More groups welcome Ramos as DENR head

MANILA, Philippines - More concerned environmental organizations have hailed President Arroyo for appointing Horacio Ramos, a mining engineer, as the new secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Ramos, who was with the DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), replaced erstwhile DENR Secretary Eleazar Quinto, who was designated director general of the Presidential Coalition Affairs Office.

Newly formed Biktima ng Ondoy, atbp (BOA), a Marikina-based group who were mostly victims of the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy last September, expressed support for Ramos’ appointment “because we believed that he has the guts to stand up to big business interests that shamelessly rape the mother nature,

Earlier, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, and Earthsavers Movement also hailed the Ramos’ appointment.

Sunny Pagaduan, BOA convenor, said that they were impressed by Ramos’s commitment to sustainable development when they read that it was only the MGB that came out against leveling the hill at the airport expansion project in Caticlan in Aklan.

The environmentalists praised Ramos and the MGB for their courage and professionalism in waging this lonely war against environmental degradation caused by political accommodation, shortsighted business interests, and apathy by the local communities.