ASIDE from the plunder and economic sabotage cases filed against her last February, Bulacan Gov. Josie Dela Cruz may be charged with usurping the authority of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources for her illegal issuance of mining and environmental permits.
Dave Diwa, president of the National Labor Union, said Dela Cruz arrogated upon herself the power of the DENR to issue Environmental Compliance Certificates and Certificates of Non-Coverage of Environmental Impact Assessments. (full article)
For those not in the know, the governor allowed quarrying in Biak-na-Bato National Park, symbolic birthplace of the Philippine Revolution. However, this extraction of marble went largely unnoticed until Leo Oracion and Erwin Emata, who’d earlier summited Mt. Everest called attention to it. This led to interest by the news media, which led to further investigations revealing the LGUs complicitity. Now there is an urging for the DENR to file charges for the governor’s usurpation of authority, misuse of the police force and contribution to the environmental destruction of a national park. Which goes to show that shedding light on the wrongs of the world is still a worthy exercise that can net results. We hope that it nets large, conviction-type results, we truly do.
