CA confirms Cimatu as environment secretary
By Janina C. Lim
Reporter
THE COMMISSION on Appointments (CA) has approved the nomination of Roy A. Cimatu as Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary, a move seen by the mining industry as reassuring investors, locally and internationally, of a stable investment policy in the country.
“[I]t is my great pleasure and honor to report to the Commission, to the President, to the men and women of DENR, and to the whole nation of the overwhelming yes votes of the members of this Commission confirming and affirming the ad interim appointment of our 16th DENR Secretary in the person of Roy Cimatu,” said Chairman of the Senate committee on natural and environmental resources Emmanuel D. Pacquiao during the CA plenary session on Wednesday.
More than five months in office, Mr. Cimatu was nominated to replace Regina Paz L. Lopez, who failed to get the body’s nod after thrice being deferred.
Unlike his predecessor who was opposed by at least 20 groups — mostly from the mining industry — Mr. Cimatu had only one oppositor.
Sought for comment, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (CoMP) said they welcome the CA’s decision on Mr. Cimatu’s confirmation.
“We think he will be a good and effective secretary because he is very strict and very tough in the protection of the environment and very fair and very rational in the management of our resource sector,” Jose P. Leviste, CoMP’s vice-chair, told reporters after the hearing at the Senate session hall.
“For mining and other resource industries to strive we must have a steady, consistent, science-based policy environment. I think we’re gonna have that under Secretary Cimatu,” he added.
Also the chairman of Melbourne-based OceanaGold (Philippines), Inc., Mr. Leviste said the confirmation of the new chief signals a “positive sign of foreign investment in the country.”
“The investments sector, they will find this as a steady signal from the Senate and the House of Representatives that it welcomes good investment policy which Secretary Cimatu stands for,” Mr. Leviste added.
A few minutes before his approval, Occidental Mindoro Representative Josephine Ramirez-Sato fired at Mr. Cimatu with questions on the agency’s policy direction on mining, which the DENR Chief said will depend on the mining council’s review.
“My action is I’ll wait for the final decision of those conducting the review. Then, and only then, will we find out who are guilty and who are not guilty,” Mr. Cimatu said, referring to the assessment to be conducted by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC).
The new chief revealed however that “some elements” of the policy direction will come from the result of the review.
“I will not gauge everything in that review. I will just get some important aspects,” he added.
One of the most controversial policies pending the scrutiny of the mining council is whether government should lift the open-pit ban ordered by Ms. Lopez.
Mr. Cimatu said the ban will stay until a new law reverses the policy. The agency elevated the issue to the MICC.
The legal basis of the policy has drawn a broader conversation in public, even attracting President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s attention, as the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 does not directly ban nor allow the said method.
Mr. Cimatu said the agency will abide by the President’s directive to give miners enough elbow room to prove that the mining method is “science-based” and is one of the “technically feasible” ways to mine minerals near the surface which is mostly the case for the country’s deposits.
In addition, the mining council is also slated to review the 26 mines ordered closed or suspended starting Oct. 27, Mr. Cimatu said.
The mining council tapped the Development Academy of the Philippines to implement and manage the review process for these mines within a three-month time frame.
Mr. Cimatu’s reliance on the MICC to steer the agency’s policies on mining stands in stark contrast to that of Ms. Lopez who had reiterated that the body, which the DENR secretary co-chairs with the DoF chief, is merely recommendatory to the agency.
Considering that the MICC’s review is expected to be completed by the end of the year, Ms. Ramirez-Sato asked if the agency will be able to shed light on its policy direction on the extractive industry, to which the new DENR chief replied in the positive.
Sought for comment, CoMP Executive Director Ronnie S. Recidoro said in a phone interview that “if the policy is based on evidence and facts, we are willing to wait.”
