Open-Pit Mining Destroyed Village in Zambales
It was as if a giant
used a shovel to gouge the face of the mountain in Barangay Buhawen, San
Marcelino, Zambales. Below the towering rocky façade, reddish-black liquid
formed a pool of poison. This is the legacy of open pit mining 15 years
ago. And now mining companies are about to come back with the signing of a
new memorandum of agreement in line with the Arroyo government’s
aggressive promotion of investments in mining operations.
BY ABNER BOLOS
Gitnang Luzon News Service
Posted by Bulatlat
San Marcelino,
ZAMBALES — It was as if a giant used a shovel to gouge the face of the
mountain in Barangay Buhawen, San Marcelino, Zambales. Below the towering
rocky façade, reddish-black liquid formed a pool of poison.
It has been 15 years
since the Benguet Mining Corporation ceased open pit mining operations in
this village, but its legacy of destruction remains.
Apo Kutis, 63, a
full-bloodied Aeta recalls that this was once a lush hunting ground with
its streams teeming with fish and where his family grew rice, root crops
and vegetables. In 1965, he was asked to vacate his “gasak” (farm)
to make way for the mining exploration.
Unlettered and
helpless, he reluctantly obliged. He moved his family near the village
center and cleared another portion of the mountain to farm. Sometime in
1980, bulldozers arrived in his farm and began tearing away his plots of
sweet potatoes and vegetables.
This time, he could
not contain his rage. “Hinabol nya ng itak yung nagbu-bulldozer,”
(He chased the bulldozer operator with a long knife) his son, Romy Pulagay,
42, told GLNS.
“Noon lamang nila
ako kinausap ng mabuti at pinangakuan ng trabaho pati para sa aking mga
anak,” (It was only then that
they talked to me properly and promised jobs for me and my children.) Apo
Kutis recounted. He left his gasak for the second time and settled
higher up the mountain.
The mine is popularly
known here as Dizon Mines, named after the powerful family who actually
managed the open-pit mining concession.
Leveled and
poisoned
Residents estimate
that at least 500 has. of the mountain was leveled by the mining company
in three sitios (sub-village) of Buhawen—Naban, Tikis and Sayasay. What
was left is a hellish landscape of rock and desert. Chemicals used to
extract gold, silver, copper and chromite have poisoned all nearby rivers
and water sources.
Before the Mt.
Pinatubo eruption of 1991, the company constructed a huge dike separating
the mining site and the village center. But not to protect the village,
residents say.
“Yung tubig mula
sa mina, kahit may lason na ay mayroon pa ring ginto, kaya naiipon ito sa
gilid ng dam para makuha pa rin ng kumpanya,” (Run-off water from the
mine even if already contaminated, contains traces of gold that settles at
the dam’s edge and which the company intends to collect later.) Peping
Pulagay, 40, the village chieftain told GLNS.
“Lawa”
Lahar from the
Pinatubo eruption covered the Kakilingan River and submerged the village
center of Buhawen and portions of the adjoining villages of Aglao, Pili
and San Clemente.
A lake covering some
1,000 hectares now stands in what used to be a prosperous farming
community. A lone church spire protrudes above the water. The dike
separates the mining site from the lake. The company stopped full-scale
operation after the Pinatubo eruption but maintained a skeletal force from
its peak of 2,000 workers, residents say.
“Ang
lawa ay nalason din dahil tumatagas dyan ang tubig mula sa mina.
Hindi naiinom kahit ng mga hayop ang tubig,”
(The lake was also poisoned because water from the mining site seeps into
it. Even animals do not drink from the lake.) Peping said.
He recalled an
incident when three people died when the drums that the company used as
posts for a makeshift bridge leaked and contaminated the lake.
“Puting likido na lason pala
ang laman ng mga drum.
Namatay sa lason yung tatlong sumisid sa tubig,”
(The drums contained a white poisonous liquid. The three people who dove
in the water died of the poison.) Peping said.
“Mula noon, lalo
nang nalason ang lawa,” (The
lake was all the more poisoned since then.) he said.
Against mining
Apu Kutis said that
if he had his way, no mining company will operate in land that they regard
as their own or part of their ancestral domain.
“Walang
ibinigay na mabuti sa amin ang mina. Sinira nila ang aming kabundukan.
Hindi nila tinupad ang kanilang mga
pangako,” (We did not benefit
from the mine. They destroyed our mountain. They did not fulfill their
promises) he said.
He said he was able
to work in the mine as a water tender but none of his six children was
given a job as promised by the company.
The Aeta’s worst fear
is that mining operations will resume. Peping said that last September,
village elders were called to a meeting by local government officials and
company representatives and told that the company plans to resume
operations.
“Kailangan naming magkaisa at tutulan ang plano nila.
Wala nang matitira sa amin kung sisirain
pa ang kabundukan,” (We need to
unite and oppose the plan. Nothing will be left to us if they will
continue to destroy the mountain and forests.), Peping said.
Christmas
gift-giving
Last December 16,
some 300 Aeta families in Barangay Camias, Porac, Pampanga gathered at the
multi-purpose hall built on a hill to welcome Christmas gift-giving and
medical mission organized by the Kalipunan ng mga Katutubong Mamamayan ng
Pilipinas (KAMP or Association of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines)
and the Central Luzon Aeta Association (CLAA).
Faculty and students
of Sienna College and the University of the Philippines brought relief
goods and Christmas gifts for the Aeta children and their families.
But behind the happy
faces are stories that forebode the tragedy wrought by the mining firm in
Zambales.
Benny Capuno, 37, a
protestant pastor and village resident told GLNS that two mining companies
also owned by the Dizon family intends to operate open pit mining covering
some 1,118.5 has. in Porac and Floridablanca, Pampanga.
Pisumpan
The first one called
Pisumpan Mining by residents will cover 405 has. in Sitios Lilip, Tapi and
Kuyukot in Barangay Camias, Porac at the foot of Mt. Negron.
The second one covers
713.5 has., lying between Barangays Sapang Uwak and Inararo, Floridablanca,
according to Capuno.
Capuno said that
aside from the total environmental damage on the mining sites, two major
river systems in Pampanga—the Porac-Gumain River and the Mancatian
River—will be polluted once the mines operate.
Rosendo Irubin, 47,
an Aeta resident said drilling explorations have started since the late
1970s covering the Pisumpan area. He said that red dust that came from
exploration sites seeped into the streams and killed the fishes.
Resistance
Capuno said affected
Aeta communities have voted last year to oppose the mining operations but
a series of events appears to favor the mine proponents.
His brother and
former village chairperson, Bienvenido Capuno was gunned down allegedly by
soldiers on Sept. 16, 2005. The slain village official led in the protests
against the mining company.
“Yung
pumalit sa kanya ay baka natakot na.
Hindi na siya tumitindig laban sa mina,”
(The person who replaced my brother as village chairperson may have
succumbed to fear. He does not oppose the mine anymore.) Capuno said.
He said the current
village head has signed a memorandum of agreement with local government
officials approving the mining operations in Barangay Camias.
“Kailangan namin
muling magsalita at ipahayag ang aming pagtutol kahit na may pinirmahan ng
MOA,” (We need to speak out
again and voice our opposition even if a MOA has already been signed.)
Mining Act.
Nelson Mallari, CLAA
chairperson told GLNS that mining companies are rushing to open pit mining
concessions with the passage of the Mining Act of 1995 and the Supreme
Court’s decision that removed all legal obstacles for unabated mining in
the country.
He assailed the
government’s “total disregard” of the rights of indigenous peoples who
will be displaced by the mining operations.
“Patuloy nilang
kinakamkam ang mga lupaing ninuno. Ginagamit ang mga militar at mga
ahensya ng gobyerno tulad ng NCIP upang pwersahang ipatupad ang pagmimina
sa bundok,” (They continue to land grab our ancestral domain. The
military and government agencies such as the NCIP (National Commission for
the Indigenous Peoples) are being used to forcible implement mining
operations), Mallari said. Gitnang Luzon News Service/posted by
Bulatlat
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