“This watershed gives us the cleanest water from the mountains. If this will be flooded by mining waste, it will destroy the area for agriculture. What will come to our people, especially our grandchildren?” she asks.
Precsilla D. Guilao, Cumila’s niece and current barangay treasurer, worries about Malabing Valley’s fluorishing citrus industry.
Guilao recalls that mining existed in Malabing Valley from 1975-79. But this was limited to small-scale mining operations such as blanket-type gold panning. In was in the early to mid-1980s when Malabing’s residents started experimenting with growing and cross-breeding citrus crops. By the mid-1990s, citrus varieties as well as other tropical fruits were being cultivated widely throughout the valley. Its annual production of citrus varieties has given Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya the monicker “Citrus Capital of the Philippines”.
“You can not put together agriculture and (large-scale) mining,” Guilao emphasizes.
Charmaine L. Cadoy-Dulnuan, a kagawad (councilor) in the local government of Kasibu, believes that Kasibu’s citrus and agriculture crops should be protected from large-scale mining.
“35 percent of Kasibu’s residents ay directly dependent sa pananim,” (directly dependent on crops and agriculture) she says. Malabing Valley, she notes, is now citrus dependent, while other villages rely on the production of rice, corn, and other vegetable crops.
“Pwede pa itong manahin,” (These can even be inherited.) she said of the agricultural farms.
Cumila and her niece fear that Barangay Papaya will face the same troubles confronting the town of Runruno. The initial exploration activities of MTL yielded already-observable effects on the people’s health and environment, says Josie I. Guillao, Secretary of the Runruno Landowners Association and a native of the Kankaney tribe.
“Ginagamit nila ang Liquipol sa drilling activities, na nahahalo sa mga tubig-sapa na ginagamit ng komunidad. Makati ito sa balat. Ang ahas na lumangoy dito, patay,” Guilao says. (They use Liquipol in their drilling activities, which mixes with the water in the streams used by the community. It’s itchy on the skin. Snakes which swim in the streams die.)
Runruno, which was also identified as a geohazard area, will also be vulnerable to landslides if exploration and operation activities continue along its steep slopes, Bautista says. These landslides could threaten the safety of the community living just at the foot of the mountain.
Women in the frontlines
The women in Kasibu have actively been opposing the large-scale mining projects in their respective villages.
As a local official, Dulnuan has twice opposed the attempts by Oxiana (then Climax-Arimco) to secure an endorsement from the local government in Kasibu. Despite facing pressure from the mining companies and the national government, she continues to stand against large-scale mining in Kasibu and believes that the Mining Act of 1995 should be scrapped.
”Naniniwala ako na ang tao sa lugar ang dapat mismong makinabang mula sa mining. Pero, dito (sa Kasibu), ibang bansa ang makikinabang,” Dulnuan said. (I believe that the people should be the ones to benefit from mining, But here in Kasibu, other countries will be the ones to benefit).
Dulnuan is unhappy over pressure from the Arroyo administration on local government units to accept policies on mining despite opposition from the communities involved. “The consequences (of mining), hindi ang national government ang tatanggap kundi ang tao,” (will be borne not by the national government but by the local people) she says.
“Ayon sa Local Government Code, prior to implementation ng isang proyekto ay dapat may consent mula sa LGU. Kami ang nakakaramdam ng hirap ng tao, hindi sila,” she asserts. (According to the local government code, there must be consent from the LGU prior to the implementation of a project. We are the ones who can feel the suffering of the people, not the national government)
In Runruno, women also take on an active role against mining.
“Ang kababaihan dito ay aktibo sa laban, lalo na noong panahon ng barikada,” Guilao said. (The women here are active in the fight against mining, especially during the time of the barricade).
