Irresponsible mining and the sword of Damocles

NO matter what other Cabinet officials and lawmakers are saying against the closure, suspension and cancellation orders issued by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) on irresponsible mining operations, such rhetoric can only be construed as something akin to voices of vested interests, especially now when the controversial directives have elicited a deafening crescendo of reactions from various stakeholders.

The sword of Damocles has been hanging over the heads of those irresponsible mining corporations, whose primary motive is greed and power at the expense of Mother Nature and the Filipino people, ever since they started extracting mineral deposits on Philippine soil. And it took someone like Gina Lopez, the designated environment and natural resources secretary, to cut each strand of horsehair holding those swords that are now careening down towards the shameless, well-coiffed heads of those responsible for environmental degradation for countless decades now.