DENR forms transition team for next admin

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on Wednesday announced the formation of a transition team to ensure the “smooth turnover” of its programs and projects to the next administration.

“We are ready. The documents have been prepared and will be presented to the next DENR secretary,” said DENR Acting Secretary Jim Sampulna in a statement.

According to Sampulna, among the DENR programs to be handed over are the Boracay Rehabilitation and Manila Bay Rehabilitation.

READ: Boracay rehab projects to continue even after Duterte’s term

This move, said Sampuna, comes after President Rodrigo Duterte instructed his cabinet officials to “do it right.”

“By doing it right, he means you won’t make excuses and you will not do any nonsensical actions. Because I have a good President, I will leave DENR in good governance,” he said.

Meanwhile, apart from the DENR’s mentioned major projects, Undersecretary for Policy, Planning, and International Affairs Jonas Leones in the same statement said that they will also be proposing the continuation of the task force on disaster recovery and rehabilitation — which was created under the Duterte administration and the strict implementation of major environmental laws.

READ: Manila Bay ‘white sand’ beach to reopen on June 12

“The challenge is the effects of climate change; we are expecting tropical cyclones and calamities such as landslides and flooding. That’s why during the time of President Rodrigo Duterte we have the Task Force Build Back Better, a whole-of-government approach on post-disaster response,” said Leones.

“Secondly, our agency is mandated to protect the environment and conserve the natural resources, so we will focus on this and discuss with the incoming administration the strict implementation of environmental laws such as Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act,” he added.

All this came even as President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., who won the recently-held elections with over 31 million votes, has yet to announce who he picked to lead the DENR.

He is set to be inaugurated to the presidency, succeeding Duterte, on June 30.

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