Zamboanga del Sur gov vows to stand in way of DENR chief at CA

ZAMBOANGA CITY—For as long as Environment Secretary Ramon Paje fails to explain what a Special Ores Extraction Permit (Soep) is all about and what its legal basis is, Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Antonio Cerilles said he will do everything to block Paje’s confirmation by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

“I will continue to block his appointment. I have always been consistent about this,” said Cerilles, himself a former environment secretary.

Cerilles said on Wednesday, he went to the CA to oppose Paje’s confirmation anew because instead of answering his queries on the Soep, Paje opted to ignore him. He said he wrote Paje twice but failed to get any response.

“Not once did he bother to write back and explain what this Soep is,” said Cerilles.

In a phone interview, Paje pointed to his predecessor at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Lito Atienza, as the one who signed Soeps.

Cerilles said he wanted to know what the permit was all about and whether it has legal basis because in Zamboanga del Sur, a mining group got that document from DENR.

He said the issuance of Soep to Lupah Piggegitawan has caused tension in the area. But Paje said the Soep issued to Lupah had lapsed in November last year.

“They went to the area and started their mining operation, encroaching in areas where there is an existing MPSA (mineral production sharing agreement). They extract without any (environmental compliance certificate) ECC and without any permit,” he said.

Cerilles said Lupah has been passing itself off as owned by indigenous peoples groups but is “actually 99 percent owned by a Filipino-Chinese from Banilad in Cebu City, Manuel Go.”

Cerilles said Paje, who was environment undersecretary during the Arroyo administration, “is playing around with environmental laws.”

“He violated the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 and the People’s Small Scale Mining Act of 1991 and he does not deserve to be confirmed,” he said.

Paje said the Soeps were issued not during his watch at the DENR.

He challenged his critics, including Cerilles, to produce documents showing his involvement in the issuance of Soeps.

“What I want to ask them is where is the permit showing I was the signatory?,” said Paje.

He said his critics won’t stop hurling accusations at him even if his actions were in accordance with the policies laid out by President Aquino.

“When I ordered a total log ban, they accused me of being an illegal logger,” said Paje.

“When I stopped granting mining permits, they accused me of being an illegal miner,” he said. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao with DJ Yap in Manila