In a statement, the Department of National Defense said Reyes was assigned to head a government-controlled mining firm in Mt. Diwalwal in Moncayo, Compostela Valley in an effort to generate jobs and increase mining revenues for the government while protecting the environment and the local folk.
Executive Order No. 217 paved the way for the creation of the National Task Force Diwalwal, following a massive ecological degradation in the Diwalwal gold-rush areas.
The task force is composed of Reyes as chairman, and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun as assistant head.
Its members are Secretaries Corazon "Dinky" Soliman (social welfare and development), Manuel Dayrit (health), Patricia Sto. Tomas (labor), Simeon Datumanong (justice), Jose Lina Jr. (interior and local government) and Milton Alingod (press), Director General Romulo Neri of the National Economic and Development Authority, Presidential Adviser on Media Affairs Dodi Limcauco, Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo and Internal Revenue Commissioner Guillermo Parayno.
Plans are underway for the search for a world-class mining technology.
Reyes assured the Monkayo folk that mining operations will continue and that the government’s entry in the mining industry will not displace the 7,000 Diwalwal miners and their workers. — With Edith Regalado