Environment Secretary Gina Lopez hopes to put the image of
the military and the police on a more positive light with their new role as
"protectors of the environment."
Lopez said the country's security forces play a crucial role
in the newly created anti-environmental crime task force led by the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which will go after environmental
offenders and ensure strict implementation of environmental laws and
regulations.
The DENR recently signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA)
with other key government agencies, including the Armed Forces of the Philippines
Lopez said their new role in environmental protection will
help erase the bad image of soldiers and policemen as bodyguards of influential
politicians and businessmen and make them guardians of the nation's wealth and
the environment.
"The [military and the police] were being used as
bodyguards for big business interests. I want to shift that and work together
with them, to work with the farmers, to work with the indigenous people,
because my experience with the military has been only very good and we need to
shape that," Lopez said.
Lopez said she views the military and the police as partners
in development. "I think of we do that and we all work together with the
civil society, I don't see why we can't make a difference."
Other parties to the MOA are the Department of National
Defense, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Department of
Transportation, and the Philippine Coast Guard.
The task force aims to respond to the clamor for social
justice, especially among the indigenous peoples who complain about land
grabbing and the negative impacts of mining and illegal logging to the
environment and their livelihoods.
Lopez expressed high optimism and expectation that the task
force will succeed in its mission. "I am counting on three things from you
-- will, heart and integrity," Lopez told the members of the task force.
"Yes, we will make things happen. In the immediate
future we will see a much, much better Philippines because enforcing is really
number one and let’s make it good," she added.
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