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Saturday, February 17, 2018 Vol. 13 No. 129
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Fate of 75 MPSAs facing cancellation still hangs a year after Lopez’s order Cargo ships loaded with nickel ore in Claver, Surigao del Norte, where a nickel mining boom began in the 2000s, April 9, 2017. The Philippines, which exports more nickel ore than any country in the world, is in the midst of a wide crackdown on mines accused of violating environmental protection laws. Jes Aznar/The New York Times
‘A watershed is a watershed is a watershed’ By Jonathan L. Mayuga
I
t’s been a year since former Environment Secretary Regina Paz L. Lopez gave her “gift of love” to the Filipino people on Valentine’s Day in the form of show-cause orders to miners with contracts to operate in areas near or within watersheds.
Lopez’s argument was simple: “A watershed is a watershed is a watershed.” Today, the fate of these mining contracts—75 mineral production sharing agreements (MPSA) and one financial and/or technical assistance agreement (FTAA)— still hangs in the balance. This is because the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
LOPEZ: “It is my duty to protect the people who live there [watersheds]. Now and in the future. If you put at risk the water supply, you put at risk the quality of life of the people for gold, nickel.”
(DENR), now under Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, could not resolve which definition of watershed, or laws and their rules and regulations pertaining to areas closed to mining, will prevail in resolving the appeals made by holders of the mining contracts. DENR Undersecretary for Climate Change Service and Mining Continued on A2
The ‘favorites’ and ‘dark horse’ in race for next PNP chief
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By Rene Acosta
tion, Deputy Director General Ramon Apolinario; PNP Director for Intelligence Chief, Director Greg Pimentel; and National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, Director Oscar Albayalde, have emerged as front-runners on the list to succeed dela Rosa. Apolinario, the No. 2 man of the PNP, and Pimentel are members of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1985, while Albayalde is a member of Class 1986, and a mistah (or classmate) of dela Rosa himself. While Apolinario and Pimentel have ties with Duterte, who is the appointing authority, Albayalde, an articulate and media-savvy officer, is banking on his accomplishments as chief of the NCRPO as his passport in bagging the PNP’s top post.
o final decision has been made so far to push through this time with the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in May. But for the appointment of the next Philippine National Police (PNP) chief, the “campaign” may have “unofficially” started. The race is on for the successor of PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa, as he transitions toward his incoming post as director of the Bureau of Corrections, where he is expected to continue the government’s campaign against illegal drugs. And just like in normal races, there now emerge the “favorites” and the “dark horse.”
Dela Rosa was supposed to have retired last month, but—like Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Rey Leonardo Guerrero—his term was extended for another three months by President Duterte so his anti-drugs drive as head of the PNP will not be cut.
Front-runners
PNP Deputy Chief for Administra-
PESO exchange rates n US 52.0240
Ties that bind
Officers and members of the Philippine National Police march past the grandstand during flag-raising ceremony to mark the police’s 26th founding anniversary at the PNP General Headquarters in Quezon City, February 6, 2017. AP/Bullit Marquez
Apolinario worked with Duterte before as head of the Davao City Police, while the President was among Pimentel’s wedding sponsors last month. Continued on A2
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Source: BSP (February 15, 2018 )