While the men were often at work, the women of Runruno shared the responsibilities of uniting against the mining company. ”Kapag sabay-sabay na nagbarikada ang mga magasawa, hindi kakain ang pamilya. Ang kababaihan ang umaattend ng mga trainings at seminar ng NGO hinggil sa pagmimina. Medyo tumapang ang aming kalooban na igiit ang aming mga karapatan,” (If both husband and wife join the picket, the family will not be able to eat. It is the women who attend the trainings and seminars of NGOs regarding mining. Thus, our resolve became stronger.) Guillao says.
Later on, it was Runruno’s women residents who literally ”manned” the frontline when they staged a barricade to block MTL’s exploration equipment from reaching the drilling site.
Around 28 women led the barricade, flanked by male Runruno residents, Guillao recalls. They were dispersed by MTL’s bulldozer, employees (many of whom where relatives and even family members of those in the barricade), and even armed men in fatigue uniforms.
Displaced by mining
The women of Kasibu have all reason to be wary of the mining operations threatening their communities. Many of them have been historically displaced from other mining-affected communities in Northern Philippines, settling in Nueva Vizcaya after in search of better pastures.
Benito Cudyam, a leader of the Bugkalot tribe in Barangay Paquet, first learned about the negative impacts of large-scale mining from his wife, who hails from the Ibaloi tribe from the Atok mines in Benguet.
”Namamasyal ako sa Benguet at nakita ko ang epekto ng mining dito,” Cudyam said. (I visited Benguet and I saw the effects of mining there).
In Barangay Pa’O, where the Cudyams live, only 30 out of 224 households are from the region’s original Bugkalot tribes. The rest of Pa’Os population are mostly Ibalois who came from other mining-affected areas in Benguet, such as Ambuklao.
The nearby barangay of Kakidugen is populated by Ifugaos who were also displaced from their lands and sources of irrigation by mining operations from the 1960s to 1980s.
Similarly, most of Runruno’s residents, including the Guillaos, are settlers displaced by mining operations from Itogon in Benguet. In 1958, many Ilongot, Kalanguya, Kankaney and Ilocano families evicted by Americans from Itogon’s mines to Runruno in search of gold. Runruno’s residents now live on agriculture and small-scale mining.
The entry of large-scale mining, however, threatens this way of life.
“Ang small-scale mining ay okay lang dito. Malaki ang sinisira ng large-scale mining: isang taon lang, wala na ang bundok,” Guillao says. (Small-scale mining is okay here. The extent of destruction is worse in large-scale mining: in one year, a mountain can be gone).
Traumatized and Divided
Now that mining companies have caught up with them in Kasibu, the women have directly seen how mining is beginning to bring human rights violations, trauma and division in their respective communities.
During the community consultation with Defend Patrimony in Runruno, Guilao gestures to an elderly lady dressed in black, sitting quietly and sadly in a corner.
”Siya si Aling Mayang, ang pinakamatanda sa komunidad. Siyam ang anak. Sa palayan nakaburol ang kanyang asawa,” Guilao offers. (She is Aling Mayang, the oldest in our community. She has nine children. Her husband is buried in the rice fields).
Aling Mayang’s family migrated to Runruno from Kayapa a few decades back, driven away from their homeland by a mining project.
Aling Mayang, Guilao says, remains psychologically traumatized after being dispersed by her own grandson during the barricade and seeing the mining equipment near her home. Like other women residents, she joined the barricade but was forcibly carried away from the site by her grandson, a worker at MTL, while the barricade was being dispersed. When the equipment was carried into Runruno, Aling Mayang witnessed how the company dumped waste on a canal irrigating her crops.
”Tinapon ng MTL ang lupa sa kanal na katabi ng bahay niya. Iaanod iyon papunta sa sakahan niya na pinagtataniman nila ng luya at kamote. Nakikita niya ang mga equipment kaya nagsisigaw at umiiyak. Nag-hysterical siya at nawalan ng boses,” Guilao recalls. (MTL threw the excavated land in the canal beside her house. The water there flows into the field where she plants ginger and yams. She saw the equipment and strated screaming and crying. She went into hysterics and lost her voice).
Still traumatized, Aling Mayang can barely speak even up to now, Guilao says.
”Ang apo niya na bumuhat sa kanya, kinamumuhian na niya,” Guilao says. (She now despises her grandson who carried her away from the barricade).
Back in Barangay Papaya, residents such as Cumila are also beginning to feel the pressures of the mining rush on their families.
“We used to be peaceful here. Now, neighbors, father and sons, are quarelling because of mining. Fathers are anti-mining, their sons are for mining. It causes a great disturbance and trouble to families,” Cumila deplored.
“I’m the number one to oppose mining because it caused all our troubles,” Cumilo said.
Gearing up for the fight ahead
Despite the pressures from mining companies and from the national government, Dulnuan remains resolute in her commitment to protect Kasibu’s people and lands from large-scale foreign mining firms in her capacity as a local official. Along with other local officials such as Kasibu Mayor Romeo Tayaban, she continues to oppose Oxiana’s exploration bid alongside the active resistance of Kasibu’s ten barangays.
In Barangay Papaya, Carlita Cumila and her niece Prescilla Guilao strive to make their fellow residents aware of the threats posed by Oceana. Through consultations, meetings, and other awareness-building efforts, they hope to consolidate more support by the time Oceana decides to bring in its drilling equipment.
In Barangay Runruno, Josie Guillao and RULANAS continue to rally opposition to MTL’s continuing explorations. It won’t be easy because MTL has already set one foot into Runruno and other residents are contemplating on a possible sell-out, Guillao knows. But they find strength in the support of regional and national formations such as Defend Patrimony.
A mother of three children aged 11, 9, and 4, Guillao also strives to pass on her advocacy against large-scale mining to her eldest child.
”Minumulat ko na siya sa sitwasyon. Time will come na itong laban ay aabot sa pagbibinata niya,” Guilao said. (I let him know what the situation is. Time will come when this fight will extend up to his adolescent years)
For Oxiana, Oceana, and MTL, Nueva Vizcaya may be just another gold mine; a vast expanse of space where profit awaits. But for the women whose children were nourished from Nueva Vizcaya’s valleys and rivers, whose husbands lie in repose beneath its verdant soils, and whose very livelihoods depend on the land, the fight against large-scale mining is a fight for history, family, and life itself. (Bulatlat.com)
