Duterte declares environmental protection top priority, slams mining industry

MANILA, Philippines — In his third State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the protection of the environment as a top priority, calling out the mining industry for damaging the environment.

“Do not destroy the environment or compromise our resources. Repair what you have mismanaged. Try to change management radically because this time, you will have restrictive policies—a prohibition of open-pit mining is one,” he said.

“It is destroying my country. It is destroying the environment. It will destroy the world of tomorrow or our children,” he added.

Some of the heavy environmental impacts of open-pit mining include the contamination of groundwater by chemicals, erosion, formation of sinkholes and loss of biodiversity.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu in June also warned open-pit miners, saying they should reinvent their ways or they would be shut down.

READ: DENR chief to open pit miners: Shift methods or face shutdown

“The protection of the environment must be top priority. Extracted resources must be used for the benefit of the Filipino people, not just a select few,” Dutertesaid.

The chief executive also talked about Boracay, saying the island has become the representation of his and the government’s negligence and that he “cannot allow this decay to continue.”

“Environmental protection and ensuring the health of our people cannot be overemphasized. Thus, our actions in Boracay marked the beginning of a new national effort,” he said.

Duterte said other tourist destinations that also need rehabilitation shall soon follow.

The world-renowned island was closed on April 26 for a six-month rehabilitation which includes cleaning and road-widening projects. Right after Duterte’s SONA, Cimatu affirmed that the October 26 opening of Boracay would push through.

Duterte also urged local government units to proactively enforce laws and not wait for national government “to swoop down on your areas just to do your duty and work.”

“What has happened to Boracay is just an indication of the long overdue need to rationalize a holistic sustainable manner, the utilization management and development of our lands,” he said.

Duterte urged the Senate to immediately pass the National Land Use Act, which has been pending Sen. Cynthia Villar’s Senate Committee on Environmental and Natural Resources.

In May, Campaign for Land Use Policy Now first urged Villar to pass the bill, which will institute a national land use policy for the country’s land resources. — Philstar intern Ali Ian Marcelino Biong