DAVAO CITY – Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) secretary Gina Lopez will meet the green advocates here on Thursday to discuss the environmental woes in Mindanao at the Ateneo de Davao University.
In an information released by ADDU’s Institutional Communications and Promotions Office, Lopez has already confirmed her attendance to “Oya Mindanao! The State of Mindanao Environment day,” a one-day event that seeks to tackle the environmental issues on the island at the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) on Thursday.
The DENR is one of the four agencies that was offered by President Rodrigo R. Duterte to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) days after he won in the May 2016 elections.
In a media interview Monday, Duterte defended Lopez from critics, saying that “she’s a bright lady and she is simply a crusader.”
“You try to castigate Gina Lopez for being strict and – yet you destroy the land, destroy the soil tapos ’yung yayaman kayo diyan,” he said.
The president warned the mining companies who continue to operate with no regard for the environment.
“You obey or we will survive as a nation without you,” he said. (Antonio Colina)