The environment department gets a new secretary. What’s at stake?
Weeks ago, during a turnover ceremony at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Environment Secretary Raphael Lotilla said that, taking off from what his predecessor tried to do, he would also pursue “as a basic principle, sustainable development,” specifically economic, environmental, and social sustainability.
“It is a difficult task balancing all three, and at times, one takes precedence over the other, and this is where government decision-making has to come in,” Lotilla said, vowing that “pursuing the economic sustainability pillar while making sure that future generations would not be deprived of the opportunity to make use of the environmental resources of the country will also be safeguarded.”
It’s as vague as many of these marching orders come for a department with such a huge mandate and bureaucracy. I still remember the late Gina Lopez telling a roomful of high-ranking DENR officials in 2016 to “see themselves from being just regulators to doers of something good,” or former president Rodrigo Duterte telling retired general Roy Cimatu after swearing him into office to “just do your duty.”
While vague, this first speech perhaps signals the direction that Lotilla wants to bring the DENR. There had been mixed reactions to his appointment given his earlier stint at the Department of Energy, and with the looming international climate and sustainable development deadlines, he has his work cut out for him.
I hope the new environment secretary senses the urgency that many environmental advocates do. A 2024 progress report said the country has regressed on climate action since 2015 (or when the Paris Agreement was adopted). We are still the deadliest place in Asia for environmental defenders. And lest we forget, the world is looking at the Philippines as host of the board of the historic Loss and Damage Fund.
We can’t afford vagueness in the next three years.
In other news: this July, we’re busy cooking up some stories, including interviews ahead of the final negotiations for a global plastics treaty in Geneva, Switzerland, as well as a documentary featuring the fisherfolk of Samar.
While waiting for that, you can check out some of our past stories on plastic pollution and fisheries in the Philippines:
Till the Tuesday after next!
