SPLENSIZY'S BLOG

Wednesday 19 April 2017

Philippine news: MICC has authority to review mine audit, DOF reminds Lopez

The Department of Finance criticized on Wednesday the move of Environment Secretary Gina Lopez to question the legality of the multiparty Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC). Michael Varcas/File

MANILA, Philippines — Further suggesting deep divisions in the president’s Cabinet, the Department of Finance on Wednesday criticized the move of Environment Secretary Gina Lopez to question the legal basis of the review by the interagency Mining Industry Coordinating Council of her department’s order to either suspend or close several mining operations in the country.

DOF Undersecretary Bayani Agabin said they were flustered why Lopez was questioning the legality of MICC even if she herself agreed to the multiagency review and signed the MICC resolution that paved the way for it.

Agabin said that it was President Rodrigo Duterte himself who directed the DOF and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to convene the MICC to comprehensively discuss the results of the DENR audit that resulted in the closure of 23 mines and the suspension of the operations of five others.

Aside from these two agencies, the solicitor general, the chief presidential legal counsel and the secretary of justice were invited to the review.

“Hence, there was no usurpation of the DENR’s functions by the MICC because the president himself has ordered that the results of the DENR audit be discussed and reviewed, which is within the powers of the MICC,” he said.

The DOF undersecretary also criticized the DENR audit because it was not a multiparty review as required by Executive Order 79, which mandates the creation of MICC. He said that the audit involved only four personnel from the DENR and a third-party expert.

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“Section 3 of that DENR memo states that its audit team was composed only of a third-party expert and one officer each from the DENR Central Office, its Regional Office, Mines and Geosciences Bureau and Environmental Management Bureau,” the undersecretary said.

None of the 20 departments and agencies represented in the MICC was consulted by the Environment department.

“In fact, even Isabela Vice Governor Antonio Albano, representing the ULAP (Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines), disclosed during the last MICC meeting on March 3 that the LGUs (local government units) of the areas hosting the affected mines were never consulted by the DENR,” Agabin said.

Agabin said the members of the MICC reached an agreement to conduct a multistakeholder review of the mining operations in the country as he noted that even Christian Monsod, the personal lawyer of Lopez, participated actively in the drafting of the resolution for this. The DOF undersecretary said that Lopez herself was present during this meeting.

He said that Lopez and DOF Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the co-chairpersons of the MICC, signed Resolution 6 calling for this multistakeholder review.

Agabin added that Lopez deputy DENR Undersecretary Maria Paz Luna, who attended the subsequent MICC and its Technical Working Group (TWG) meetings, even volunteered to make available for review the DENR audit report last year that served as the basis of the closure and suspension orders. Luna is the DENR’s undersecretary for legal affairs.

He also defended the P50-million budget requested by the MICC from the Budget Department.

Agabi said: “This amount is reasonable and justified, given that the task involves not only the 28 affected mines ordered either closed or suspended by Lopez, but all 311 mining contracts across the country.”

Agabin said that the framework, process and methodology of the review were approved by the MICC in its Feb. 20 meeting in which Luna provided several inputs and agreed to the conduct of the review and its framework.

“In fact, it was Undersecretary Luna who volunteered to make the audit report done by the DENR on the 28 mining operations available to the multistakeholder technical review teams, and joined the other members of the TWG in adopting the framework for the review,” Agabin said.

Agabin said this framework was again presented in another meeting on March 3, and Luna was again present and provided input on this.

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Sgt. Solaiman Calocop and Private 1st Class Samuel Garay were reunited with their families on Wednesday. JOHN UNSON

DAVAO DEL SUR, Philippines — Communist Rebels freed on Wednesday two soldiers they abducted in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat more than two months ago.

Sgt. Solaiman Calocop and Private 1st Class Samuel Garay of the Army's 39th Infantry Battalion were released by a group of New People’s Army guerrillas to Columbio Mayor Amir Musali in Barangay Colonbasac in Matanao, Davao del Sur.

Calocop and Garay were riding a motorcycle together en route to their detachment in a hinterland area in Columbio town on February 2 when they were snatched by the NPA. The NPA considers them and other security personnel in their custody as prisoners of war.

Senior Inspector Bernard Francia, chief of the Columbio municipal police, said the two soldiers looked slightly emaciated, but are both in good health.

The two soldiers immediately reported to their battalion, a component unit of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

Francia said the families of Calocop and Garay had issued a common statement thanking the crisis committee that secured their release.

The committee is comprised of local officials in Columbio and Sultan Kudarat Gov. Pax Mangudadatu.

“The two soldiers both said they were treated fairly while in captivity,” Francia told reporters.

The families of the two soldiers also thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for agreeing not to launch pursuit operations against the NPAs during their captivity in the jungle border of Sultan Kudarat and Davao del Sur provinces.

A look at the country's ongoing protests against the government of President Maduro and the current political situation.

President Maduro says the opposition is conspiring with foreigners to destabilise the country [Handout via REUTERS]

Venezuela's capital, Caracas, has seen almost daily demonstrations over the past weeks, some of which became violent.

Protesters say President Nicolas Maduro is moving towards tyranny, and they want him to resign.

Watch: Is it the end of socialism in Venezuela? (25:00)

But Maduro says the opposition is conspiring with foreigners to destabilise the country.

Venezuela's defence minister Padrino Lopez has declared the army's "unconditional loyalty" to Maduro, who ordered troops on to the streets before a major protest by opponents that will take place on Wednesday.

Here are four questions to understand Venezuela's current situation.

How did the protests start this year in Venezuela?

The instability and the political turmoil in the country reached a peak on March 30, when Venezuela's Supreme court ruled that it will take over the opposition-led Congress' legislative powers, in a move condemned by opposition parties as an attempt to install a dictatorship.

The court, said that as long as Congress remains in "contempt" of past court rulings "congressional functions will be exercised by this chamber or another chosen organ".

Security forces violently repressed protests that broke out the next day.

What led to Venezuela's 'coup'?

In January 2016, the Supreme Court suspended the elections of four legislators - three that were enrolled with the opposition and one with the ruling party - for alleged voting irregularities.

The opposition accused the court of trying to strip them of their super-majority, and went ahead and swore in three of the legislators in question.

In response, the Supreme Court ruled that the entire National Assembly was in contempt and all decisions it made would be null.

The deadlock continued, when electoral officials suspended a recall referendum against Maduro and postponed regional elections until 2017.

After the National Assembly refused to approve the country's state-run oil company PDVSA from forming joint ventures with private companies, the government went to the Supreme Court, which ruled that it will take over the opposition-led Congress' legislative powers.

WATCH - Venezuela: Life after Chavez [25:00]

What other problems does Venezuela have?

Venezuela is not facing only one crisis but many, all of which are connected and affecting the lives of ordinary citizens.

One of them is the economic crisis. Inflation is out of control and is expected to rise to 1,660 percent this year.

According to the International Monetary Fund, next year's projection is even higher as the government is running out of cash. There is no money left for imports such as food and medicine.

Many people in Venezuela cannot get access to food and are suffering from malnutrition on a widespread level.

Over the past year, 74 percent of Venezuelans lost an average of 8.7kg in weight and critics are blaming the government of Maduro.

However, the economic crisis is hitting Venezuela's public health system the hardest.

In the country's public hospitals, where treatment should be free, medicine, equipment and even food is increasingly not available.

On top of that, a political crisis in crippling the country.

Amid a three-year economic crisis and record levels of violent crime and poverty, Maduro's popularity has dipped to its lowest point of the last few years.

The opposition blames Maduro for an economic implosion that has seen severe food shortages, a health crisis, hyperinflation, violence and looting in a once-booming country that is home to the world's largest oil reserves.

He also has been accused of using authoritarian methods to stop dissent.

Venezuela's political opposition has been represented mainly by the Democratic Unity Roundtable, which is a group that's formed by different parties.

However, many distrust parts of the coalition, which includes figures who were active in politics decades ago.

The coalition has also been criticised for having struggles over power as well as disagreements over ideology and policy.

What are the latest developments?

Demonstrators in Venezuela have fought with security officers during protests calling for President Nicolas Maduro to step down.

Police fired tear gas to disperse crowds that had gathered in the capital, Caracas.

Although the court quickly reversed its decision, street protests have continued.

Venezuelan authorities have banned top opposition leader Henrique Capriles from running for office for 15 years, the latest move in an increasingly tense power struggle.

Capriles, 44, has been the most prominent leader of Venezuela's opposition over the past decade, twice coming close to winning the presidency.

Venezuela's defence minister has declared the army's "unconditional loyalty" to Maduro, who ordered troops on to the streets before a major protest by opponents.

Maduro has ordered the army to march on April 17 in "defence of morality" and "in repudiation of the traitors of the country", a demonstration of force that will take place on the eve of the "great march" called by the opposition in Caracas.

Captain Juan Escalona and new presidential commissioner, said on Twitter:

Translation: People be aware! President @NicolasMaduro is denouncing, to the country and the world, the coup plans that the right has launched in Venezuela!

Capriles has also called on people to go out

Translation:Tomorrow (Wednesday) we will make the voice of Venezuelans feel abroad! World Protest against 'Dictaduro' and its 'self-coup'

WATCH: How close is Venezuela to the brink of total collapse? (25:00)

Source: Al Jazeera News

Members of Modi's governing BJP face criminal conspiracy charges over the 1992 destruction of Babri mosque.

The 1992 mosque demolition remains a source of communal discord [File: Douglas E.Curran/AFP]

India's Supreme Court has ordered that the co-founder of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, LK Advani, and other leaders be tried for criminal conspiracy in the demolition of a 16th century mosque about 25 years ago.

The Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, was pulled down by Hindu activists on December 6, 1992, leading to widespread riots in which more than 2,000 people died.

Advani, 89, along with Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, has previously been charged with making inflammatory speeches which incited the activists to demolish the structure.

The Supreme Court's ruling on Wednesday came after a lower court dropped the charges brought against them by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), kicking off a series of appeals and counter-appeals.

"We have allowed the CBI appeal against the Allahabad High Court judgement with certain directions," the Press Trust of India news agency quoted the Supreme Court judges as saying.

The court ruled that the leaders will face the more serious charge of conspiracy and be tried by a special court in Lucknow city dealing with the actual demolition of the mosque, Zafaryab Jilani, a lawyer for the petitioner, said on Wednesday.

"The judges set aside previous court orders that dropped conspiracy charges against these leaders. It accepted appeals by the prosecution and on our behalf to revive the charges," Jilani said.

Daily hearings ordered

While combining the trials, the Supreme Court ordered daily hearings to ensure the verdict is delivered in two years' time.

"There are many witnesses in the case. We hope the guilty are punished," Jilani, also the convenor of the Babri Masjid Action Committee, said.

The Supreme Court ruled that a fourth senior BJP politician, Kalyan Singh, who was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh at the time of the incident, should face criminal conspiracy charges.

Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh has been a flashpoint for religious tensions [Cathal McNaughton/Reuters]

His trial, however, will be delayed until his stint as governor of Rajasthan state is over because the position gives him immunity from prosecution.

The site where the Babri mosque was demolished has remained a flashpoint of religious tensions for decades.

Some Hindus say a temple to their god Ram predated the mosque and want to build a temple at the site, while Muslim groups want a new mosque.

Some in the BJP, which recently won elections in Uttar Pradesh, want to build a temple to Ram on the ruins of the razed Babri mosque - an idea that horrifies the state's significant Muslim minority.

Presidential prospects

Indian new media reports said the charges would ruin the chances of Advani, a former prime minister, of becoming India's next president when the role becomes vacant later this year.

He was present on the day of the demolition. The ensuing nationwide riots and deaths came to define his political career.

However, in a later interview with the BBC, he said the incident had hurt him "tremendously" and should never have happened.

With the ruling, Advani has suffered a blow to his chances of becoming president [Reuters]

There was no immediate reaction from the BJP, to which Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, belongs.

However, the opposition Congress party said the BJP had "tried every trick in the book" to ensure that Advani, Bharti and Joshi did not face charges.

"What they [Supreme Court judges] have said today means there's clinching evidence that needs to be now argued out in the court," said Sanjay Jha, a Congress spokesperson.

The mosque demolition case has been languishing in India's sluggish legal system for almost 25 years.

Source: AP news agency