Environment Secretary Gina Lopez answers questions of members of the Commission on Appointments in a hearing Tuesday, May 2, 2017. INQUIRER FILE / Grig C. Montegrande
Mining as an industry is not bad but miners should get their act together, Environment Secretary Gina Lopez said on Tuesday.
At the resumption of her confirmation hearing before the Commission on Appointments鈥� committee on environment and natural resources, Lopez was asked by Senator Alan Peter Cayetano if mining was 鈥渋nherently evil.鈥�
Responding to Cayetano, the Secretary answered no.
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鈥淪o there are mining that are responsible and are good?鈥� Cayetano, staunch ally of President Rodrigo Duterte, asked again.
鈥淵es, totally,鈥� Lopez said.
In the course of Cayetano鈥檚 questioning, however, the Secretary lamented that there were more poor people in areas where there is mining.
鈥淚f the environment gets destroyed, it affects one-third of our population . It鈥檚 the poor that suffer,鈥� she said.
鈥淚f mining is so good, then how come that in all the areas where there鈥檚 mining the poverty level is higher than the average? Clearly, it can鈥檛 be business as usual,鈥� said Lopez.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I asked you from the start , is all mining evil? Ang sagot nyo hindi. But every time may discussion na sinasabi nyo, poor yung area dahil sa mining. Hindi ba baligtad na may mga lugar na lalong naghirap dahil sa mining pero may mga lugar na yumaman dahil sa mining,鈥� Cayetano said.
Again responding to the senator, the Secretary said: 鈥淚n essence Sir, what I鈥檓 saying is that we should move forward. That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 working together with the mining companies.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 saying that mining as an industry is not bad but鈥ou need to get your acts together and I will help you make a greater economic impact. But as it stands now, it leaves much to be desired,鈥� Lopez added. CBB/rga