It is indeed both sad and disturbing to see firsthand how complaints against policies and government officials and companies and institutions are being responded to by the objects/targets of such criticism and it’s certainly far from being constructive.
The case of Sheila Eballe, who went into hiding after somehow managing to tell President Rodrigo Duterte to stop quarrying operations in the City of Naga in the aftermath of the Sept. 20 landslide that claimed more than 70 lives, illustrates this point.
It’s difficult to verify the extent of the threat against Eballe amid claims she and her family made about people monitoring her after she came forward and told the president upfront about her appeal for government to stop the quarrying in the City of Naga.
Unless Eballe’s family agrees to let the police investigate these threats they may not see an end to it but then those who may be behind it need not worry about how Eballe’s rant would impact on government policies on quarrying and mining.
Though Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu lifted the suspension against quarrying and mining in Central Visayas following the Naga tragedy and a similar landslide in Itogon town, Benguet province, the ban remains in effect in the City of Naga.
Whether or not Eballe’s emotional appeal had anything to do with that is speculative at this point even if she did manage to get the President’s attention during his visit to the evacuation center in Naga.
What’s more likely is that until the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) gives official confirmation that the quarrying didn’t cause the Sept. 20 landslide, the ban still stays.
But if the government’s decision to end the ban is any indication, quarrying will continue in the City of Naga albeit with stricter regulation from the agencies and the Naga City government.
Eballe may or may not expect the government as represented by President Duterte to heed her appeal but that didn’t stop her from speaking out against quarrying and hoping against hope that the President would listen.
As things stand, livelihood and economic considerations ring louder than any appeal to end quarrying and mining regardless of how much damage it wrought on the environment due to government’s failure to regulate the companies that profit from it.
And if Eballe’s case is anything to go by, those who stand to profit from the continued unabated, unregulated quarrying and mining operations won’t stand for any opposition no matter how few and disorganized for now it may be.