The "greening" of Atienza
A US president once said that his appointments always created one grateful wretch and a hundred enemies. It’s no surprise then that GMA’s appointments of Angelo Reyes to DoE and of Atienza to DENR have their critics and detractors. You just can’t please everybody but if you try to do so, you won’t please anyone, so the saying goes.But appointees also have their defenders. As in the case of Reyes, you have Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye Jr. attesting to his fitness for the job; they also included Atienza, who is also fortunate in having a defender in Mike Defensor, DENR secretary before he became GMA’s chief of staff.
To the objection of some greenies to Atienza’s fitness for the job, Defensor pointed out that the former’s record on the environment "speaks for itself."
When Atienza was vice mayor of Manila, he presided over the passage of Ordinance 7777, which protected Manila Bay by banning any form of reclamation between Pasay and Caloocan cities.
"This allowed the people free access to the bay to enjoy one of the world’s most beautiful sunsets," said Defensor. He also commended Mayor Atienza for the law removing the oil depot from Pandacan, a move that was challenged but upheld by the Supreme Court. With the dismantling of 28 tanks in the area, a green buffer zone separated the oil storage from the community.
Defensor also said that Atienza solved the garbage problem that hounded Manila for over five decades, a citation that Manilans are free to verify for themselves. Moreover, the also-ran senator (who by the way conceded early amidst the contretemps of the election count), connected Atienza’s pro-life advocacy to his "championship" of the environment.
Calling from the US, Atienza pledged his commitment to the President’s program by "upholding the strictest environmental regulatory standards, pushing for suitable and sustainable use of the country’s natural resources for the benefit of farmers, fishermen, and other marginalized groups."
That, after all, is what the law says. Atienza doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel; he just needs to push it.
