In less than 10 months, Regina Lopez ordered the closure of more than half the mines in the Philippines, cancelled dozens of contracts for future projects and banned open-pit mining. | Bangkok Post: n
On Wednesday, lawmakers rejected Mrs Lopez's appointment as environment minister. 'POLITICAL SURVIVAL'Popularly known as Gina, Mrs Lopez is the daughter of Eugenio Lopez Jr., the former head of media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp . "If political survival entails my falling short of my principles, it is not worth it,"Mrs Lopez told Reuters in February. Last month, she said Mr Duterte had given her the go-ahead to work with communist rebel fighters to help rehabilitate and develop the country's mining areas. The left-wing group Bayan said Mrs Lopez's ouster was a victory for "mining oligarchs".
Source: Bangkok Post May 03, 2017 10:18 UTC
