The government wants to finish auditing at least 25 out of 800 existing environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) within this year as it remains committed to get rid of companies who have spawned negative impact on the environment.

And instead of this month, the audit will likely start in December.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary for Legal Ipat Luna said the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) is tasked to come up with a list of 25 companies that should be audited first ahead of others.

“EMB will come up with the list of priority companies to be audited then we will proceed. We aim to finish that batch within the year. As of now, there are 800 ECCs and 500 active ones. We can’t audit all those this year,” Luna told Business Bulletin.

“The audit will be continuous until next year but if it turns out that we have to audit more than 25 this year, we will do it,” she added.

Withdrawal of the ECC will prevent any company to continue its operations or its certain projects.

Luna said the agency is already finished ing the set of guidelines that will set the direction for the ECC audit and will soon have a consultation with all the parties concerned, including the businesses.

“We dont want the companies to feel that everything is up in the air. They should feel secure,” she said. “We will publish it after the consultation.”

To recall, businesses holding environmental permits from the DENR said they don’t want to suffer the same “chaotic” fate as miners when the agency started a crackdown on the mining industry.

Some of the sectors that will be affected are property, manufacturing, infrastructure, construction, and power.

“There should be consultation first before implementing the audit,”  Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president George Barcelon told Business Bulletin. “Otherwise it would be chaotic like what happened to the mining industry.”

PCCI is currently the largest and most influential business organization in the country.

Makati Business Club executive director Peter Perfecto has the same appeal to the DENR.

“My call and appeal to the DENR is for constructive dialogue and consultation with the business sector so that we can hopefully agree on a mutually acceptable evaluation process so that we then are able to help each other achieve our shared goals towards a better Philippines,” he said in a text message.

During the audit, the DENR will not just check the companies’ compliance with the law and ECC conditions but also the overall impact of their operations to the environment through “Environmental Impact Assessment.”

“We will look at companies whether they have caused irreparable damages to environment or whether there are a lot of complaint on their operations. We will look at their compliance with the conditions of the ECC. We will be suspending with existing violations,” Luna said. 

• [Editor:Licaixia]