Is Bayan Muna lawmaker Zarate the next DENR secretary?

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Will a Davao-based human rights lawyer and partylist representative be the next Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the administration of Rodrigo Duterte?

Sources in the progressive groups said that Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate has been identified as an option for the post.

Zarate, who will be serving his second term as a lawmaker, is known for his strong stance for the protection of the environment including against heavily extractive economic activities like large-scale mining and logging.

The lawmaker has also advocated against coal-fired power plants and promoted sustainable green technology as source of electricity.

Since the start of his law career, Zarate has promoted the protection of the ancestral lands and human rights of indigenous peoples in the mountains of Mindanao.

Zarate is an official of the National Union of People’s Lawyers and the Union of People’s Lawyers in Mindanao.

The lawmaker previously served as the Davao president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines.

Zarate and the camp of Duterte haveyet to issue a statement about the cabinet position appointment.

The DENR is one of the positions offered by Duterte to the Philippine Left together with the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Agrarian Reform.