Replace Ramos as DENR secretary, Aquino told

Church and civil society groups have appealed to newly-elected President Benigno Aquino to appoint a person of integrity as environment secretary.

In an open letter, Nassa chairman and Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo led various groups and communities in asking Aquino to replace Secretary Horacio Ramos with someone who has the “trust and support of all stakeholders who are engaged with environmental issues and concerns.”

Ramos has been vilified for his policies that undermined environmental sustainability and protection.

“Mr. Ramos has been at the forefront of revitalizing the destructive large-scale mining in the Philippines for the last five years. This policy has introduced serious social, cultural and environmental issues that many of our organizations have documented,” the letter partly read.

Some of these problems, the group said include human rights violations (forced demolition and physical and legal harassments); land conflicts (ancestral domains vs. mining, productive farm lands vs. mining); encroachment on protected areas and critical biodiversity areas; escalation of violence and social conflicts in mining areas; degradation of cultural values of indigenous communities; resistance from LGUs on aggressive entry of mining in their localities; and violation of rights of indigenous peoples.

Appointing a new secretary for the department of environment and natural resources (DENR) is an assurance to the people of the genuine reforms that Aquino promised his government would pursue, they said.

Laying down the parameters, the group said the DENR secretary should be someone who is genuinely concerned and serious in protecting the country’s fragile ecology and staunchly supports sustainable environment, an effective leader and possesses technical competence in the job.

“We have reasons to believe that retaining Mr. Horacio Ramos, and extending his term as DENR Secretary, will run counter to the reform agenda in the environment sector, and will introduce instability and challenging relationships between your administration and the communities and civil society,” the letter continued.

“Retaining Mr. Ramos as DENR Secretary will only give a signal that it is “business as usual” in the DENR, and will possibly prolong the plunder and destruction of our natural resources, and protract the lingering environmental issues we are confronting,” it further said.

With Ramos’ “continued appointment”, the group said, “the problems brought about by destructive large-scale mining will not be resolved, and possibly even worsen.”

For his part, Aquino’s environmental adviser, Neri Acosta, has insisted that a “least disruptive approach” in the DENR is the best thing to do at the moment.

But the group reiterated that “genuine reforms, especially at the DENR, will require deep changes, structurally and policy-wise.”

“We believe that for your reform agenda to be truly meaningful and substantial, your selection of your alter-ego as Secretaries in the various Departments must be aligned with your campaign promise that reform must happen and that you will not tolerate graft and corruption,” the group told Aquino.

“Our commitment to work and engage your administration in a productive, substantial and meaningful manner is an offer based on our mutual appreciation of reform and change, towards sustainable development,” the group further said.