DENR hailed for devolving power to grant ECCs

• Source: http://punto.com.ph/News/Article/27817/Volume-10-No-106/Headlines/DENR-hailed-for-devolving-power-to-grant-ECCs
• Monday, August 7, 2017

By Ding Cervantes

CLARK FREEPORT - The Environmental Practitioners’ Association (EPA) lauded here yesterday the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for devolving the power to grant environmental clearance certificates (ECC) to the regional directors of the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB).

In a joint statement, EPA president Leslie Baun of International Wiring Systems Phils. Corp (IWSPC) and Rogelio Magat, chief of the environment department of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) thanked Environment Sec. Roy Cimatu for issuing last month Administrative Order 2017-18 whose aim was to “expedite the issuances of ECC’s and solve backlogs nationwide.

Magat said “this action lifted the burden of project proponents whose applications for ECCs have remained pending for a long time now.”

“ECC applications of Clark Freeport Zone locators have been delayed by the required centralized processing of ECCs at the EMB head office in Quezon City since February 2017 even for non-environmentally critical projects,” he said.

Magat noted that before February 2017, only environmentally critical projects were required to secure ECC at the EMB head office, while other projects secured their ECCs only from regional offices or through on-line applications.

This, even as Baun debunked allegations that centralized processing of ECCs at EMB head office gave rise to alleged anomalies or corruption in the EMB regional offices.

Magat said the prompt issuance of DAO 2017-18 “clearly sends a message that the Duterte government is serious in promoting the ease of doing business in the country.”

Baun and Magat said the devolution of granting ECC’s have has boosted the morale of EPA’s 80-member companies from various industries in Metro Clark, Bataan, Subic, Bulacan and Metro Manila areas. “It will put on track and address the derailed developmental undertakings of companies which could have immediately started their positive contribution to the economy,” Magat said.

In a statement, EPA officers praised Cimatu “for his resolve to adhere to President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to fast track the issuance of government permits and licenses, which is indeed a major leap towards cutting the red tape in the bureaucracy and making the entire government more responsive to the needs of the people.”