MANILA, Philippines — Sens. Raffy Tulfo and Cynthia Villar butted heads over the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), with Tulfo questioning the agency’s transparency regarding mining activities.

During the Senate’s plenary sessions for the budget, which stretched into the early hours of Tuesday, November 19, Tulfo questioned why the DENR issued a circular stating that certain mining information, particularly applications for Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC), was exempt from the Freedom of Information (FOI) order.

“Exempted sa Freedom of Information Act 'yung 'pag provide ng mga miners, mining companies, ng mga data, information, about the kind of minerals na kanilang minimina, anong klaseng grade,” Tulfo said. 

(Exempted from the Freedom of Information Act are the data, information of miners, mining companies about the kind of minerals that they mine, what kind of grade.) 

Tulfo said that non-government organizations have tried to get the information but they have been denied. 

Villar, the DENR’s budget sponsor, cited the Data Privacy Act, explaining that the information often pertains to applicants' businesses, which may involve trade secrets they prefer not to disclose.

She added that while information from the ECC is not accessible through the FOI, it is eventually made available during public hearings.

Despite this, Tulfo questioned why there were hurdles to such information. 

“Kung 'yun ang pag-aari ng state, estado, may karapatan ang lahat ng Pilipino na malaman, magkaroon ng impormasyon tungkol sa mga bagay-bagay na kung saan, ay may nakikinabang diyan, o may nag explore diyan, o may mga humukay diyan para pagkakitaan,” Tulfo said. 

(If the state owns something, every Filipino has the right to have information about such things. If someone is utilizing it, if someone is exploring it, or if someone is profiting from it.) 

During Tulfo’s interpellation, he displayed a group photo showing DENR Secretary Maria Yulo-Loyzaga with several quarriers, including Angeli Lee and Estelle Maria Rebancos. Lee is the owner of Quarry Rock Inc. and Rapid City Corp., while Rebancos is associated with the Montalban Aggregates Producers Association.

In 2023, the DENR canceled the permits of Quarry Rock Inc. and Rapid City Corp. 

his cancellation prompted Tulfo to question why they were pictured together with Loyzaga. The three were photographed in Rizal during the October 2023 launch of the Transdisciplinary Approach for Resilience and Environmental Sustainability through Multi-stakeholder Engagement (Transform).

Tulfo questioned why quarriers were invited to the Transform launch instead of representatives from the Masungi Georeserve or indigenous communities.

Masungi was included in last night’s discussion because Rapid City Corp. and Quarry Rock Inc. have interests in operating within or around the georeserve. 

The DENR is seeking to cancel its 2017 agreement with Masungi, as the latter supposedly violated its terms by operating a supposed resort. 

Villar said that they were the guests of the local governor, and it was out of the DENR’s control. She added that, as politicians, it is inevitable to take photos with guests of such events.

The agency also insisted that Masungi was invited. 

This angered Tulfo, who challenged Villar and other DENR officials to undergo a lie detector test.

“Kung gusto niyo magpa-lie detector test, polygraph test para magkaalaman sino ang sinungaling,” Tulfo said. 

(If you want, let us have a lie detector testtongits kingdom, a polygraph test, so we know who is lying.) 

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