Mining industry supports Alvarez

A wide spectrum of mining organizations and professional groups involved in the minerals industry have rallied behind Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson T. Alvarez, urging the Commission on Appointments (CA) to immediately approve his confirmation as DENR head.

In a resolution, the group is throwing its "full and unequivocal support" behind Alvarez citing his "unblemished character and impressive public service track record" spanning more than two decades, that includes his "active involvement in multi-sectoral affairs aimed at promoting development of society."

Signatories to the resolution include Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Director Horacio C. Ramos, Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association president Patrick V. Caoile, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines chairman Gerard H. Brimo, Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Artemio F. Disini and Philippine Mineral Exploration Association president Tony W. Robbins.

The resolution was also signed by Philippine Society of Mining Engineers president J.M. Glenn P. Batilando, Society of Metallurgical Engineers of the Philippines president Enrico C. Nera, Geological Society of the Philippines president Fred Antonio C. Tejada and PRC Board of Examiners for Mining Engineering chairman Cornelio Q. Casido.

Caoile and Brimo also jointly wrote President Arroyo, Senate President Franklin Drilon, House Speaker Jose De Venecia, and CA environment committee chairman Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. to express their strong support for the former agrarian reform secretary, senator and congressman.

"We are one in appealing that his capability to lead the DENR should not, in any way, be weighed down by unjustified and unsubstantiated accusations on his person, convictions and decisions but rather on his remarkable and unblemished track record as a government official," they said in the resolution.

They claimed that [the long-awaited and well-deserved appointment of alvarez as permanent DENR Secretary is also a vote and a victory for the sustainable development of our natural resources."

"We sincerely believe that Secretary Alvarez is the right man to lead the DENR and would be the critical link in realizing the agency’s mutually reinforcing mandates of environmental conservation and natural resources development," they added.

They said alvarez has already demonstrated, through various past legislative actions and current policies of the DENR, that he is "pro-people and pro-environment" in the wise utilization of the country’s natural resources for the common good of the Filipino people.