Lopez, miners welcome Cimatu

Written by Ed Velasco

Thursday, 11 May 2017 00:00 Miners and former secretary yesterday welcomed new Department of Environment Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary , hoping that the former chief of staff and envoy to Middle East will resolve all the issues the mining industry is currently facing. The miners said Cimatu should do his best in assuring that every stakeholder in the mining industry are complying to the standards set by the department. “It’s good there is already an immediate replacement. We welcome Cimatu’s appointment and we are more than ready to work with him. We are one with the government’s efforts in environmental preservation and protection,” Dante Bravo, president of Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) and Ipilan Mines, told the Daily Tribune. PGMC is one of the numerous mining firms that religiously follow all the guidelines set by the DENR regarding responsible mining. Since 2006, the mining firm already spent more than P800 million in assuring it doesn’t damage any body of water or watershed within and near its operation sites. PGMC, the second biggest nickel mining firm in the , operates in a 4,300-hectare non-arable land in Claver, Surigao del Norte while Ipilan is yet to operate in a 2,000-hectare plus area in Brooke’s Point, Palawan. The mining official said the bigger task the new secretary is facing is how to solve the issues that hounded the industry caused by the 10-month leadership of the former secretary. “We are hopeful that there would already be a final resolution to all the issues the industry is currently facing and ensure that everybody is compliant so that all these noises against the industry are put to rest,” he added. Lopez, meanwhile, seems tight lipped and adamant in giving her successor any vote of confidence based on her comment. “I have never met any so it’s hard to say but I will work with whoever is there,” the former secretary added. Lopez didn’t comment whether she prefers Cimatu than the two personalities who the public earlier thought would replace her. Cimatu, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff from May to September 2002, belongs to the Philippine Military Class of 1970. In his welcome remarks, he said in jest that his leadership at the DENR will be called “environmental protection 101.” Cimatu said he already knew President Duterte as early as the 1990s when he was still brigade commander based in Davao City. He became the fifth former chief of staff to join the Duterte cabinet. The four former chiefs of staff already in the Duterte cabinet are Ricardo David, , and .

http://www.tribune.net.ph/business/lopez-miners-welcome-cimatu