In the Philippines, Father Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of the Bishops’ National Secretariat for Social Action demanded President Rodrigo Duterte to fire his new environment chief, Roy Cimatu, who has got a mind set to support mining in the country. In his Annual State of the Nation Address on July 24, 2017, Duterte emphasized that irresponsible mining should be stopped and warned the companies to stop destroying the environment.
As reported by ucanews.com, Fr. Edwin Gariguez asserted that “The President should first remove Cimatu whose recent decisions clearly favor mining companies; the government’s environment department needs a leader who has the guts to go against the powerful mining lobby.”
Roy Cimatu was appointed by Duterte as environment chief after the Philippine Congress rejected the appointment of environmental activist Regina Lopez.
Source: www.ucanews.com
