NEWS UPDATE July 12, 2012 (Thursday)
Congress Reviews P39-B CCT Budget
By HANNAH L. TORREGOZA The Manila Bulletin, page 1
MANILA, Philippines --- The joint congressional oversight committee has started its review of the conditional cash transfer (CCT) program ahead of President Benigno Aquino III’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) on July 23.
Sen. Franklin Drilon said he would conduct a thorough scrutiny of the Aquino administration’s P39- billion flagship poverty alleviation program and would like to personally find out from the
Departments of Social Welfare and Development and Budget and Management how much money the government aims to utilize to sustain the program’s implementation in the next year of Aquino’s term.
“It is pertinent that we conduct a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the conditional cash transfer program that is primarily conceptualized to uplift the lives of the poorest Filipino families,”
said Drilon.
He said he and House Committee on Appropriations Chairman Rep. Joseph Emilio Abaya have committed to discuss developments in the implementation of the CCT program or “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” (4Ps).
Both Drilon and Abaya chair the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Public Expenditures created to review and evaluate expenditures of all government agencies and assess effectiveness and impact of government activities, programs and projects.
The CCT has been allocated P39 billion this year from P21 billion in 2011 to provide assistance to three million household beneficiaries identified through the National Household Targeting System (NHTS).
In particular, Drilon said he will look into issues confronting the integrity of the program including the cleaning up of the list of beneficiaries to ensure that those in the list are the poorest families and that it will not be used by politicians in the 2013 elections.
“We would like to hear from Social Welfare Secretary (Corazon) “Dinky” Soliman if her agency has successfully plugged in some of the loopholes that we and some concerned sectors have identified,”
Drilon said.
Sen. Gregorio Honasan said he is also interested to know if the CCT is “serving its purpose” of alleviating poverty among Filipinos.
“Is it responding to the need already defined in implementing the program? Or is it just a dole out?”
Honasan asked.
Sen. Ralph G. Recto said he has qualms over the implementation of the CCT program, noting that despite billions being poured by the government into the program, many Filipinos are still hungry.
Recto, who chairs the Senate committee on ways and means, said the government may have to re- assess its CCT strategies to determine if intended beneficiaries are being served.
“Inspite of the CCT, the number of the poor and hungry is increasing. There must be something wrong there. Are we really hitting the intended beneficiaries? We might need to rethink the strategy,” said Recto.
“Before we decide to expand it, there must be a re-assessment of strategies and data,” he said, adding that the one loophole the government has to consider is the use of the NHTS as a “search engine” for locating and identifying CCT beneficiaries.
ASEAN Struggles Over Territorial Conflict
The Manila Bulletin, page 1
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) – China and Southeast Asian countries struggled to make progress Wednesday on a code of conduct designed to ease tension in the flashpoint South China Sea, diplomatic sources said.
The two sides were due to meet at a summit of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia amid splits on what the code should include and how it should be implemented.
A joint statement to be issued by ASEAN foreign ministers was also held up as countries wrangled over whether to include a reference to recent spats over the resource-rich waterway pitting China against Vietnam, and the Philippines.
“ASEAN foreign ministers are having an emergency meeting to resolve the wording on the South China Sea in the joint statement,” an Asian diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Another spoke of “splits and divisions” in the organization, principally between the Philippines and the chair of the meeting, staunch Chinese ally Cambodia.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa admitted the debate about whether to mention specific incidents was a key sticking point.
“It’s very important for us to express our concern with what happened whether it be at the shoals, whether it be at the continental shelves,” he told reporters.
“But more importantly than simply responding to the past is to move forward to ensure that these kinds of events no longer occur,” he added.
Tensions rose recently in the sea, where China and a host of neighboring countries have overlapping territorial claims, with both Vietnam and the Philippines accusing Beijing of aggressive behavior.
The Philippines is leading a push for ASEAN to unite to persuade China to accept a code of conduct based on a United Nations (UN) law on maritime boundaries that would delineate the areas belonging to each country.
Beijing has said it is prepared to discuss a more limited code aimed at “building trust and deepening cooperation” but not one that settles the territorial disputes, which it wants to negotiate with each country separately.
The Philippines is calling for the effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) and the eventual realization of a credible, binding, and enforceable regional Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
This was relayed by Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Albert del Rosario to his counterparts during the meeting between ASEAN Foreign Ministers and the Foreign Ministers of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Tuesday, the DFA said in a statement that evening.
According to Del Rosario, these goals are part of the region’s collective goal of enhancing maritime cooperation. “This expression of hope is not alien to us, nor should it come as a surprise,” he said.
Del Rosario pointed to the ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan for 2007 to 2017, which he said
“specifically states our collective goal of enhancing maritime cooperation on safety of navigation, such as through the implementation of relevant treaties and agreements.”
Earlier, Del Rosario said during the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting last Monday that there is a need “to bring to the fore” the situation in Scarborough Shoal (Bajo de Masinloc) because it is important to maintain peace and stability and freedom of navigation in the West Philippine Sea.
He likewise stressed that the situation in the Scarborough Shoal was an important topic discussed by a majority of ASEAN Foreign Ministers during the meeting.
“For archipelagic states like the Philippines, unimpeded commerce and maritime safety are important given that a quarter of the estimated 1.37 million mariners worldwide are Filipinos,” he stressed.
As this developed, Malacañang expressed hopes that China will be receptive to the Code of Conduct that will be drafted by the ASEAN as an avenue to settle the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea.
“We’re pushing for ASEAN centrality so the code has to be made before other parties are asked to join in the Code of Conduct and that has not changed,” Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing yesterday.
“In the first instance, China has also been of the position that it should be settled peacefully, everybody has agreed to that and we hope that they will be receptive to the idea as well,” she added. (With reports from Ellson Quismorio and Madel R. Sabater)
Enrile, Belmonte talk Charter change
2 Congress leaders confident of support
By Cathy C. Yamsuan, Gil C. Cabacungan Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 1
Obviously buoyed by his successful shepherding of two impeachment votes last year, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte declared with utmost confidence that the House of Representatives will initiate and carry out long-contemplated amendments to the Constitution, particularly on the restrictions on foreign ownership of land, utilities, media and other services.
Belmonte said his upper chamber counterpart, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, was just as confident of getting the senators in line and on board the Charter change express.
“The Senate President said yes (about getting the majority of senators to agree). But we don’t care about (their business). It will be approved here (in the House) because we are hoping to have far- reaching change,” he told reporters Wednesday.
The Speaker said he will be talking to Enrile before President Benigno Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 23 to coordinate their plans for Charter change.
The Speaker’s confidence stems from his success in spearheading the impeachment in the House of two high-ranking officials in the previous Arroyo administration.
Belmonte put together 212 votes to impeach former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez in March 2011 (she resigned before the Senate could put her on trial) and 188 signatures in the impeachment of ousted Chief Justice Renato Corona in December 2011 (he was convicted by the Senate last June).
The House has 285 members.
Suspicious motives
Since the Ramos presidency, Charter change has become a ritual for Congress members with every change of administration. But their efforts have all been frustrated because of lingering suspicions that they were more interested in extending their terms through a change from a presidential to a parliamentary system.
Attempts by Presidents Fidel Ramos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to amend the 1987 Constitution were similarly foiled by a vigilant public and the Supreme Court as they were seen as attempts to extend their terms of office.
Almost from the opening of the current Congress in July last year, Belmonte and Enrile started discussions on tackling constitutional amendments, but were careful to stress that these would be limited to the economic provisions of the Charter.
At a legislative summit last September, the House and the Senate agreed in principle to adopt a bicameral constituent assembly as the mode of amending the Constitution. This method would allow the two chambers to vote separately on the bills proposing amendments.
Mr. Aquino is known to be cool to the idea of Charter change, even if limited to amending the economic provisions that constrains the entry of foreign investments, saying it is not a priority of his administration.
Following the legislative summit last September, the President said he did not think it was “a necessary move at this point” and that he did not agree that it was “the solution to grow the economy.”
Enrile leading proponents
It was Enrile who again raised the possibility of Charter change in a radio interview earlier this month in which he said he wanted the economic provisions amended, particularly the one that limits foreign ownership of property and control of investments to only 40 percent.
Enrile blamed this limitation set by the Constitution for the country’s failure to attract foreign investors, and for foreign investors’ resorting to dummies to conduct business in the country.
He said he would also favor an amendment that would reorganize the schedule of the country’s elections.
“The frequent elections is a major reason why the government spends so much so we should address this. An election every three years (for national positions) is fine but we need to streamline the elections for barangays, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Sangguniang Kabataan, midterm elections and presidential elections so these would cost less,” Enrile said.
And again last week, in an interview with dzBB radio, Enrile cited the country’s territorial dispute with China as a reason for amending the Constitution, to give priority to military spending in the
national budget.
“But even if Sonny (Belmonte’s nickname) and I want Charter change, there are other centers of decision that need to participate before these things come to fruition,” Enrile said.
He said neither he nor Belmonte had discussed their Charter change plans with Mr. Aquino.
But once the President exhibits “signs of willingness, with the participation of Congress, we can do it,” he said.
“But he is not interested, we continue proposing. We (Belmonte and I) are not gods. We cannot command people, and we will raise it as an issue until people wake up,” Enrile said.
Early approval expected
But this early, Belmonte expects the House to approve the amendments well before the 2013 midterm elections.
He said he expected to get the mandatory two-thirds vote from the House to back up Charter change by focusing solely on changing the foreign investment caps by adding a single phrase—
“unless otherwise provided by law”—to the economic provisions of the 1987 Constitution.
“It will still not be automatic as it will require a law, which means it will have to go through the lawmaking process where the President is the final arbiter,” said Belmonte who cited land ownership, utilities and media as the targets of his Charter change agenda.
He believes that being candid and single-minded about his true motives with regard to Charter change would bring in the required two-thirds vote.
“When I talk about Charter change, I refer to nothing more than the economic provisions. I don’t want to deal with any other aspect of it except that. That’s why for me, it’s not as difficult or complicated,” said Belmonte.
Should be everybody’s agenda
He said one other reason why Charter change failed in previous congresses was because of what he described as the “partisan” nature of the undertaking.
“I think that constitutional changes should not be a part of the agenda of anybody but it should be the agenda of everybody. I don’t look at it as anything partisan or the property of anybody. For me, this is for all of us,” he said.
He said previous Charter change efforts failed because the proponents were seen as “pulling a fast one” over the public.
“I want it done through a constituent assembly, voting separately, because it is faster. That was the very problem before … *the House and the Senate+ said they were meeting as one vote, and voting as one. We can meet as one but we should vote as two separate entities,” Belmonte said.
Article 2, Section 19 of the Constitution specifically states that the State develop a self-reliant and independent national economy effectively controlled by Filipinos. It devotes the entire Article 12 on national economy and patrimony where it listed down equity restrictions on foreign ownership from zero percent (mass media, services, and small-scale mining) to 25 percent (private recruitment and infrastructure development) to 30 percent (advertising) to 40 percent (public utilities, land
ownership and mining).
‘Fear sets us back’
Enrile said Charter change efforts in the past all failed because of a prevalent fear that “somebody might take advantage of the situation for his own personal interest.”
“It is not laziness to examine the Constitution but fear that sets us back,” he noted.
“Fear that people would lose their privileges, their wealth, their influence. Politicians like myself who might lose their businesses, control over land and industries,” he added.
He said “determination and political will” were needed to repair the political and economic structure of the country.
“Once people become hungry, and many are already hungry because the surveys indicate that it is hunger that forces people to leave for jobs abroad, is that not enough reason to convince people that there is a problem?” Enrile said.
Aquino leads nation in honoring Dolphy
By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 1
President Benigno Aquino on Wednesday led the nation in mourning the death of the Philippines’
“King of Comedy,” Dolphy, whose greatness, he said, lay in his portrayal of the Filipino everyman.
Dolphy—Rodolfo Vera Quizon in real life—died late Tuesday at Makati Medical Center after three weeks of battling complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. He was 83.
Government officials, fellow movie and TV celebrities and common folk heaped praise on Dolphy, who shot to fame for portraying gay roles and odd characters.
Malacañang hinted at a posthumous award for Dolphy, saying he was “deemed nominated” for this year’s Order of National Artists.
There were proposals for a national day of mourning for Dolphy and Palace officials were discussing them as of press timeWednesday night.
“The passing of Rodolfo Quizon Sr.—our King of Comedy—is a truly sorrowful moment for a nation that, for so long, found happiness in his work,” President Aquino said in a statement issued by Malacañang.
Common man
Dolphy, the President said, symbolized the typical Filipino who made light of the travails of daily life.
His greatness lies in his portrayal of the common man, the President said.
“Dolphy was a good man who embodied the common Filipino: He loved deeply, knew the value of humor, respected his fellowmen, and was always ready to face any challenge life threw at him,” the President said.
Mr. Aquino noted that Dolphy “came from a generation that went through a lot of trials—and the struggle taught him to be humble, honest and helpful.”
Dolphy “never turned his back on his peers; he never turned his back on the people who had propelled him toward success,” Mr. Aquino said.
The President, who awarded Dolphy with the Grand Collar of the Order of the Golden Heart in 2010, said that throughout his life, “Dolphy showed that hope and happiness always lie at the other side of adversity; he knew that any problem can be overcome through a positive outlook.”
Dolphy, Mr. Aquino said, “did not only revolutionize the entertainment industry; he also changed our national consciousness for the better: Through his art, he extended our world views, and gave us the ability to reflect on, value, and find joy in the daily realities of Filipino life.”
Vice President Jejomar Binay also joined the nation in mourning the passing of Dolphy, calling the actor the “one and only King of Comedy.”
Humble beginnings
In a statement, Binay described Dolphy as an “inspiration to millions of ordinary Filipinos.”
“He rose from humble beginnings to become one of the pillars not only of the entertainment industry, but also of Philippine arts and culture,” Binay said.
“In spite of his success, he remained humble and loyal to his friends and shared his blessings with the less fortunate,” Binay said.
The Vice President hailed Dolphy for bringing “joy to the hearts of the Filipino people.”
“As much as we wanted, needed and hoped for more time to spend with him, he is now with our Creator in a place without suffering,” Binay said. “It is only fitting that we remember Dolphy for the happiness he brought to our lives.”
One of Dolphy’s sons, Eric Quizon, read a family statement before a huddle of TV cameras and journalists Tuesday night, thanking millions of Filipinos for supporting his father and asking for prayers.
“Heaven is a happier place with him there,” said Quizon, who is also an actor.
More than 200 films
Dolphy started performing on stage in the 1940s during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and made his final comedy flick, where he played a priest, two years ago.
One of his biggest comedy hits was “Facifica Falayfay,” where he played a gay man. He also starred in a popular, longtime television comedy, “John en Marsha,” where he played a man perpetually at odds with his mother-in-law.
Dolphy starred in more than 200 films in his 66-year career. Many of his comedy flicks were produced by his own movie firm, RVQ Productions, which he set up in the 1960s.
Dolphy had never been married, but bore children with a number of women. Some of his children also entered the movies, with a few following in his footsteps as a comedian.
As a young boy, he worked as a laborer, watching comedy stage shows before he himself became
immensely popular. Philippine presidential candidates had sought his backing during elections to endear themselves to his massive following.
National artist
Former President Joseph Estrada, a former actor, said Dolphy should receive the prestigious National Artist award.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), which jointly undertakes the selection of national artists with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), had informed the Palace that Dolphy had been “deemed nominated” for the award. The NCCA, she said, had already secured clearance from the Office of the Solicitor General to proceed with the screening of nominees for the Order of the National Artists for 2012.
Nominated in 2009
In 2009, Dolphy was nominated for the award but only managed to get past the first stage of the screening process, Valte said.
That year’s nominees did not get their awards because politics tainted the selection, prompting a challenge in the Supreme Court, which temporarily stopped the awards.
With a new government, however, the NCCA is again free to confer the awards. Recently, the City Council of Manila passed a resolution nominating Dolphy for the national artist award.
Valte said Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also introduced a resolution last year urging the conferment of the national artist award on Dolphy.
House resolution
Lawmakers joined the nation in mourning the passing of the actor. Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.
led the House of Representatives in paying tribute to the King of Comedy. “We condole with his family and likewise express our gratitude and respect for his talent and gift of laughter to Filipinos of different generations and from all walks of life,” Belmonte said.
Representative Anthony Rolando Golez Jr. of Bacolod City filed a resolution Wednesday, urging the House to pay tribute to Dolphy who, he said, made life lighter for his audiences.
Representative Juan Edgardo Angara of Aurora province said heaven must be rolling with laughter by now, as Dolphy has brought his act there.
“If laughter is the best medicine, Dolphy is a pharmaceutical giant,” Angara said.
Bayan Muna Representative Teodoro Casiño said Dolphy portrayed roles that reflected love and laughter in the lives of Filipinos.
“Today we mourn and shed tears for someone who filled our lives with so much laughter,” Casiño said. “Thank you very much, Dolphy.”
Flags at half-staff
In Manila, Mayor Alfredo Lim ordered the Philippine flag lowered to half-staff at all government offices and schools as a sign of mourning.
Last month, during the celebration of Araw ng Maynila, Lim conferred on Dolphy the city’s Gawad Diwa ng Lahi award for excellence in the arts. Dolphy’s son Vandolph accepted the award on his behalf. With reports from Jerry E. Esplanada, Cynthia D. Balana, Jaymee T. Gamil, DJ Yap, Jocelyn R. Uy, Nathaniel R. Melican and AP
Belmonte: Ours is a coalition of giants
By Gil C. Cabacungan
Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 1
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte scoffed at the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) for styling itself as the team to beat in the 2013 elections despite being numerically inferior in Congress and in local government units compared with the Liberal Party (LP) and its coalition partners.
Belmonte pointed out that size was a factor in getting coalition partners.
The Speaker said this was the reason LP had agreed to join forces with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) of Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco and Nacionalista Party (NP) of Senator Manuel Villar, and to make an offer to the National Unity Party (NUP), made up of former members of Lakas- Kampi of ex-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
“Ours is a coalition of giants,” said Belmonte, noting that the LP, NPC, NP and potentially NUP were individually bigger than the combined size of Vice President Jejomar Binay’s PDP-Laban and former President Joseph Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) that formed the core of UNA.
The LP, NP and NPC have a total of 10 members in the Senate compared with UNA’s four. The LP-NP- NPC coalition also boasts of a total of 124 members in the House of Representatives compared with UNA’s nine.
President Benigno Aquino disclosed on July 5 that negotiations were underway among the LP, NP and NPC to form a 12-member Senate slate.
“I think the talks were very, very successful. But I will leave it up to our party president, Mar Roxas, to make the appropriate announcement,” the President told reporters.
Reacting to Mr. Aquino’s statement, Estrada said he was not alarmed by any LP-NP-NPC alliance.
Estrada said he did not consider the alliance “formidable.”
He boasted that his endorsement, along with that of Binay’s and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile’s, would overwhelm that of the President’s. “We’re three so we’ll have the edge over their candidates,” he said.
The UNA itself is still finalizing its lineup of senatorial candidates for 2013.
A blip occurred recently when reelectionist Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, president of PDP- Laban, left the coalition after Estrada refused to remove Juan Miguel Zubiri from among PMP’s possible senatorial candidates in the UNA lineup.
Pimentel believes Zubiri, who occupied his Senate seat for more than four years, was aware of the massive cheating that occurred in Mindanao in the 2007 elections that nearly cost him the position.
Malacañang has indicated that Pimentel would be welcome on the administration slate.
Arrogance
A source from the NPC, who refused to be named because he was unauthorized to speak for the party, on Wednesday said that most political parties were turned off by the “arrogance” of Binay and Enrile in dictating the terms of a partnership even though the UNA has less clout in Congress than its prospective partners.
Belmonte said the LP was not yet finished in its coalition-building for the midterm elections as it remained interested in getting the NUP, which has 35 members in the House, to join the ruling party.
Nueva Ecija Representative Rodolfo Antonino, the NUP president, said his group was open to formalizing a partnership with the LP for the 2013 elections.
Palawan Representative Antonio Alvarez, the NUP vice president, said the party had yet to discuss whether it would get a candidate in the LP senatorial slate.
“Our senatorial slate is still being finalized. For my part, I would like to have the NUP on our side. The NUP is a big bloc itself which ought to be consulted as well. We are looking at their list of members,”
Belmonte said.
Senate plans transfer to UP campus at Diliman
By Cathy C. Yamsuan, Gil C. Cabacungan Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 1
A Senate on the campus of the University of the Philippines (UP) at Diliman, Quezon City, will bring it closer to the House of Representatives, an arrangement that can probably help speed up the
passage of legislation.
But a Senate in Diliman will make it a neighbor of the headquarters of the politically influential Iglesia ni Cristo and just a step away from the state university, which is full of activists.
The UP is considering two sites as possible locations for the Senate in case it moves to Quezon City from Pasay City where it rents office space in the building of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
One is a 3-hectare area referred to as “Capitol site” at the side and back of the Ayala Techno-Hub, a commercial complex on Commonwealth Avenue.
Another is called the “AIT site,” a triangular lot at the corner of Iglesia Road and Commonwealth Avenue where the Asian Institute of Tourism (AIT) of the UP System and the Philippine Social Science Center (PSSC) are located.
Informal settlers
A Senate source, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the transfer, said issues could arise in case the Senate chose either site.
Informal settlers numbering more than 1,000 families are currently occupying Capitol site. This means a relocation area must first be identified and developed before the informal settlers are
moved out of the property.
A court case could also arise if informal settlers are persuaded to question their transfer from Capitol site.
In case the AIT site is chosen, the institute would need to transfer to another location and most likely join the other colleges within the sprawling campus on the other side of Commonwealth Avenue.
AIT students
UP officials believe the move would be favorable to AIT students because many of them complain that travel time from the institute to the other colleges on the other side of the avenue and vice versa causes them to be late for class.
Also, a move to the AIT site would mean the lease contract between the UP and the PSSC would have to be revised.
The Senate source said a number of nongovernment organizations hold office inside the PSSC.
The source added that all this information was discussed during a presentation given by UP officials on June 28 before the ad hoc committee in charge of the Senate’s transfer to a permanent site.
In attendance were Senators Franklin Drilon, Pia Cayetano and Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
UP representatives included Chancellor Caesar Saloma and Dr. Gerard Rey Lico of the UP Office of the Campus Architect. Senate department heads were also in present.
Belmonte for transfer
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is looking forward to working “closer” with the Senate should it move to the UP campus at Diliman.
“I heard they are talking with UP management. You know, the UP has 499 hectares and it can accommodate them, especially on the Commonwealth Avenue side of the campus and not Katipunan,” said Belmonte in an interview with reporters.
“I really believe they should come over here in Quezon City. They are too far. It’s such a long trip,”
said Belmonte. The Batasan complex, where the House holds office, is roughly 30 kilometers away from the Senate in Pasay City.
Belmonte said a staff from the Senate committee tasked with looking for alternative sites for the Senate had visited Batasan.
“They concluded that they need another one. I don’t think this complex will be enough,” the Speaker said.
Some UP student leaders have expressed apprehension over sharing the campus with senators who slashed the budget for state colleges and universities.
They pointed out that the Senate would not be able to reach its objective of having its own building as the UP charter allowed only for the lease and not the sale of its property.
PH center of ‘illegal’ live reef, aquarium fish trade
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 1
CAIRNS—Foreign demand for food and ornamental fishes has made the Philippines the center of the unsustainable and often illegal live reef and aquarium fish trade worth at least $1 billion globally, scientists and experts said.
Michael Fabinyi, a researcher with Australia’s James Cook University who studied the live reef fish trade in Palawan province for several years, said increasing demand from China and Hong Kong had pushed people to harvest species like grouper and snappers, considered “luxury” food, using methods damaging to the health of the fishers and the marine environment.
Fabinyi, in his study of the live reef fish business in Balabac, Palawan, said the trade is an example of how the East Asian region is “consuming” the marine resources of Southeast Asia, which has to shoulder the long-term environmental and socioeconomic problems of the trade.
Global business
The live fish trade, which is driven by the consumption of the growing Chinese middle and upper classes, is a lucrative global business, valued at about $1 billion, according to Yvonne Sadovy, a marine science professor at the University of Hong Kong. About 150,000 metric tons of live reef fish are traded annually, she said.
The scientists spoke in a forum at the 12th International Coral Research Symposium here.
Experts said China’s appetite for fresh fish has a devastating impact on the Philippines’ food situation
and marine ecology.
Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau Director Mundita Lim said the practice of Palawan fishers to catch juvenile snappers and groupers has led to the collapse of the live fish trade in the province.
“You should not get the juveniles from the wild. You should let them mature,” Lim said in an interview.
Fabinyi said China’s demand for these fishes, which are part of the dining culture and cuisine of the Chinese, is much greater than the demand from the Philippines.
Chinese restaurants in Manila, for instance, are not as well stocked with luxury food fishes as their Hong Kong or Chinese mainland counterparts, Fabinyi said.
Higher price
“The most obvious driver inducing people to get involved in the trade is the higher price of live fish, driven by increasing Chinese demand,” Fabinyi said in his 2012 study.
“From approximately 50 cents/kg in the late ’80s when the trade began, the price of leopard coral grouper has risen gradually and consistently, and in 2011, a good-sized leopard coral grouper in good condition fetches a price of between P700 and P1,000 ($16-23)/kg for fishermen,” he said.
In some places of the province, the price could shoot up to more than $60 per kilogram.
Fabinyi said local fishers are contacted by traders and middlemen, who finance their operation. The traders and middlemen, often based in cities like Manila, pay for their boats and fuel.
The live reef fishes are then transported to Manila, then Hong Kong, completing their journey in the Chinese mainland cities, where they are the main feature in social banquets and feasts.
‘Focal point’
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Wood, an expert from the Marine Conservation Society, said the Philippines is the “focal point” in the trade for aquarium fishes.
The latest data from 2005 showed that the Philippines exported 5.7 million aquarium fishes to the United States in that year, making the Philippines the world’s biggest supplier of aquarium fishes.
Indonesia trails behind the Philippines, and has become the number one source of aquarium corals after the former cracked down on coral trade last year, she said.
“Currently *there is+ no evidence of any species collected for the marine ornamental trade being at risk of global extinction, but there is evidence of local depletions,” Wood said.
New problems
The trade on food and ornamental fishes is endangering the Philippines’ long-term food supply and is posing new socioeconomic problems for the country, experts said. “If overfishing continues, there will be *fewer+ fish,” Sadovy said.
Sadovy said the highly valued live fish species, which are now in near-overfished state, were traditionally harvested in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea). But the fish resources in this area are now depleted, she said.
Sadovy said napoleon fish, which is found in the waters of Indonesia and the Philippines and is known in the Philippines as mameng, is highly prized in China. The fish is now listed as an
endangered species in the [International Union for Conservation of Nature], the only reef fish on the list.
Napoleon fish is priced at $150 a kilo, making it a lucrative catch for fishers and traders, Sadovy said.
While fishers who engage in live reef fishing get higher income, enabling them to access basic and economic services, they know that what they are doing is unsustainable, Fabinyi said.
Health concerns
There are also health concerns for local fishers.
Because many of them use cyanide to collect ornamental fishes and unfiltered air compressors, many of the fishers and divers end up with respiratory ailments.
“Moreover, diving for extended periods without proper decompression has led to paralysis—and in extreme cases, deaths,” Fabinyi said.
Mining EO a virtual warning to LGUs—environmentalists
By TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 2
President Benigno Aquino’s new mining order is a virtual warning to local officials and communities not to pass ordinances banning mining, environmentalists said Wednesday.
The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan/Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/FoE Phils) singled out Executive Order No. 79’s provision declaring that local government units must conform to the national government’s policy on mining.
“What the provision intends to do is to prevent other LGUs from following the footsteps of numerous other LGUs that have issued local legislation and already stood up against minerals extraction in their respective territories and protected the welfare of their people,” said the group’s program officer Gerry Arrances in a statement.
In effect, the administration was sending a strong message that it would pursue “its promotion of mineral extraction and its business-as-usual framework, thus continuing wanton destruction of our communities and the environment,” Arrances said.
In issuing EO 79 early this week, Mr. Aquino sought to institutionalize reforms in the mining sector and provide guidelines to ensure environmental protection and responsible mining in the use of mineral resources.
However, some of the EO’s provisions, particularly Section 12, which directs that local ordinances be made consistent with the Constitution and national laws, has stirred some controversy.
According to the EO, LGUs should confine themselves to the imposition of “reasonable limitations”
on mining activities within their jurisdiction, and that these should be consistent with national laws and regulations.
The national government did not need to spell this out in EO 79 because LGUs were well aware of this when they enacted ordinances banning mining, complained Arrances.
After all, by passing such ordinances, the LGUs were only exercising their police power and upholding the general welfare and their constituents’ right to a “balanced and healthful ecology”
and the well-being of their local territories and ecosystems, he said.
Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator of the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), conceded that the President’s mining order introduced reforms, such as the identification of mining-free zones, increased transparency and a system for the review and monitoring of mining contracts.
These reforms, however, were overshadowed by the provision that all contracts, agreements and concessions approved prior to the order were considered valid and binding, he said.
“We sincerely believe that *the+ DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) does not have the people, the expertise, the resources and the equipment to effectively enforce this EO, and so the policy is misleading as it gives a false sense of comfort that from now on, ‘all will be well,’” he added.
According to the ATM, any increase in the revenue share of the government from the mining industry would be irrelevant given the industry’s allegedly negative impact on the communities and the environment.
“These are the reasons why we need a new mining law, and not only rely on this EO,” Garganera said.
Anabelle Plantilla, chief operating officer of the Haribon Foundation, said the EO was proof that the government recognized the flawed policy in the mining industry.
“The proof of the pie is in the eating. We have documented on how the Mining Act created a big rift in the protection of the environment and then we have another policy that yet again has weak provisions on the conservation of our forest and ecosystem. Do we need to eat this pie again?” she said.
DFA: Code to avoid clashes over West PH Sea not approved yet
By Jerry E. Esplanada
Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 2
Southeast Asian nations have not yet approved a code of conduct that would prevent armed clashes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), the Philippines’ top diplomat said Wednesday.
In a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said senior officials of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) reached agreement on Monday on the key elements to be included in a code of conduct in the West Philippine Sea.
The “elements need to be approved at the ministerial level, then mandated back to the senior officials’ meeting for consultations with China,” Del Rosario said.
Del Rosario was correcting false understanding (not in the Inquirer) of reports coming out of the
Asean foreign ministers’ meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on a code of conduct that the regional bloc was preparing as a response to China’s growing aggressiveness in the West Philippine Sea.
The code would spell out rules governing maritime rights and navigation in the West Philippine Sea.
Sandiganbayan suspends Coast Guard chief
By Leila Salaverria, Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 4
MANILA, Philippines—The Sandiganbayan Fourth Division slapped Philippine Coast Guard Chief Rear Admiral Edmund Tan with a 90-day preventive suspension in connection with a graft case filed against by a businessman.
In its order, the anti-graft court ordered Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Mar Roxas to immediately implement the suspension.
The case stemmed from a complaint filed by business man Reynaldo Chua Jr.
The complainant alleged that Tan, in 2007, then regional head of the Philippine Coast Guard, stopped the voyage of LCT Kapitan of Chua using as basis a fictitious temporary restraining order against the transport of iron ore cargo causing Chua to pay P500,000 worth of demurrage for the period of Sept. 21 to 26.
“On Sept. 21, 2007, in Sibugay, Zamboanga, accused Tan, a public officer being a member of the Philippine Coast Guard, taking advantage of his official position and committing the offense in relation to his office, being the regional head of the PCG of the place wherein the iron ore cargo was being shipped by LCT Kapitan, did then and there willfully, unlawfully and criminally cause undue injury to one Reynaldo Chua Jr. by giving a certain Benito Aratea Sr., a private individual,
unwarranted benefits, advantage and preference,” the information filed by the Office of the Ombudsman before the Sandiganbayan.
The Office of the Ombudsman recommended a P30,000 for his temporary liberty.
Government cash transfer program up for Senate scrutiny
By Christian V. Esguerra, Kate Evangelista INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer, page 5
A Congressional oversight committee will scrutinize the administration’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program, which will get around P45 billion in the proposed 2013 national budget, Senator Franklin Drilon said Wednesday.
Drilon, finance committee chairman, said the committee would look into the program before both chambers of Congress deliberate on the P2 trillion National Expenditure Program proposed by Malacañang.
The CCT program, which doles out money to the poorest families in the country, has been the subject of criticism since it was first implemented by the Arroyo administration. Mr. Aquino opted to continue the program and jacked up its allocations since he took office in 2010.
“It is pertinent that we conduct a review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the conditional cash transfer program that is primarily conceptualized to uplift the lives of the poorest Filipino families,”
Drilon said in a statement.
“We would like to hear from Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman if her agency has successfully plugged in some of the loopholes that we and some concerned sectors have identified.”
Drilon heads the congressional oversight committee with Representative Joseph Emilio Abaya, chair of the House committee on appropriations. The review is at 2 p.m. Thursday, less than two weeks before the proposed national budget is transmitted to Congress.
The CCT program—also known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program—was initially worth P21 billion during Mr. Aquino’s first national budget as president in 2011. It was nearly doubled to P39 billion this year.
Among the goals of the CCT program is to help keep poor students in school. Poor families with three children below 14 years old are given cash so long as they regularly attend school.
At a Senate hearing last year, Education Secretary Armin Luistro was asked about the correlation between the decrease in dropout rate and the CCT. But he failed to provide data to show any connection.
“A component of the CCT is given on the condition that the children attend 85 percent of the school days of a month,” Drilon said then. “Therefore, the government expects an improvement in school attendance and a reduction in the dropout rates from the present 24 per 100 students in areas where the CCT is applied.”
Speaker favors con-ass
By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) page 1
MANILA, Philippines - Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. prefers a constituent assembly to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution.
Speaking to reporters, Belmonte said the House of Representatives and the Senate must vote separately on the proposed amendments.
“When I speak of Charter change, I refer only to the economic provisions,” he said.
“I’m not in favor of constitutional convention, I’m for constituent assembly because it’s faster, but voting separately, of course.
“We (Senate and House) meet as one, but we vote as two (bodies).”
Belmonte said the proposed general amendments to the economic provisions of Constitution could still be specified in laws to be enacted by Congress.
“So that’s not automatic. It’s still part of the law... (that) still has to go through a process and the President is the final arbiter and approval of the law,” the Speaker said.
Earlier, Belmonte said he and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile are going to meet to discuss the progress of efforts in Congress to amend the Constitution.
“I think that constitutional change should not be a part of the agenda of anybody,” he said.
“Certainly, I don’t look at it as anything partisan. This is for all of us.”
Earlier, Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption Rep. Sherwin Tugna backed fresh moves to amend the Constitution.
“The time to amend the Constitution has come (as) the call for a reexamination of the 1987 Constitution is becoming louder everyday,” he said.
“Definitely there is a need to make changes in our Constitution in order to address certain problems that plague our government. But I think we need to isolate those problems first before we push through and modify a number of provisions in the Constitution.”
Tugna said it must be clearly discussed and agreed on which provisions need to be modified.
“So as not to make the impression that Congress is empowering itself through the process,” he said.
“In amending the economic provisions of the Constitution, it is important that areas of investment where the 60-40 percent (foreign-domestic) equity limitations are proposed to be removed must be scrutinized.
“The removal of the limitation should ultimately benefit our nation and our people. We must be able to distinguish where the limitation must be removed and where it must be maintained for the protection of our nation.”
Under a constitutional convention, the people elect delegates as in a congressional race – by district.
The convention will be another separate body tasked to make proposals for amendments.
It will have no limit as how many amendments to the Constitution it may make and its lifespan would depend how the delegates want it to exist, raising fears of abuse and high cost of maintaining the convention.
A constituent assembly is when the Senate and the House meet as one Charter-amending body. It may limit its scope of work.
In both modes, the proposed amendments would have to be ratified by the people in a plebiscite.
RH bill to address plight of mothers
By Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star) page 1
MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Pia Cayetano believes the passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill would give priority to the plight and burden of Filipino mothers.
In a statement on World Population Day yesterday, Cayetano said this year’s theme of “Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services” emphasizes the need for an RH law to help bring down the
number of maternal deaths.
“On World Population Day, let’s prioritize the plight and burden of Filipino mothers,” she said.
“They are the ones who risk their life to bear new life, carry the primary burden of ensuring the health, education and welfare of their children, and balance the family’s meager resources to survive from day-to-day.”
Cayetano said the situation of Filipino mothers has gone from bad to worse over the past few years as indicated in the rise of maternal deaths.
“This should be reason compelling enough for any fair-minded legislator to support the enactment of the RH bill, which would allow mothers universal access to reproductive health services of the government,” she said.
“As more and more of our colleagues are enlightened on the importance and urgency of implementing a national reproductive health policy, we expect the RH bill to finally hurdle the obstacles and see passage soon after Congress reopens its session.”
Cayetano said the RH bill would prevent more maternal deaths by expanding access to the following services: natural and artificial family planning services to allow mothers to plan and space their pregnancies; prenatal care to ensure the mother’s health and nutrition, and allow for early detection of complications; safe and modern birthing facilities manned by health professionals to ensure safe deliveries; and postpartum services to monitor and address complications after delivery.
“Based on the FHS, prevalence in the use of modern contraceptives is much lower for married women belonging to poor households compared to those belonging to non-poor households,” she said.
Cayetano said a disparity exists in the use of contraceptives between married women with little or no education and those with higher levels of education.
“What these figures prove is that clearly, there’s a very huge unmet need for reproductive health services for women in general, but more so, for those who come from the poorest families and those who are less educated,” she said.
“There clearly is an urgent material need for an RH Law, but its hard-line critics refuse to see the reality. They refuse to lift a finger to help alleviate the condition of Filipino mothers despite the alarming rise in maternal deaths. It’s high time we end this vicious cycle where mothers are callously denied access to reproductive health services, which is their right and need. It’s high time to pass the RH bill.”
Cayetano and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago are the principal authors of the RH bill.
It would be considered for approval on second reading when Congress resumes session later this month.
Sandigan suspends PCG chief
(The Philippine Star) page 1
MANILA, Philippines - The Sandiganbayan has ordered the suspension for 90 days of Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Vice Admiral Edmund Tan, who is facing graft charges.
The anti-graft court’s fourth division granted the motion of the prosecution to suspend Tan in an eight-page resolution signed by Justice Gregory Ong last July 6.
The Office of the Ombudsman filed graft charges in 2010 against Tan, who used to be the PCG’s Eastern Visayas Command chief.
The case stemmed from a complaint of businessman Reynaldo Tan, whose iron ore shipment was confiscated in 2007.
The cargo was released after the Department on Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) confirmed the grant of a transport permit.
Tan, however, complained that it was only after he incurred P500,000 in expenses because of the delay.
Government prosecutors said Section 13 of Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt
Practices Act states that suspension is mandatory for incumbent government officials who are being tried for offenses involving fraud.
“Any incumbent public officer against whom any criminal prosecution under a valid information under this Act or under Title Seven Book II of the Revised Penal Code or for any offense involving
fraud upon government or public funds or property whether as a simple or as complex offense and in whatever stage of execution and mode of participation, is pending in court shall be suspended from office,” the law said.
Tan said he would file a motion for reconsideration of the suspension order. He said he would elevate the case to the Supreme Court if the Sandiganbayan will not grant his plea.
“This is a classic example of justice delayed, justice denied,” Tan said in a text message.
“I cannot understand why a decision on this has to take too long to resolve at the Sandiganbayan and now they are suspending me when this should have been decided already,” he said.
He said the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the case in July 2011.
“The complainant has already issued an affidavit of desistance in May 2011, as he realized that my action in September 2007, to hold the departure of a barge for having no anchors, was done in the performance of my duty. Complainant himself even appeared in court last Feb. 20 to attest to that,”
he said.
Tan is set to retire on Dec. 16, when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56.
Meanwhile, PCG spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Armand Balilo said court cases are risks that public officials encounter in the course of their duties.
“We can be vulnerable to complaints. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t. It is better that you do your job, be charged and face the case in court rather than put the lives of people on the line,” Balilo said.
He defended Tan’s action, saying that if the latter allowed the ship to sail without an anchor, the life of the crew and other nearby vessels would have been imperiled.
– Michael Punongbayan, Evelyn Macairan
DFA: Asean to start talks with China on sea code
By Pia Lee-Brago (The Philippine Star) page 2
MANILA, Philippines - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will soon start negotiations with China on the code of conduct designed to ease tensions in the
West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said yesterday.
Del Rosario said that for archipelagic states like the Philippines, “unimpeded commerce and maritimesafety are important, given that a quarter of the estimated 1.37 million mariners worldwide are Filipinos.”
The ten ASEAN nations have agreed on the code of conduct during a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in Cambodia, but would still seek to get China to agree to it.
But China and ASEAN countries struggled to make progress on the code of conduct, diplomatic sources said yesterday.
A joint statement to be issued by ASEAN foreign ministers was also held up as countries wrangled over whether to include a reference to recent spats pitting China against Vietnam and the
Philippines.
“ASEAN foreign ministers are having an emergency meeting to resolve the wording on
the South ChinaSea in the joint statement,” one Asian diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa admitted the debate about whether to mention specific incidents was a key sticking point.
“It’s very important for us to express our concern with what happened, whether it be at the shoals, whether it be at the continental shelves,” he told reporters. “But more importantly than simply responding to the past is to move forward to ensure that these kind of events no longer occur.”
ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan told reporters yesterday that the fact the code was under discussion “is already having a calming effect on all parties.”
Del Rosario called for the effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea to ensure a credible, binding and enforceable code of conduct.
Del Rosario said these goals are part of the region’s collective goal of enhancing maritime cooperation.
“This expression of hope is not alien to us, nor should it come as a surprise,” Del Rosario told the ASEAN meeting.
“The ASEAN Plus Three Cooperation Work Plan for 2007 to 2017 specifically states our collective goal
of enhancing maritime cooperation on safety of navigation, such as through the implementation of relevant treaties and agreements,” he said.
Boost to Phl position
Meanwhile, Malacañang said ASEAN’s approval of a code of conduct and the consensus that the United Nations maritime convention must be the basis for settling contending claims in the West Philippine Sea were a big boost to the country’s position on the issue.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government is confident China would agree on the ASEAN position.
“China has also been of the position that it should be settled peacefully. Everybody is agreed on that.
We hope that they will be receptive to the idea as well,” Valte said in a press briefing.
Valte reiterated the country’s position to push for ASEAN centrality.
Asked if the Palace believes that a code of conduct would bolster the Philippines’ position, Valte said
“we have been firm that our claim (in the area) is supported under international law and that we intend to pursue our claim under a rules-based approach.”
The draft document outlining the ASEAN position called on all sides to resolve territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea by peaceful means, in accordance with international law, including
the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
UNCLOS is an international treaty that sets limits on how neighboring nations consider their exclusive economic zones. China is a signatory to UNCLOS.
In 2002, ASEAN and China signed a document that calls on all claimants to exercise restraint and stop new occupation in the West Philippine Sea.
However, its non-binding nature and lack of provision to sanction misbehaving claimants, render the accord useless against aggression.
Both the Philippines and Vietnam have accused China of increasingly aggressive behavior, such as intruding in territorial waters, harassment and sabotaging oil explorations within their respective sovereign waters.
The latest incident involved the standoff at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal between the Philippines and China.
The Department of National Defense (DND) expressed confidence that the proposed code of conduct would prevent incidents of territorial intrusions and promote stability in the region.
“We hope, of course, that all these things will be addressed in this code of conduct so that everyone can proceed to harness whatever is there in the region,” DND spokesman Peter Galvez said
yesterday.
“Of course (this is for) for regional stability and freedom of navigation,” he added.
“If there is peace in the region, we need not worry and every country can focus on development,” he said.
Galvez said it is a “welcome development that they are making the code of conduct more definitive, more detailed and more binding.
“As they said, they want to give more teeth.”
No redeployment order yet
In a related development, senior security officials have yet to order the redeployment of government vessels to Panatag Shoal.
“We are prepared to redeploy our vessels back to Panatag. We’re just waiting for orders from our national leadership to do so,” a senior Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official said yesterday.
Several PCG vessels, aside from the BRP Pampanga which remains docked in General Santos City, are stationed in Subic, Zambales in anticipation of a redeployment order to Panatag Shoal. – With Aurea Calica, Jaime Laude, Alexis Romero
Government assures LGUs of equitable revenue share in mining law
By Aurea Calica and Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star) page 6
MANILA, Philippines - The country’s new mining policy will ensure an equitable share in revenues for local government units (LGUs) as well as give them a voice in the soon-to-be-formed council that will prepare the implementing rules and regulations for Executive Order 79 which seeks to give the
industry a clearer direction.
The council is also tasked to draft legislation to replace the Mining Act of 1995.
The executive order, signed by President Aquino on July 6, specifically cited Article 10 of the
Constitution stating that LGUs were entitled to an “equitable share in the proceeds of the utilization and development of the national wealth within their jurisdiction” and “the Local Government Code of 1991 provides that LGUs have the duty and authority to protect and co-manage the environment and enhance the right of the people to a balanced ecology.”
Based on the EO, LGUs shall confine themselves to imposing reasonable restrictions
on mining activitieswithin their respective jurisdictions. The restrictions, however, should be consistent with national laws and regulations.
Concerned government agencies, in particular the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), and the Department of Finance (DOF), are directed to ensure the timely release of the share of LGUs in accordance with the Local Government Code of 1991.
These agencies are likewise directed to study the possibility of increasing LGUs’ share as well as granting them direct access similar to existing arrangements with the Philippine Export Zone Authority (PEZA), according to the EO.
Earlier, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said the new mining policy was aimed at ensuring that the ordinances issued by the LGUs were consistent with national laws on mining.
“What the EO is saying is that somehow there must be consistency between national laws and local laws. And, of course, with this, the local ordinances cannot be against national policies,” Paje said.
“Section 12 (of EO 79) recognizes the need for national laws and local ordinances to be harmonized to ensure the proper management and regulation of the mining industry,” Paje explained.
The EO also aims to reconcile the roles of the national government and the LGUs as far as mining is concerned.
With the crafting of the EO, the national government shall coordinate and cooperate with the LGUs in ensuring the proper implementation of mining-related laws, rules and regulations, especially for small-scale mining.
The Provincial/City Mining Regulatory Boards (P/CMRBs) will help the LGUs to properly regulate small-scale mining and provide an appropriate forum for the different stakeholders.
The LGUs, the EO said, shall be part of the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) to ensure that their position and concerns are addressed.
“But if there are local ordinances, like the one in South Cotabato – it remains valid because there is a process in invalidating it. It remains valid until it is invalidated by competent authorities or through the courts,” Paje said.
As may be directed by the President, the MICC may create a task force against illegal mining and seek the assistance of all law enforcement agencies, including the police and the military, to ensure strict compliance with relevant laws. – With Artemio Dumlao
