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NOT AN UNSEEN AUDIT

Gina Lopez insists mining industry audit a well-circulated DENR policy


Former Environment Secretary Gina Lopez on Tuesday said the industry-wide audit conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) that prompted the closure and suspension of mining operations was a policy decision that was well-circulated.

"The mine audit was pursued by the DENR based on a formal policy issuance. It was duly circularized and had a posting ...We announced the audit officially in front of you and many times over," Lopez told reporters during a press conference in Quezon City.

Audit teams conducted entry and exit conferences with mine officials during the actual field audit, Lopez said. She noted that mining companies were given a copy of the final audit report and were required to submit their comments and explanations within 7 days.

"So if it's unseen how can you appeal if you haven't seen it? Each mining company has given an appeal to the Office of the President. Otherwise, it would have stopped mining. What is unseen? What are you implying to if you haven't seen it?" Lopez said.

"All audited mining companies submitted their formal comments or explanations to the DENR secretary, which were included as part of the mine audit records ... It is on their reply that we decided on suspension and closure. How can we make decisions on show-cause, closure and suspension if you didn't get a reply? What unseen audit?" she added.

She said the allegations of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that what happened was an unseen audit must be proven by the Cabinet official.

In his keynote address during the national conference of the Philippine Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Dominguez noted the suspension of mining companied should never have been "meted out on the basis of unseen audits."

"Never again should suspensions be meted out on the basis of unseen audits. Never again should honest industries be subjected to levies without legal basis," Dominguez said.

"The Duterte administration, I assure you, will be firm but fair. It is committed to bring forth strong, but not arbitrary, governance. It will abide by global best practices in ensuring sustainable development," he added.

Lopez also reiterated she has the prerogative as DENR secretary to implement a memorandum requiring companies to put in a trust fund P2 million for every hectare of land disturbed by mining operations.

"What levies is he talking about? It is a fundamental duty of the DENR secretary to protect the environment from damages caused by extractive operations," Lopez said.

"When a mining company is going to make so much money and then they have destroyed farmlands, who's duty is it to make sure that farmers disadvantaged by that mining operation doesn't suffer? It's DENR," she added.

"It's in the Philippine Constitution that every property has social function and that social function contributes to the common good. And it is the duty of the state to intervene if that function is not well done. Everything that I have done is based on the Philippine Constitution."

She pointed out the mining law has a "lot of gaps" as a result of lobbying in favor of mining companies.

"The mining law has a lot of gaps because it has been done with heavy lobbying from the mining companies. What happens? The mining companies are supposed to make a lot of money from the stockpile, and hindi sinasabi what happens to the farmers. There's a gap between social justice and a really bad law which is the mining law," Lopez said.

In a separate statement on Tuesday, Dominguez said that those who have issues on the existing laws in the country which allow mining should have them "repealed or amended by the Congress."

"My only comment is if certain quarters think the law is unfair, they should work to change the law, as violation of the laws is not an option for any government official or any good citizen for that matter," Dominguez said.

Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin noted the law is there for a reason. "We are a government of laws, not men. The Mining Act sets the terms and conditions under which mining should be conducted, as well as the conditions for its suspension or cancellation. It is the duty of the government officials to implement the law," he said.

"If they think this is unfair, then they should go to Congress to have it amended ... I do not know her basis for the claim that the Mining Act was subject to intense lobbying from the mining sector," Agabin added. — VDS, GMA News

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