ZAMBOANGA DEL Sur – He was repulsed by the extent of environmental degradation at Sitio Balabag, Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur province. Worse, his heart bled for the children who worked as laborers and carried sacks of ore much heavier than themselves instead of going to school.
In contrast, Jaime “Jam” Rivera – regional governor of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI) in the Zamboanga Peninsula Region – felt good by what he saw in Canatuan. This sub-village of Tabayo, home to more than 2,000 Subanons, is like a mountain ‘metropolis’. Its decent and clean houses brought back memories of his Basilan hometown, which is the hub of rubber plantations in the island province.
Canatuan in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte hosts the copper and zinc mining operation of TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. (TVIRD). Exploration started in the mid 90’s while mining operations started since 2004.
“Here, the bottom line is not just profit. The people and environment are given utmost consideration. I saw it in your tailings’ impoundment facility and the reforestation project,” Mr. Rivera told Canatuan Management team in an exit conference before leaving the mine site.
Before touring Canatuan, the regional governor passed by Sitio Balabag to see the on-going illegal mining operation of Monte de Oro Small Scale Miners Association (MOSSMA) whose biggest financiers and operators are elected government officials of Bayog, the mother town.
A young business leader, Jam Rivera was in the last leg of his two-day mine tour and his last stop was in Canatuan.
Being a Mindanaoan from Basilan’s Isabela City, he has gone to almost all the provinces of Mindanao. He is no stranger to its volatile peace and order condition, the richness of the island, and the mining industry’s potential for contributing to peace and prosperity to its people.
“I was shocked to see the extent of the damage that illegal mining has brought to Balabag. I am not a self-confessed environmentalist, but the destruction in Balabag’s environ is too much and I can only wonder why nothing is done about it,” he told TVIRD Canatuan General Manager Ely Valmores.
Jam was referring to the “Warik-Warik’, an area where hundreds of un-engineered tunnels are found and where hundreds of ‘abanteros’ and ‘atraseros’, including children, are extracting gold using crude mining equipment and dynamite.
While in Canatuan, Mr. Rivera had a glimpse of the company’s Gawad Kalinga (GK) Settlement Site for the Subanon families who live in the mining site. He saw the uniformly colorful houses jointly built by the GK, TVIRD, and beneficiaries themselves. The substantially funded-project touched him because TVIRD and GK are building a community of people who care not only for themselves but also for their neighbors.
He had a talk with the company doctor and learned that TVIRD’s clinic is serving not only the employees but also “outsiders”. The outsiders are people from the host community and adjacent barangays from Siocon, Baliguian and Sirawai towns in Zamboanga del Norte and RT Lim in Sibugay Province.
“I am a businessman, so I know the importance of mining. But now I’ll go for responsible mining and I wish all large-scale mining companies are mining responsibly,” he said.
The regional governor went so far to suggest that TVIRD Canatuan be the benchmark for responsible mining because of its high standards in sustainability and remediation.
Mr. Rivera also toured the public schools supported by the company and the nurseries maintained by the Environment Department which plants trees endemic to the community. It has apitong, almaciga, narra and naric, premium hard woods aside from trees that easily multiply in the area.
“We will advocate to the national leadership to support you and responsible mining practices because I see the happy faces of your employees and the community” he promised.
The company’s employment data including its documented tax contributions to local and national governments were shown to the business leader. Mr. Rivera plans to share these with other Mindanao PCCI regional governors as proof that Responsible Mining is sensitive to the environment and beneficial to the economies of both the host community and the nation.
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