stocks are suddenly jittery and are abandoning the sinking ship; there is a huge rush of investors who are queueing up to rid themselves of the falling scrips; it was the second straight day that saw the oil and mining shares continue to plummet.
However, Manuel V. Pangilinan seemed to be unfazed by the panic that was pulling down the shares; he is the Managing Director of First Pacific, a huge entity with stakes in:
- Infrastructure projects,
- Mining, and
- Telecommunication industries.
After participating in the Aim for change, he asserted that the concerns displayed by the knee-jerk reactions to some of the nominations by the President-elect, things were now settling down with most of the businessmen accepting the Cabinet members and welcoming them.
He also asserted that the same acceptance was slowly being extended to the Economic Program that has been prepared as a road map, though its actual implementation would be a subject of a close observation of the way it was implemented.
As for the achievements of this program, it is time that will show how it is going to unfold, he opined.
Pangilinan equated her to an Elephant and while apologizing for the same, welcomed the decision of the incoming President to name Gina to hold that post; it was his prerogative to nominate anyone who, in his wisdom, is the right person for that post.
The fall of the index for oil and mining shares had dropped 4.09 % on Tuesday, as soon as it became apparent that an offer had been made to Gina Lopez; Wednesday saw another fall of 7.31% coinciding with the news that she had accepted the post of Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
This is a pointer to the fact that Duterte knows what he is doing.
However, the defiant Pangilinan insisted that it was business as usual even though Philex Mining, the largest of them all in Philippines that is controlled by First pacific dropped 10.86 % on a single day.
However, he admitted that Philex would have to interact with Gina Lopez for all the issues concerned with their Padcal mines and other operations; so, he added, they will have to work within the constraints that they were provided.
He went on to add that he was all for providing her a chance to install and implement her policies which meant that they were the policies that President Duterte wanted pursued; this was not a situation that has not been seen before, he added.
Pangilinan would not agree to a question that, perhaps mining could serve as a driver of growth considering that this possibility is distinct under the conditions that were availing now; his response suggested that it was too early to make any prediction to that effect, they will have to wait and watch.
The best course of action would be to see how the on-ground implementation of the proposed framework will look after some time; the possibility of exploiting the available potential will have to be taken into account if the nation wanted to prepare a practicable export base.
He reminded that the exports from mining were in the range of about $ 4 billion.
He went on to say that Philippines is a nation with vast mineral resources that are existing below the islands; he questioned whether the economic program of the incoming government wanted to dig that up and increase the exports.
He accepted the opinion of the government that responsible mining should be implemented and that this is the way that all businesses should be conducted; you owe that to the people of your country.
He stated that it was a real possibility that Filipino businesses could adopt measures to practice practices in line with those all over the world; the concerns associated with environmental and social obligations can be kept at the forefront of the mining principles.
He went on to say that if governments and industries of organized countries like South Africa, Australia and the Canadians could implement these progressive, responsible steps, then Philippines can also do it; it is true that there will be costs involved but that is quite normal when you are doing business.
He also suggested that the mining industry could be a way to encourage investments in the rural countryside since a majority of the rural populace was predominantly poor; coupling mining with programs to increase tourism and agriculture and associated industries could really help in a big way.
Since the mining industry was also not in the cities, it made sense to encourage investments in the countryside because it is worthwhile to see that businesses make money in the countryside and invest there.
Providing incentives to encourage work in the countryside could be a novel way to promote growth there.
Umrao Singh Umraoz.wordpress.com
Written for: Lars-Magnus Carlsson www.thephilippinepride.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss
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