Satire maybe, soap opera most definitely , but my understanding...

Satire maybe, soap opera most definitely , but my understanding is, that even El Presidente doesn't have the power to over rule legal processes. All those miners that continued, some of which are owned by a number of the mega rich & powerful Philippine families, lodged appeals under the mining appropriate legislation.
On the other hand he could have renewed Lopez's temporary appointment even though that's not the custom .... perhaps a Phillipines based mining executive may know ? I'll make some further enquiries.