Lopez reappointed as DENR chief, says Medialdea

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – President Duterte has reappointed Environment Secretary Gina Lopez after the Commission on Appointments by (CA) passed her confirmation. 

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea told The STAR that Lopez’s name would be submitted to the CA for confirmation.

“She (Lopez) is reappointed,” Medialdea said during the arrival ceremony for the President Wednesday night here at the Davao International Airport after he attended the 24th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders’ summit in Lima, Peru.

Lopez was among the Cabinet officials that the CA bypassed last month after Congress adjourned session and went on recess.

Medialdea said Lopez’s name would be added to those that the Palace already submitted as having been reappointed for confirmation by the CA.

Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, who is CA majority leader, earlier said Lopez’s absence in the list of 15 Cabinet members resubmitted to the body “means that she was not reappointed.”

“The President can still issue her a new appointment, but that will be a regular and not an ad interim appointment, since Congress is already in session. That means that she cannot assume office until the CA confirms her,” Albano said.

Lopez has launched a crusade against destructive mining operations in the country and has ordered the closure of some firms for alleged violations of law.

Meanwhile, the Senate on Tuesday approved the proposed P28.67-billion budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for next year.

The DENR’s 2017 budget, which is 31 percent higher than the agency’s P21.8 billion allocation for the current year, was sponsored and defended by Senate finance committee chair Sen. Loren Legarda.

The budget increase is attributed to the agency’s poverty alleviation programs that put priority on massive reforestation and climate change initiatives upon which the government’s thrust to promote inclusive and sustained economic growth hinges.

Earlier, Lopez said that a bigger budget would help the department fulfill its commitment to social justice through the implementation of environmental programs, notably the National Greening Program (NGP).

“Our main challenge is to raise the quality of life in communities that are the primary stakeholders and pursue measures that will optimize their growth potentials,” Lopez said.

According to Lopez, the budget increase “mirrors the administration’s push for social justice where majority of the Filipino people truly benefit from the country’s natural resources.”

NGP is a six-year massive forest rehabilitation program that aims to cover 1.5 million hectares of degraded forestland with trees by the end of 2016. But it was extended until 2028 through an executive order issued November 2015 in a bid to rehabilitate 7.1 million hectares more.

As of November 2016, the NGP has created more than 3.29 million “green jobs,” benefiting individuals hired as workers in producing almost 400 million seedlings.

DENR programs include forest protection with an allocation of P674 million; integrated natural resources and environmental management, P966 million; forestland management, P1 billion; biodiversity conservation, P763 million; coastal and marine rehabilitation, P633 million; and the Manila Bay cleanup, P80 million.