This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 10, April 9-15, 2006
Mining Disaster Looms in
Sipalay City
Sipalay City faces another mining disaster with the operation of Colet Mines,
says an Environmental Investigation Mission.
BY KARL G.
OMBION Bacolod City – Sipalay City
is facing a repeat of of the mining disasters in the 80s and 90s, when a mining
company starts its full-blast operations this year. Mining engineer Efren
Fabila warned that the operations of the Colet Mines might cause havoc
comparable to those caused by the Maricalum Mining and Philex Gold Mines in the
past two decades. Fabila headed the three-day
Environmental Investigation Mission that surveyed Sitio Dung-I, Brgy Manlocahoc,
Sipalay City on April 5 to 7. Sipalay City is 155 kms. south of Negros
Occidental. Sitio Dung-i is in the
heart of the Colet Mines operations, which has an approved Mineral Production
Sharing Agreement (MPSA) covering 2,965.1041 hectares. The three-day environmental
investigative mission was conducted by Defend Patrimony, a broad alliance of
environmental activists that include the Negros Concern for Environmental
Protection, Paghidaet sa Kauswagan Development Group, Builder Inc.,
Iglesia Filipina Independiente, Mapisan farmers Federation, Binhi foundation,
National Federation of Sugar Workers, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, and
partylist Bayan Muna. Diverse flora and fauna Sitio Dung-i is a farming
community with 537 households. It has an estimated 97-hectare rice fields with a
year round supply of water. It has five cropping seasons within a two-year
period. The area has 15 creeks and
three river systems which drains into Sipalay River. Three natural springs are
also located inside the sitio and serves as the only source of potable water for
the community. The area has 80 hectares of
forest cover supporting a diverse flora and fauna, such as bakatin, or
the local term for wild pig. Also found in the area are
endangered species such as the Red Spotted Deer and globally-threatened bird
species such as the Philippine Cockatoo, Blue-naped Parrot, Tarictic Hornbill
and the Green-faced Parrot finch. The creeks and rivers are
home to fishes and other freshwater aquatic resources such as banag, awis,
busog, haluan, sili, tilapia, uyagbang and ulang. Destruction looms “With the entry of Colet
Mines, local folks have no other recourse but to gear for a renewed struggle in
defense of their land resources and the environment,” Fabila warned. He said, “The
socio-economic and cultural impact of the opening of Colet Mines far outweighs
the purported economic gains that may be achieved from the mining operations.” Fabila said that their
mission found out that the deposition area of the planned open pit mine of Colet
poses a frightening scenario. “Though Colet Mines is
still at the final stage of its exploration, the head waters of Montoboy and
Caiwanan creeks that join the Sipalay River, register an extremely high level of
acidity of 3.2 PH, far from the normal 7 PH. These creeks are almost dead,
unhospitable to living creatures,” Fabila revealed. “The waters of the creeks
is reddish and coconut trees are dying along the banks of the creeks. A hectare
of rice land was already covered by siltation from exploration drilling sites, ”
he added. Fabila also said that once
Colet Mines operate full blast at Lepanto mountain, Montoboy and Caiwanan creeks
and the head waters of Sipalay River will be covered by mine waste. All of the
farms downstream will also be heavily silted. Toxic affluents of mining
operations will pollute the whole Sipalay River system. He said the fertile rice
lands of Sitio Dung-i where the mine tailings dam will be constructed is capable
of producing 9,500 cavans per cropping or 23,750 cavans per year. The pollution of the
Sipalay River System will adversely affect the rich marine ecology of Sipalay
coastlines, Fabila said. It would in turn have a negative impact on the tourism
industry of the city which recently won the top “Hiyas ng Tourism Best Diving
Site” award. “It is ironic that while
Mayor Oscar Montilla promotes tourism, he also allows the pollution and
destruction of its rivers and coastlines with toxic mining effluents,” Fabila
added. Militarized area During the mission, the
local residents reported that they are constantly harassed by military troops,
their paramilitia and local assets. Soldiers belonging to the
Army’s 12th Infantry Batallion reportedly told the people not to
support groups outside their community. They added that before the mission came,
they were warned not to cooperate because they will only be used for their
money-making and propaganda against the government.” Greg Ratin, Secretary
General of the DEFEND PATRIMONY who led the investigative mission said that they
were harassed by military intelligence operatives and their assets posing as
“vendors selling VCD players and stereo radios.” Alternative people’s
mineral policy Trixie Concepcion, a
geologist from Defend Patrimony national office, clarified that they are not
against mining, but stand for a mineral policy that is part of a national
industrialization plan. “We cannot just allow a
king of mining policy that allows mining companies especially multinational
companies to search, open, rake our minerals, destroy environment and
communities, and leave the country with their super profits,” she said. She said that the
government’s mineral policy should be selective, responsive to the needs of
national industrialization, protective of natural resources and the people.
“Such policy must be
comprehensively and carefully planned by the government and all the stake
holders,” she added. “What we have now is a
destructive policy, favoring only foreign interests,” she stressed. Cha-cha to worsen
plunder in the Philippines The team also chided
government statements that Cha-Cha will protect the country’s national economy
and patrimony from plunder. “Cha-cha will not improve
the mining policy in the country, but will only worsen it. The advocates of
cha-cha want to completely remove the remaining constitutional obstacles to the
sell-out of our resources to foreign interests,” said Peter Benayres, a forester
and former researcher of DENR-Environmental Research Bureau. Benayres said: “We must
muster a stronger and broader forces, and wage sustained advocacy not only to
frustrate the cha-cha scheme of the government, but also protect our resources
from all forms of exploitation and plunder.” Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
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