LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

Mining woes
MARCH L. FIANZA

At a time when mining has become a contentious topic, especially in the Cordillera, the inquisitive mind can not avoid being malicious and considerate at the same time, because answers to several queries regarding mining per se, are nowhere to be found.

Thus, for my satisfaction, I tried to extract information from representatives some nine mining companies that operate in the region. In this effort, some of them claimed to have been operating within the rules, not just to look good to their host community. Other mining companies operate just to extract the minerals of a community and care less about the consequences of their operations.

The mining representatives who do actual work in the fields volunteered bits of information. We edited them and asked permission that the same will be published for public consumption. In our conversations, some told me stories of NGOs whose existence were unclear.

“They were not really there to stop or obstruct the company’s mining operations but they were there to disseminate to the host communities false information about us,” said the company representatives. In short, the NGOs were poisoning the minds of innocent members of a community. The reasons for that vary and only the NGOs know it.

The following are some of their stories written as personal accounts and news form.

“Thank you Makilala.” In the heartland of Kalinga in the Municipality of Pasil where the Balatoc ethnic group exists, I was stopped by a young schoolgirl on my way to base camp. I had just come from the site of a suspension bridge that the Makilala Mining Company constructed.

In the Kalinga tongue, the young girl said, “Sir, thank you for constructing the footbridge across the Pasil River . Now, I do not have to swim across everyday just to attend school.”

The kind words of the schoolgirl were enough to make me stay a little longer in Kalinga to assist in alleviating the community’s plight. I said “you are welcome” to her as I proceeded back to base.

Manmanok computer literacy. Anglo-American through its local company, the Cordillera Exploration Company, Inc., launched its “computer literacy program” by commissioning at least 10 computer systems for each barangay in its Manmanok Cu-an Project on June 10, 2007 .

Project Manager Cajala said, the computer project that was launched with the support of the community would improve and educate both children and adults who would soon be extracting information from the net.

Torre school energized. After 18 years of existing without electricity, Torre Elementary School at Barangay Camp 3, Tuba was energized with the installation of two solar panel units on May 31, 2007 by Philex Mining Corporation. The school is located in an isolated area of Barangay Camp 3.

The solar panels that now benefit around 50 school children from all sitios of Camp 3 were provided in coordination with electricians from the Affiliates of Non-conventional Energy Center (ANEC) headed by Engr. Edgar Molintas at the Benguet State University (BSU).

These are only few of the stories related to me by the mining company representatives. However, I felt there were those who were out to help develop the areas where they operated by answering to requests of infrastructure projects or by providing dole-outs to increase their “papogi points.” But there were those who were out there to alleviate the human and physical conditions of their host communities from the bottom of their hearts. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com