Palace yet to rule on P2-M-per-hectare trust fund —Medialdea

Allowing miners to remove stockpiles of mined ore from the mines despite Environment Secretary Gina Lopez's memorandum requiring a P2-million-per-hectare trust fund was meant to damage to the environment, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said on Wednesday.

“The stay order issued by the OP [Office of the President] is not a final order but a mere provisional measure to prevent substantial damage that may result unless extracted ores are shipped out,” Medialdea told GMA News Online in a text message.

Medialdea said the OP had yet to take a stand on Lopez's order to require miners to put up a P2-million per hectare rehabilitation trust fund before the stockpiles could be removed.

“OP has not taken any legal position regarding the validity of the DENR requirement for mining companies to remit P2 million per hectare to a trust fund. This is the very issue on appeal to the OP,” Medialdea said.

On the issue that the appeals of the miners have not reached President Rodrigo Duterte before they were removed the stockpiles, Medialdea explained that executive secretaries could sign orders on behalf of the OP.

“Appeals are not brought directly to the president himself. These are filed with the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs. The final decision on the merits of an appealed case is signed by the Executive Secretary on behalf of the Office of the President pursuant to the powers vested in him by law,” he said. —NB, GMA News