Mining as an industry certainly has made a lot of headway in the Philippines. In fact some proponents of mining have become so influential that they can now manipulate the very structure of government as well as the intention of legislation.
What makes mining so desirable for all types of profiteers is the fact that it is like Cancer. You only discover all the damage after it’s too late or when the pain is unbearable or undeniable.
Very few people really understand the process, very little activity is visible and the competition is very limited. When it takes days to go up a mountain or hours to trek down ravines and tunnels, then you begin to understand why nobody sees anything, hears anything or say anything.
While farming and fishing communities are strongly opposing mining in different provinces, we recently stumbled upon a low key operation going on inside Malacañang palace designed to insure the unopposed establishment of mining operations in the province of Palawan, our last remaining environmental virgin paradise.
What we have learned so far is that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has been convinced or influenced to cede or turn over the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development or PCSD and place it under the Department of Environment Natural Resources. GMA was apparently misled to believe that the PCSD which, is under the Office of the President, should be placed under the DENR because it plays a larger role in environmental protection.
What the President may not have been told was that the PCSD is jointly governed by: the DENR, the Department of Tourism (DOT), the Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and probably the Department of Trade (DTI) as well. In addition the PCSD also involves the Governor of the province.
The reason the PCSD was placed under the Office of the President is because the OP would have the power and the flexibility to streamline or fast track development projects for tourism and agriculture without her cabinet secretaries getting into a turf war.
The PCSD surrender to DENR was reportedly signed sometime mid June of this year under the guise of stream lining attached agencies with the office of the President. Perhaps Madame President Arroyo should inquire why the timing coincides with the “forceful” entry of mining operations particularly in Palawan?
To be blunt about it, was the PCSD transferred to the DENR in order to supplant or defeat its independence and potential opposition to mining in the province? Why was the transfer never consulted with PCSD officials?
Does this mean that the Arroyo administration is willing to destroy kilometers of forest areas so mining companies can build roads, dig tunnels or open pit destined to destroy the last remaining frontier of the Philippines?
Does the decision to place the PCSD under the pro mining DENR also mean that the government is turning its back on the medium and long term tourism master plan for Palawan?
Was the President advised that once the PCSD was transferred to the DENR it would also spell the end of the careers for many PCSD officers who would automatically become redundant once attached with the DENR?
The Arroyo administration is undeniably giving its full support to the mining industry for millions of reasons, but why should GMA pull all the stops just to roll out the red carpet for mining firms? It is clear that mining activities lie in the domain of the DENR, but why should the development of Palawan be dragged in as well? The DENR just like the DOTC have become the two MEGA departments of government that should have been chopped up a long time ago. In so doing, there would be more openings for losing candidates!
In the meantime President Arroyo should order a review of the matter. Doesn’t the DENR have enough authority to help the mining firms set up shop in Palawan and is the PCSD overly stringent or demanding on their requirements.
Rather than turn the matter into a catastrophe, the President, the PCSD and DENR should take advantage of how to improve matters and procedures for the sake of efficiency and good business. Both offices are equally guilty of being difficult to deal with or too complicated to work through.
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Before President Arroyo decides to exit from Malacañang, she might want to do something her predecessors never got a chance to do. Why not solicit suggestions from Filipinos and Foreigners alike, what changes, legislation or ideas they can contribute which could easily be done in the remaining year and half of the Arroyo administration and the current congress.
I often repeat what former US Senator Bob Dole said:” if I had known how difficult it was to put up business, I would have passed more laws to make it otherwise”.
Although it has been more of lip service than actual application, GMA’s declaration that school uniforms in public schools will no longer be compulsory may one day be a reality when backed by a determined secretary of education.
Maybe one day we can all tear up the Cedula and be rid of an annoying documentary requirement that is nothing more than local taxation! Perhaps one day we can finally have an SSS identification card or a national ID so we can keep track of thugs and terrorists.
God willing, we might be able to pass laws that really welcome foreign investors rather than laws that force them to work with and through not-so dummy dummies that end up robbing them blind with the assistance of the law.
At the very least, the President can hear how intelligent and helpful Filipinos are instead of being told about disappointing public perception points!