Lopez decision, page-8

SOME INFO ON "GINA"
In less than 10 months, Regina Lopez ordered the closure of more than half the mines in the Philippines, cancelled dozens of contracts for future projects and banned open-pit mining.
Her radical reforms eventually proved too radical even for a country with a strong anti-mining lobby led by the influential Roman Catholic Church.

Lopez's reputation as a fiery environmental crusader was the main reason why President Rodrigo Duterte appointed her as secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on June 30 last year.
True to form, she launched a mining review the following week, eventually suspending 10 mines before the year was over and warning 20 more were at risk of being halted for environmental breaches.
She raised the stakes in February when she ordered the closure of 22 of the country's 41 mines. She followed it by cancelling 75 contracts for undeveloped mines and just last week banned open-pit mining, which she blames for causing extensive environmental damage.
the 63-year-old once told reporters.
Mining is a contentious issue after past examples of environmental mismanagement, including a 1996 tailings leak at Canadian-owned Marcopper Mining Corp's copper mine in Marinduque that contaminated rivers.... ETC..

'POLITICAL SURVIVAL' Gina Lopez is the daughter of Eugenio Lopez Jr., the former head of media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp ABS.PS . Her family is one of the Philippines' biggest business clans, with interests in property, power, manufacturing and construction.
At 18, she left a life of privilege behind in the Philippines, took a vow of celibacy and became a yoga teacher and missionary in Africa, living in slums among the poor.
She spent 11 years in Africa, during which time she married and had two children. But the marriage fell apart after eight years.