by: Gina Lopez

regina_lopez@abs-cbn.com

It’s been a pretty intense week. The climax was the mining forum – sponsored by Financial Executives of the Philippines (FINEX), Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) and Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

While I welcomed being able to talk and share what I passionately believed in – it was a real challenge to talk before a largely unfriendly audience. I had presumed that there would be some individuals there who might perhaps share my passion for this country and the environment.

The entrance fee was Php1,500 so the people who could afford this was of course the business group. Nevertheless the texts, emails of encouragement and support I got from the multitude convinced me that I did the right thing.

What did set a reaction in me was when Gerry Brimo called me a liar – and an ignorant one at that. Hmmm. I really didn’t want to get into any kind of personal fight.

I may have overdone that effort by saying – “Gerry I love you – but the incidence of poverty in the area that you mine is double the national average (53%)”(Taken from the study of Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan, UP School of Economics, Quezon City, 2011).

It is not easy to criticize a person’s company in front of a crowd, show visuals of what his company is doing and the person is just in front of you. On second thought, maybe I should have just bitten the bullet and said what I know to be true – and if feelings were hurt – I really can’t please everyone.

Although I expected it – I did get ticked off when the issue of the gas leak was brought up again. So, for the record, I would like to state that my family is spending hundreds of millions of pesos and they have committed to address the situation in 3 to 5 years – and that is much more than what the mining companies have done with their hundreds of abandoned mine sites.

Is the raising of this issue already a sign of desperation? Why not stick to the issues?

Because there has been a flurry of communication and some of them not very clear, and even faulty – it is important that I make the main issues clear so here goes:

1. Biodiversity holds pre-eminent value. 

Biodiversity is the different flora and fauna that provide our people with fresh air, food, forest and water, and materials for medicine and agriculture – it is LIFE. In the universe of what is important – it holds pre-eminent value. Our country ranks No. 1 in endemicity per unit area – which means the flora and fauna found here cannot be found anywhere else in the world.

Given that our country is also the number one typhoon-hit country in the planet – it is disturbing that mining priority areas – are right on top of biodiversity areas, agricultural areas, water catchment areas.

Biodiversity areas are often also rich in mineral resources. Mining in these areas will damage our biodiversity irreversibly. Reforestation does not replicate an ecological system. No amount of planting trees will bring biodiversity back.

Our country and the world stand much more to gain by leaving these sites alone. The business community needs to understand that it is GOOD BUSINESS sense to keep our biodiversity alive. That an economic path which is just focused on money – is not to going to bring on the well being of our people.

2. Island Ecosystems. This is an interweave of different ecological systems: forests, mountains, coral reefs, mangroves, farmlands – all intertwined in a specific location – where rivers and streams lead into the sea. Any kind of mining in these islands whether they be large scale or small scale is grossly irresponsible – especially since our country is hit by typhoons every year!

3. Mining has a very poor track record in the country. The highest incidence of poverty is in the mining sector. The poorest areas in the country are mining areas : Samar, Surigao, Benguet, Zambaonga.

Even in mining areas where the municipality has upgraded to first class – the incidence of poverty remains high. (Taken from the study of Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan, UP School of Economics, Quezon City, 2011) In Caraga for instance, from 2007 to 2009, the GDP went up by 40 billion pesos – however the incidence of poverty went up from 46 to 49% attributed to mining. (Taken from the study of Maita Gomez, Transparency Issues in the Philippine Mining Industry).

We have hundreds of unrehabilitated mine sites. After decades of mining, we do not even have one rehabilitated mine site – so why are we continuing this path?

4. The national government earns very little from mining: 1.3% GDP and 0.36% employment. (MGB 2010 – 2011) There is a 5-year tax holiday – so operations are usually frontloaded during these years. We have no standard of evaluating what we are giving up.

For all the billions of dollars that is poured into the country from mining – how much is NET to the country after we subtract the cost of their activities? At the end of the day – if the communities around the mine site remain poor and at risk – why do we continue to do it?

5. Alternatives to mining

This was my “fight” with Manny Pangilinan. When he said that the sites where there is mining are largely mined because not much else can be done there anyway. I so very much disagree!

There have been and there are beautiful sites that are currently being mined – which should NEVER have been mined. For example there is mining on top of the rice granary of Palawan. Why was this EVER allowed? There is mining in protected areas.

The reality is, our beautiful, protected areas are RE-ZONED to allow for mining applications–which only makes more glaring to the government’s inability to ensure the common good.

6. Mining Threatens Food Security

That is a FACT. Because mining threatens water. We have documents and lab reports where mining operations have damaged farm lands, and fishery resources and the disadvanted continue to lack in compensation.

FARMLANDS DESTROYED. Mining site (by Marcventures Mining Development Corporation) near a river in Surigao del Sur. (Photo by Gina Lopez)

RIVER AT RISK. The mining policy cannot and must not allow operations like this because people suffer (Photo by Gina Lopez)

7. Mining threatens HEALTH

We have documented cases where children and adults have suffered due to the mine sites. In Palawan, there are already documented evidences of rivers containing carcinogenic substances. Friends of the Earth Japan; Environmental Legal Assistance Center Inc. (ELAC), Palawan NGO Network Inc. (PNNI) and Department of Health conducted the abovementioned study. Friends of the Earth Japan stated excessive levels of hexavalent chromium in Togpon River near Bataraza, Palawan.

8. There is another way!

In Dipolog City – the sardines business provides jobs and income to 2,000 people from 14 barangays. This is all put to risk by APPROVED mining in Sergio Osmena – since the river that runs through Sergio Osmena is the same river that runs through Dipolog.

Last year the sales from the sardines reached Php78 Million. I have projects in Puerto Princesa where poor communites are now able to send their kids to college after only two years of ecotourism and where each family now earns up to Php15,000 a month.

The economy of Puerto Princesa is hitting the roof – without mining but through tourism and agriculture. Camarines Sur and Bohol are similar economic models that have gone tourism successfully.

Do we have any economic model of mining where the community AROUND is happy and healthy and the enviromment is beautiful and rehabilitated? As far as I know there is NONE. So why are we doing this?

We must remember we are not vast continents like Canada and Australia. We are 7,000 islands – with abundant natural resources and fragile ecosystems. We have to embark on our own economic programme which is pertinent to the resources that we have.

Yes, we are abundant in minerals. But if the extraction of these minerals will put at risk the well-being of our community and our foods security – then the intelligent choice must be made.

I am not saying ALL mining is bad. Yes, it has a role to play in our society. But the current mining situation in the Philippines cannot continue as it is. Our people are suffering. And that is a fact. That is the Truth.

We must be able to institute systems and structures to ensure the Common Good, which of course includes the people working at the mine site. Their needs, their families must also be provided – but they cannot continue to earn their keep at the expense of thousands of families around – and the generations of Filipinos to come.

Truth and the Common Good. If the government bases its policy on this we are good. It cannot and must not be based on the desire to make all parties happy. Our commitment to the people must be non- negotiable. It must hold sway over political or business interests.

Investments will continue to come in if institutions know that our government is steadfast on doing what is right by our people. It is impossible to please everyone. We need to act responsibly as stewards of God’s creation.

In areas where choices have to be made between extracting the minerals and our biodiversity, or our food supply, we must make the right choice.

I truly hope that the mining policy of this administration–which has pledged to hold people’s welfare above all else, and which has pledged to be unrelenting against corruption–will be manifestative of the spirit on which this administration is based.

By Franklin A. Caliguid
Inquirer Mindanao

Environmental raps baseless, says company

Inquirer Mindanao

9:06 pm | Sunday, February 5th, 2012

BUTUAN CITY—Four large-scale mining firms based in the Caraga region, including two of the country’s leading exporters of nickel ore, are being investigated for alleged violations of environmental and health hazard laws, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said.

MGB Director Leo Jasareno on Friday said the investigation was based on several complaints from environmentalist groups and local officials where the companies operate.

“The issues raised by environmental groups and local government units concerned were siltation, pollution, health hazards and nonpayment of extraction, business fees and taxes,” Jasareno told the Inquirer.

He identified the firms as Taganito Mining Corp. (TMC), Platinum Group Metals Corp. (PGMC) and Claver Mining Corp., all based in Claver, Surigao del Norte, and San Roque Metals Inc. (SRMI) in Tubay, Agusan del Norte.

Ryan Culima, spokesman of SRMI, said the order was baseless and was only meant to harass them.

TMC and PGMC are among the country’s leading exporters of nickel ore to Japan, China and Australia.

The firms’ mine sites were attacked by communist rebels last year in what a rebel leader called “revolutionary” punishment for causing massive environmental havoc and displacing indigenous communities.

Lapses

Jasareno said Friday’s aerial survey and actual ocular inspection of the mine sites showed “lapses” on the part of the firms’ compliance with environmental and health hazard laws.

“We found siltation along the coastal shores in Surigao del Norte and these are environmental lapses,” he said.

These environmental lapses, he said, which posed serious threats to the environment and health hazards to local communities were valid grounds for the closure of the firms.

“Still, notices to the companies will be sent and multipartite monitoring teams are going to the areas again for confirmation, and if they fail to reasonably explain, then it will be a valid ground to close down their operations,” he said.

Jasareno said there would be no sacred cows in its effort to cleanse Caraga mining industry and promote responsible and sustainable mining.

Dubbed the country’s new mining capital, Caraga reportedly holds half of Mindanao’s mineral deposits. It is touted to have $2 billion worth of gold deposits, and huge deposits of nickel and chromium ores.

Shelved applications

At least 14 mining firms are operating in various parts of Caraga, while 15 others are doing exploration operations.

“We fear no one. The MGB is just upholding its mandate otherwise nobody will believe us anymore,” Jasareno said.

To show that the agency is determined to allow only those firms that adhere to environmental laws and social responsibilities to operate, more than 74 unscrupulous mining applicants for large and medium-scale mining in the region had already been shelved.

Environmental activist Gina Lopez, who joined Jasareno and several other journalists in Friday’s inspection of the 1,300 hectares of mining area of SRMI in Tubay town, lamented that the mining operations had turned the town into an eyesore.

Lopez also raised before the firms’ officials their supposed failure to pay the town’s displaced communities amid a whopping P4-billion revenue they were generating.

Tubay Mayor Sadika Garcia-Tomaneng said the municipal government had long issued a closure order to SRMI for alleged failure to pay millions of pesos in extraction fees and taxes and violations of environmental laws, but that the firm had remained defiant.

“As far as SRMI is concerned, we committed no environmental lapses. We performed our social responsibilities and paid our dues. We are very transparent that’s why we welcome this inspection,” Culima said.—Franklin A. Caliguid

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) – On the heels of an international mining and environmental conference in Davao, environmentalists noted that the Davao del Sur mining declaration would seek a moratorium on mining operations until steps are taken to tighten conditions in the mining sector.

“The International Mining and Environmental Conference in Davao just ended last night. Basically, it proposed a moratorium on mining until all these conditions are tightened up,” said environmental scientist Dr. Robert Goodland on ANC’s “Dateline Philippines” on Saturday.

Goodland specializes in the impact of extractive industries on the environment, poverty and human rights, particularly in conflict zones.

“Make the Environment Department (DENR) into an environmental enforcement agency and let other departments deal with mining licenses, make everybody respect the laws that exist,” added conservation and development consultant Clive Montgomery Wicks.

Vulnerable to disasters

Given the country’s vulnerability to natural calamity, Goodland and Wicks said the Philippines is no place for large-scale mining. They said there is no such thing as responsible mining in the Philippines, more so amid the high risk of seismic activity.

“Wherever you’ve got steep slopes, high rainfall, risk of cyclones, that is not the place to put mining,” Goodland explained.

“If you add up all the things Dr. Goodland has said, plus seismic activity, then you create a massive dangerous situation,” added Wicks.

They noted that an area’s vulnerability to natural disasters could worsen with the presence of mines.

They cite the case of the Tampakan mine in South Cotabato, considered one of the world’s most dangerous, more so given its proximity to an active volcano.

“The Mount Matutum volcano, a registered active volcano is within 10 kilometers of where they want to put the mine, and you cannot mine within 10 kilometers of an active volcano. It’s ridiculous, irresponsible, and they want to put 2.7 billion tons of toxic rock with high potential for acid drainage, a high acid content on top of the mountain,” said Wicks.

“They’re going to build a hole 800 meters deep in an area where there are dormant volcanoes, faultlines. That’s going to fill up with toxic water, very dangerous. They’re going to build two dams, 2.1 kilometers long, 280 kilometers high. That’s going to have millions of tons of waste and toxic water behind it.”

In its ESIA report on the Tampakan Copper-Gold Mine Project, mining company SMI said: “… the TSF has been given an ‘Extreme’ consequence classification, during operation and closure, due to the high potential for loss of life and high environmental damage if failure occurs.”

“If that breaks… the engineers accepted, it could be dangerous. If you’re going to mine on top of a mountain or a volcano, next to a volcano and you’ve got faultlines running underneath, and given storms like what we’ve just seen (tropical storm Sendong), and you’ve got a 2.1 kilometer dam, which is 280 kilometers high. I asked them: how many people will be killed if your dam collapses and it goes down the river? They told me that’s an unethical question. I still say to SMI-Xstrata: answer the question,” Wicks said.

The dam is set to be built in the water catchment area just above the irrigation dam which provides water for the whole of Coronadal Valley and for the whole of Davao Del Sur, Sultan Kudarat and Saranggani.

Tampakan mine

Wicks and Goodland are both part of the Tampakan Forum, which was set up to deal with the threat of open mining by SMI-Xstrata in Tampakan, South Cotabato.

Goodland and Wicks said large-scale mining, not small-scale operations, are to blame for the environmental destruction.

“Let’s make a distinction between small scale mines which are done usually by the very poor because it’s a very difficult job, very dirty, arduous, they wouldn’t do it without any other alternative, so they do earn a living from that. But on the one hand, it’s not as damaging as these large scale mines like Tampakan.

“The Chamber of Mines of the Philippines always blames these small-scale miners…the small scale miners did not create this disaster, not bring down the mountains, did not destroy the island of Rapu-Rapu. You know you should leave these small islands alone.  You cannot mine them, you’ll ruin them and you’ll ruin your ability to have ecotourism,” Wicks said.

The issue of mining may need revisiting in light of Palawan’s declaration among the 7 New Wonders of Nature.

They noted that the mining debate has also taken added urgency, amid the spate of deaths involving environmental and human rights activists.

Wicks said 11 people working with the groups they work with have been killed in the last four years.

Fr. Fausto Tentorio was killed by a gunman in Mindanao last October 2011.  Wicks said he believed Tentorio was murdered because he protested against the mining activities.

Wicks pointed out that security in mines cannot stand the perennial test of security risks from militant groups. He said the World Bank recommended that no mining be done in conflict zones.

“Not only is this going to destroy the environment, it’s going to create massive poverty… more violence,” Wicks noted.

Mining or agriculture?

Given the clear and present danger mining activities pose to crops and communities, Goodland and Wicks said the Philippines must choose between mining and agriculture.

They co-authored the book “Philippines: Mining or Food”.

Goodland, who is a former senior enviromental adviser to the World Bank Group in Washington DC, added that investments into agriculture, such as aid donations from the World Bank would go to waste, if mining disrupted a farming area’s eco-system.

“There should be a balance between the two, but at the moment we’re nowhere near the balance. The Philippines used to export rice.  A couple of years ago when the price of rice spiked, the Philippines became the biggest importer of rice in the whole world. Now, is that sustainable? No it’s not. Philippine rice farmers are among the best in the whole world. You can either have mining or food.  Which does the Philippines want? Which is more sustainable? 15 years of mining or perpetuity of rice production?”

‘No efficient system’

Wicks admitted that there is no efficient system in approving mining licenses and making sure requirements are met.

“It’s an absolute mess. It’s being done in the DENR but the DENR is also responsible for selling licenses; it is supposed to be protecting the environment,” he said. “Who makes the decision on when you give a mining license? Is it a second-level official of the DENR or the Presidential committee? Aid agencies like the World Band invested a lot of money in irrigation schemes. If miners come in here and mess up this (system), all the money is wasted.”

reposted from: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com

Still a “No,” Cantilan tells MarcVentures Mining

By Carolyn O. Arguillas

SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews/03 August) – The local government of Cantilan in Surigao del Sur has denied for the second time a mining firm’s application for a business permit, claiming it has no legal basis for its application.

Cantilan Mayor Genito Guardo, in a letter to the lawyer of the Marcventures Mining Development Corporation (MMDC) said records at the Sanggunian Bayan show that MMDC “acquired its Certificate of Registration as a corporate entity with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 43 days after the original Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) holder, Ventura Timber Corporation (VTC) and MMDC signed the Deed of Assignment transferring mineral rights to MMDC. This puts MMDC’s right as an assignee under the cloak of fictitious representation from the very beginning.”

“Furthermore, records also show that Mr. Mario G. Vijungco was authorized by the MMDC Board of Directors to represent MMDC in the Deed of Assignment (DA) 13 years after the signing of the Deed of Assignment,” the mayor said.

Guardo said the transfer of mineral rights to MMDC was void ab initio, because VTC holds a cancelled MPSA.

MMDC has a nickel mining project in Cantilan and is a subsidiary of Marcventures Mineral Holdings (MARC otherwise known as AJO.net) whose stocks are actively traded at the Philippine Stock Exchange, a press statement from Baywatch said.

Emma Hotchkiss, Baywatch President told the 1^st Caraga Media Summit last Saturday that VTC entered into a Deed of Assignment with MMDC on December 7, 1994 but MMDC  was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1995.

Since the grant of their MPSAs, VTC and Carac-an Development Corporation (CDC) both owned by Vijungco, “grossly violated the conditions of the Memorandum and disregarded requirements stated in the conditions. VTC and CDC admitted that they did not have any mining activities in the area from 1995 until 2004, thus, abandoning the said mining areas.” Hotchkiss said.

On February 1, 2005, then Environment Secretary Michael Defensor issued Memorandum Order No. 2005-03 declaring both MPSAs as “abandoned/non-performing tenements” and therefore “cancelled” because there was “no record of actual mineral production; non-payment of fiscal obligations; non-submission of required reports; and non-filing of declaration of mining feasibility study in gross violation of the conditions of the grant of MPSA.”

On May 31, 2005, VTC filed a Motion for Reconsideration, while CDC filed its own on July 1, 2005.

On February 27, 2007, then Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes reinstated the MPSAs of VTC and CDC.

On March 23, 2009, then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Presidential Proclamation No. 1747 declaring the portions of the public domain of Alamio, Buyaan, Carac-an, Panikian Rivers and Sipangpang Falls, situated in the municipalities of Carrascal, Cantilan and Madrid, Province of Surigao del Sur and in the municipalities of Jabonga, Santiago, and Cabadbaran, Province of Agusan del Norte, as watershed forest reserves.”

The area comprising 43,601 hectares was declared as critical watershed forest reserves subject to prior rights and without prejudice to the rights of the indigenous peoples and other related rules and regulations.

P1747, however, stipulates that  “Any valid contract, permit or license for the extraction or utilization of natural resources already existing prior to the Proclamation shall, subject to national interest and to existing laws, rules and regulations, be respected until their termination.”

“This clause continues to concern the pro-environment groups since the DENR continues to allow the mining company to continue its operations despite the numerous resolutions issued by the Protected Area Management Board to (then) Environment Secretary Lito Atienza to issue a cease and desist order to MMDC pending delineation of the watershed area,”  Hotchkiss noted.

MMDC lawyer Noel Libres, who had sought the mayor’s reconsideration, explained that  the local government unit’s ordinances and resolutions against mining are contrary to the Philippine Mining Act. He also cited Section 17, of RA 7160  (Local Government Code of 1991) which  provides that the “enforcement of forestry laws, pollution control law, small scale mining law, and other laws on the protection of the environment, shall be pursuant to national policies and subject to the supervision, control and review of the DENR.”

But Mayor Guardo, who ran on an anti-mining platform, said the LGU has the ultimate mandate over the approval of the proposed mining project. He cited DENR Memorandum Circular No. 2008-08, dated December 24, 2008, entitled: “Clarification of the Role of LGUs in the Philippine EIS System in Relation to MC 2007-08”, particularly, paragraphs 2 and 3 thereof.

Paragraph 2 states that the issuance of the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) “is not an automatic approval of the project. Through the EIA Process critical issues that should be addressed by the various agencies are identified for guidance on environmental considerations of final approving entities.”

Paragraph 3 states that although LGU endorsement of the proposed projects is not mandatory in the processing of the ECC applications, “it should be inevitably be required and subsumed under the local government’s permitting requirements where the results of the EIA and recommendations in the ECC should be considered along with other factors. It is believed that the LGU has the ultimate mandate over the approval of proposed projects. Hence, the result of the EIA process is an input to the LGU endorsement of proposed projects.”

Upon receipt of MMDC’s business permit application, the mayor inspected the mining site along with members of Baywatch, and found the mining company was in full blown operation with three stockyards full of ore that were ready to ship.

The Baywatch press statement said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) authorized MMDC to start its Development Phase even without endorsements from the Cantilan LGU and the Sanggunian Panlalawigan. MGB’s OIC Basadre issued the mining company permission to proceed to Development Stage citing company receipt of an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) and endorsements from Brgy. Cabangahan, where the mining site is located, and from then Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel.  The law requires two out of three LGU endorsements before it can proceed to the Development Stage.”

‘The governor is not the Sanggunian Panlalawigan,” a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan said when an MMDC official told members in a hearing that they have secured an endorsement from Pimentel. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)

reposted from: mindanews

Our mountains, rivers and oceans are dying because of us!

Dili na ako matingaya kun sa sunod kita na sab an mu dawat nan isog nan ato kagubatan na nahitabo na sab sa CDO and Iligan.

Cantilan Surigao del Sur Tarsier

Our little friend battles illegal mining

by: Yasser Eli Almeda

CANTILAN, PROVINCE OF SURIGAO DEL SUR, PHILIPPINES (22/Sept) –Following the discovery of tarsiers (Tarsius syrichta) in the mountains of Cantilan, the people rejoiced as they can now add a natural icon to promote for the eco-tourism programs of the town.

However, the Philippine Tarsier found in Cantilan is facing destruction because of the continued illegal logging and mining operation of Marcventures Mining Development Corporation (MMDC).

MMDC is directly mining the proclaimed critical watershed area under Presidential Proclamation No. 1747 dated March 23, 2009 by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Yet, the company still continue to operate regardless of the subsisting 7-month Temporary Environmental Restraining Order (TEPO) issued by the Regional Trial Court dated May 26, 2011 and released on June 7, 2011.

Mount Hilong-hilong, the area in which the mining company operates, has been declared as Protected Area for Endangered Wildlife by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). According to the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau (PAWB), biologically rich areas in the country are still vulnerable to extractive activities like mining.

The mountains of Surigao and Agusan provinces are proclaimed to be “key biodiversity area” and are home to endangered flora and fauna.

Photo courtesy by: Frank

Sources:

Kantilang.i.ph

Save Cantilan

Powerless islanders in Ayoke, Cantilan enjoy the glimmer of solar lights at night

AYOKE, GENERAL ISLANDS, Cantilan, Surigao del Sur (MindaNews/2 September) – Residents here are finally enjoying the perks of electrical power by enjoying the comforts of a lighted kitchen, soothing music over the radio and watching “sine-sine” every weekends.

Thanks to the technology of solar power, residents in Ayoke, in the northernmost tip of Isla Heneral in this rustic and simple Cantilan town in Surigao del Sur are now updated of the “outside world”.

Through the support of a foreign financial aid coursed through the Department of Agrarian Reform, 78 households in Ayoke Island are now using fluorescent lights instead of the “lampara” or kerosene lamps.

Ayoke island is one of the three big islands in the municipality of Cantilan. The place is idyllic and people live simple lives. It is scarcely populated with only 800 people or 98 households.

Ayoke is about 30 to 40 minutes away by a motorized banca from the town proper.

Majority of the island dwellers enjoy playing Bingo, a favorite recreational game, that lasts up to the wee hours of dawn.

Children can now read books and work their assignments at night and even work on their household chores at night.

Because of the use of electricity, fisherfolks narrated how their financial woes changed.

According to Carlos E. Consigna, they actually saved money from using electricity instead of the “lamparahan” since each household had to spend P10 a day for the kerosene.

With the use of the solar energy, each household only pays a monthly fee of P120, a huge difference from their monthly consumption of P300 from using the “lampara”.

When the technology started in 2007, the recipients were paying P220 per month or about P7 per night. But their organization decided to cut this down to P120 last year.

Consigna said the monthly amortization is used in maintaining the solar panels which he said could last up to 25 years.

“Changing the fluorescent, battery or the power storage, or any other technical problems that require financial matter, will be charged from the organization’s bank account,” Consigna said in Surigaonon.

He said their group, the Nagkahugpong Managatay Para sa Kalabuan Nan Ayoke (NAGMAKA-AYO), now has a total savings of over P200,000.

Their growing savings were due to the organization’s wise spending and regular monthly consultations with members.

Some residents who were disdainful of the project are now blaming themselves for not believing in its success, according to fisherman Tortillano S. Guarte, who is also a recipient of the project.

On Saturdays and Sundays, local folks gather at the school to watch movies.

“Sine-sine”

The organization also conducts income generating activities for the benefit of the school children. Adults in the community, especially the parents of school children, are required to shell out P1 or P2.50 for the “sine-sine” at the school campus.

Ofelia G. Pacana, one of the teachers, said this greatly improved the learning process of the pupils because of the images and voices that the students can now associate directly from the screen instead of imagining objects, movements and other events.

Further, their classrooms are now well lighted, which further enhances the pupils’ interest in coming to school.

Eight-year-old Charlo Consigna, Carlos’s son, is a Grade 3 pupil of the Ayoke Elementary School. Since their household is now using solar power, he told MindaNews that he now loves to work on his assignment and read books before he goes to sleep.

His father said Charlo’s reading ability has greatly improved as well.

The child is a consistent honor pupil in his class and lands in the top 5 in overall rankings.

“Thanks for the solar energy, we can live life happily,” Charlo said.

Today, only two dozen fisherfolks of the island are using kerosene lamps. But they are dreaming of having the same at their respective homes soon.

Gliceto “Butch” Dagondon, director of Green Mindanao, Inc., said if the 7,000 islands in the country will use solar power, it will greatly help in saving the environment and the planet from harmful energy sources such as coal-fired power plants.

“If we care enough, the Filipino people should patronize solar energy as power source because in the long run we actually spend less and the environment gets better,” Dagondon said.

“Otherwise, we will all face the wrath of nature because of the ill-effects of climate change,” he said.

But for the Ayoke residents, the bright light that they now enjoy is a step to a much better and fresher environment for them.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Filipinos can readily learn from their experience. (Roel N. Catoto / MindaNews)

Reposted from Mindanao News

Article by: Roel Catoto

Constant dialogue makes environment drive in Surigao Sur town successful

Ayoke Cantilan Elementary School

GENERAL ISLANDS, CANTILAN, Surigao del Sur (MindaNews/1 September) – Fisherfolks in a small island off the municipality of Cantilan, Surigao del Sur prove that constant dialogue can give results to an environment-conscious populace.

The Nagkahiusang Mananagat Para sa Kalambuan Nan Ayoke (NAGMAKA-AYO) in Ayoke Island in Isla General in Cantilan have bonded themselves in the fight against illegal fishing and in the protection of a marine sanctuary.

For one, the fisherfolks constructed a guardhouse on the topmost part of the island for them to get the most strategic view of the coming and going of boats, illegal trespassers and unwelcome visitors to their island.

The guardhouse, according to NAGMAKA-AYO chairperson Crisologo E. Anino, is manned by group members on rotation basis and open 24/7.

Anino said they regularly conduct meetings and consultations with their members, and even non-members, on the effects of illegal fishing.

Anino said NAGMAKA-AYO started in 1998 with 65 members but this has been reduced to 33 because so many of its members violated their by-laws.

But despite the decline in membership, the group still managed to apprehend 14 illegal poachers since 2006, especially with the passage of Municipal Ordinance No. 16 (Declaring Marine Protected Areas and Fish Sanctuaries), which helped further in raising environmental consciousness among residents.

“We always tell them not to do dynamite fishing because of the risk it will do to their lives and the future generation,” said Carlos E. Consigna, of NAGMAKA-AYO, of their meetings with members and non-members alike.

Often his friends snub him because of his doggedness while others consider him an irritant to small group gatherings.

“This is also true to some of our members but eventually those who were hardheaded realized the goodness of our cause,” Consigna said.

Illegal fishing activities in Ayoke include dynamite fishing, liba-liba, cyanide, tubli (or root poison) and other common illegal fishing activities.

Anino said because of the heightened environmental awareness of residents and fisherfolks, their underwater corals have grown. But he admitted that at present, their fish catch is low because of the presence of mining companies in neighboring municipalities.

They believe that the siltation brought about by mining has caused turbidity in the water which causes fish, especially bangsi, to shy away. Bangsi, or flying fish, is the most common catch among local fisherfolks.

Meanwhile, Anino narrated a most unforgettable incident by fellow members in arresting an illegal poacher some years back. He said because of their unsophisticated small bancas, they ended up hostages to the illegal poachers instead.

Anino said that they were only using ropes to tie the outrigger of the poacher’s boat to their bancas. “Since the poachers usually have more powerful engines compared to our 16-horsepower bancas, they dragged us in the middle of the Pacific seas,” Anino said.

“In the end, it was us who begged for their mercy to release us. We were already scared because our motorized bancas could not stand the high seas. But God is so good because those illegal fishers eventually freed us,” he said, now in jest.

Anino said despite the harrowing experience, they will still continue their campaign against illegal fishing and apprehend illegal poachers who come near their sanctuary.

NAGMAKA-AYO and another local fisherfolk organization in their area called Slamdunk are among the top 10 organizations in the country awarded as the best sustained practice of marine protected sanctuary areas by the Marine Protected Area Support Network based at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City.

Cherry A. Ravelo, municipal coastal resource management coordinator, said that representatives of NAGMAKA-AYO and Slamdunk (which is based in Barangay Proper, General Islands) will be going to Manila for the reporting activity. On October 1, both organizations will receive the award for the Top 10 best MPAs in the country.

The network recognizes the best practices based on four level of MPAs, namely, Level 1 for Established MPAs; Level 2 for Strengthened MPAs; Level 3 for Sustained MPA; and Level 4 for Institutionalized MPA.

The network has management effectiveness assessment tools which aim to assess governance in terms of enforcement, implementation and maintenance for the MPAs around the country.
(Roel N. Catoto / MindaNews)

Reposted from Mindanao News

Article byRoel Catoto

tambis river cantilan

Fresh eastern winds blowing early in the morning and the splendor morning sunrise as well as the magnificent sunset slowly hiding in the mountains are breath taking experiences one can caught in this small but blessed community.

Sitio Tambis in Barangay Consuelo is located about 4km northeast of Cantilan, Surigao del Sur. This place has 25 families only and they depend mostly on fishing and farming as their source of livelihood. Tambis also boast an abundant supply of copra, crabs, prawns, native chickens, vegetables, talaba and medicinal herbs.

rainbow at tambis cantilan

Fun activities includes boating and fishing. The place has a navigable river suitable for small boats. Fishing is an added leisure activity, if your good you could actually catch plenty of fish in Tambis river. Common fish that can be caught here are Milk Fish, Dulit, Kikilo, Buras, Byanak, and many more (My apology, i only know the local names of this fishes, i will provide some pictures though in my next post).

bianak in tambis cantilan

Life here is very simple. It is all about peace and contentment.

I hope we also find peace and contentment in our lives.