Wakeup call

The death of miners due to the Typhoon Ompong-triggered landslides particu­larly in Itogon, Benguet is truly a wakeup call for local and national government agencies, specifically for the Department of Environ­ment and Natural Resources (DENR).

A wakeup call only applies to those who are sleeping. It is clear that concerned gov­ernment agencies and their officials are sleeping on their jobs.

The cease-and-desist order of DENR Secretary Roy Cimatu for the operations of illegal small-scale mining particularly in the Cordillera Administra­tive Region (CAR) is a clear expression that despite the government ban on mining and other mining laws, illegal mining operations still happen in our country.

The logical questions is – what have concerned lo­cal and national government agencies done to enforce the ban and other mining laws? This is admittedly a rhetorical question because with what happened in Itogon, Benguet, the answer to the question is obvious.

However, the question still needs to be asked to empha­size the fact that on this matter (just like in many other aspects of governance), what we have in our country is essentially reactive, instead of proactive, enforcement of laws.

There is no imaginable rea­son for the concerned gov­ernment agencies to explain their failure to enforce the mining laws, particularly the ban on mining, which President Duterte himself has ordered and announced in numerous occasions.

One cannot help but wonder how the concerned govern­ment agencies will enforce the latest “cease-and-desist order” of Secretary Cimatu. If such agencies were unable to enforce the ban and other min­ing laws, can we really expect them to do what they have been ordered?

The death of the Itogon, Benguet miners is the strongest argument in favor of the mining ban. The economic benefits of mining are not and cannot be more valuable than the life of Filipinos and the needed pro­tection for the environment.

The death of the miners is also the loudest call for gover­nance reforms in our country. Government officials and em­ployees need to be truly ac­countable to the people. They should not be allowed to define governance in our country as simply issuing orders for the implementation of rules that they themselves failed to implement.