CONSUMMATUM EST

CONSUMMATUM EST,  it is finished.

Under existing rules, the Commission on Appointments (CA) is tasked to review, scrutinize and uphold the principle of checks and balances to be able to select a nominee  based on credentials and fitness to perform the job as a cabinet member. Nowhere in the requirement would we read that a candidate who wants to get herself appointed for the job as Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary,  must rub elbows with the high and mighty of the business sector, especially those who have vested interest in the mining industry. Having said so, this unwritten qualification requirement plays significantly in the recently concluded charade at the CA.

Knowing the passion and love of Gina Lopez for the environment, let's call a spade a spade.

When she  was designated to handle the mantle of power at the DENR, one could easily foresee that getting the support of the CA is like passing through the eye of the needle. The politicians, the ones who won the elections via mining money and patronage, are the ones sitting in the CA  and  moving heaven and earth to block her appointment.

It's unfortunate. It's sad. Those who blocked her appointment,  represented  the modern day Judas Iscariot. In exchange for the lobby money amounting to millions of pesos, they blindly sealed the fate of the future generations of this country  to see the natural resources and  environment at its best.