All Mandy Feliciano (not his real name) wanted was to live in peace with his family. And he almost had it, if it wasn’t for the “incident” that left him and his family traumatized for the rest of their lives.
Mandy was a former illegal miner. He was in that ‘illegal’ trade for 16 years at Sitio Balabag, a sub village of Depore, Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur in the Zamboanga Peninsula, Mindanao.
 The green and lush mountains of Bayog as seen from the Balabag hill. Bayog is considered one of the most beautiful places in Zamboanga Peninsula. |
Only 43 years old and a father of five , Mandy saw mining as a lucrative business. He neither spent for taxes nor for other permits or fees required by the government’s regulatory agencies. Having no regular employees, he didn’t spend for the benefits of his abanteros (the men who extract ores inside the makeshift tunnels) and atraseros (the men who carry sacks of ores from the tunnels to the gold processing plants).
Like the rest of the mining operators in Balabag, Mandy was not spending for the rehabilitation of his mine area. He only spent for the chemicals and blasting materials used in the mining operation. Indeed, the business is earning for him and his family well.
In his close to two decades of mining in Balabag, Mandy witnessed deaths, environmental destruction, and the tragedies attendant to the business. Cave-ins and landslides were frequent so victims were buried alive in deep makeshift tunnels. Not one incident, however, was reported to the authorities.
 The community of illegal miners in Balabag, Bayog. The beauty of the nature of the place Is now being destroyed by illegal mining. |
 Youngsters are employed as laborers by the Illegal miners. In this photo they posed with the survey team from TVIRD. |
Mandy related that landslide victims were never recovered and their families just moved on to continue working the mines in Balabag. But not in the case of Bernardo, an abantero in his early 40’s. His son was also buried in a landslide that happened almost a year ago. Bernardo is still digging the collapsed tunnel in search of his son. And like most of his neighbors, Mandy can only pray that one day Bernardo may recover the son.
 The once crystal clear waters in creeks and rivers now become murky and laced with cyanide and mercury because of illegal mining in Balabag. |
These perils influenced the miner to accept the offer of TVI Resource Development (Phils.) Inc. (TVIRD) to resettle with a new life. The company has been doing similar negotiations with other illegal miners in the area since 2010.
It was easy for Mandy to reach the decision.
It was easy for Mandy to reach the decision.
He saw the positive effects of TVIRD’s activities in the communities surrounding Balabag and Bayog town. He saw how life improved for the communities when the company repaired barangay roads and constructed school buildings and water systems. Lately, it distributed PhilHealth cards to the barangay folks of Depore, Dipili, Dimalinao, and Pulangbato, all of Bayog town.
“I am not getting younger and my children are growing. I now want to live in peace. I just want to live a quiet life. I don’t want government men running after me because of illegal mining operation. These were the reasons why I accepted the offer to me by TVIRD,” he emphasized.
With the compensation that he got from TVIRD, Mandy went back to farming. He tilled the family’s rice lands and later on bought two hauling trucks that he planned to rent out to businessmen in Bayog. He even got an opportunity to join legitimate mining operations when TVIRD began renting his two trucks for hauling sand, gravel, and other materials for its different projects in the community.
“There were times when my Bongo trucks were used to transport cement for the water system project or for schoolhouses. The Bongos were also used to ferry former illegal miners and their families who were resettled by the company,” Mandy said.
With his farm and truck rental business, the family’s life became more peaceful. But before the dawn of July 27, four men doused gasoline on his two trucks parked at a nearby bridge.
The arrival of the four on motorcycles woke up Mandy and his wife . “I took a peep at the window and saw them but their faces weren’t clear because of the dark. But I wouldn’t even attempt to stop them because they were armed. My two haulers are important but my life and that of my family’s are more important. So my wife and I just watched in horror as the fire slowly consumed my haulers,” he narrated sadly.
A barangay kagawad (councilman) neighbor witnessed the incident and couldn’t identify the men also because of the dark. He described the act as “brazen” because it was done right in the heart of the barangay.
Mandy reported the destruction of his trucks to the police. Since then, the investigation has gone nowhere. The incident will surely just remain as one of the unsolved cases in the town. Meantime, Mandy and his family will never forget that fateful dawn of July 27, 2012. It may have traumatized them, but it also strengthened his resolve not to return to illegal mining for the sake of his children and new grandchild. Emboldened and encouraged by the unfailing support of his friends and TVIRD, Mandy is willing to start all over again.
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