(Eagle News) — Newly appointed Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu promised to do his best “to protect the environment in all its forms,” but at the same time asked that he be given time to “scan and study the terrain.”
“I will try to do my best as President (Rodrigo) Duterte’s point man in the daunting task of protecting our environment in all its forms – from the mines to the lakes and rivers to the forests to the plains to our waters to our sewers, to the very air we breathe you name it – while promoting the wise and proper use of these God given resources for the public good. That is what I understand being a steward means,” Cimatu said in turnover ceremonies on Tuesday at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources main office.
Cimatu, who became the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff in 2002 after serving as a soldier for 30 years, said he was “wading in into a field far removed from soldiery.”
As such, he asked that he “be given time to scan and study the terrain in an agency which impacts considerably on our very life as a people and the future of our beloved Philippines.”
“Coming as it does right after the very heated confirmation debates involving Secretary Gina Lopez, a very passionate an ardent advocate of environmental protection and inclusive growth, makes my entry even more challenging,” he said.
He noted, however, that he nor President Duterte “(could) do this alone.”
He said they would “need all hands on deck.”
“…First, the men and women of the DENR from the senior officials at the Central Office to the rangers, foresters, geologists even janitors on the ground; then, the various clients of the agency, again from big business to the smallest tinderos and all households using the very resources we have to take care of in a proper and sustainable manner,” he said.
Teamwork
“Even our international partners who care as much as we do about the fate of this one and only planet that we live in will have to be engaged. We have to work together as a team. With teamwork, we can do, so much more in accomplishing the critical responsibilities we carry on our shoulders,” he added.
He said, for his part, he “intend(ed) to listen to all the voices out there and make full use of our powers and resources to ensure that these various concerns, some of which often times clash, will be properly and judiciously addressed.”
“For in the end we at the DENR will only be as effective as our various constituents will help us to be. So, ladies and gentlemen please help me learn the ropes and earn your respect. We are all in this together. Thank you,” Cimatu said.