Covering and uncovering ‘manipulated’ barricades

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

March Fianza

Long before the Sitio Palatong, Tabio, Mankayan barricade incident, I covered a picket line of “mining oppositionists” sometime in the late 90s composed of Ibaloi kakailians, many of whom were blood relatives. The barricade was organized at the gold rich Camote Vein of Benguet Corp. just a stone’s throw away from the company’s controversial open pit mines at Barangay Loakan, Antamok, Itogon. The Camote Vein would then become a major source of ore for BC in 1996-97. 

Many of the picketers then were descendants of legitimate landowners who were born there long before American gold prospectors operated the area in the late 1800s. The landowners were not really against the operation of the mines as they have already accepted the truth that their ancestors and they themselves and the American miners have co-existed in the community for a hundred years or so. Landowners and the mining operators understand as well that both have benefited from the yellow metal dug out from the bowels of the earth. Due to mining, they have built homes, were able to send their children to college, bought for themselves Elf trucks to ferry the accumulated ore to privately-owned bormils (ball mills) operating nearby.

But what stirred them to oppose the operation of BC’s Benguet-Antamok Gold Operations (BAGO) was the fact that the small-scale mining operations of each family was threatened by the bigger operations of the company that boasted its ownership of a legitimate mining right over the Loakan Camote Vein area in Itogon. Remember, there was no small-scale mining law or EO 79 to talk about in the 90s then, hence, every small-scale mining operation in the country was “illegal,” so that the courts were on the side of the mining company. The local police who personally knew the Loakan residents said the picket lines were infiltrated by leftist activists, a fact that was admitted later by cousins who actively manned the barricades.

Around 240 protesters were hauled to the Benguet provincial jail on police trucks dispatched from Camp Dangwa as a result of the enforcement of the court order. Eventually, the picketers were released and open pit mining operations resumed right after the mass arrest. When the picketers were hauled to the provincial jail, the outsider-instigators of the barricades were nowhere to be found. 

The weather was bad that time, and those in jail and their family members who were left in their homes had to be fed. After instigating a barricade that resulted to the arrest of innocent camote miners who were apparently stage-managed by outside elements who successfully got what they wanted, not a grain of rice nor a single single centavo was contributed by the so-called “environmentalists and IP rights advocates” to help ease the hunger felt by those they manipulated.

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More than a decade and half later, I found myself in De Javu, in a similar situation two weeks ago when I was asked by newsmen Frank Cimatu (Baguio Chronicle), Thom Picana (Amianan) and Jessie Maguiya (Bombo Radyo) to tag along in their coverage in Mankayan. I felt fully awake even with barely a two-hour sleep prior to our travel to Sitio Palatong, Barangay Tabio, Mankayan. 

Until now, I am still wondering why we had to travel very late at night to Mankayan when we needed the energy and much desired sleep as the incident we had to cover was scheduled very early morning of the following day. We could have traveled earlier a day before and enjoyed breakfast, lunch and supper on the road, even if that meant additional expense for the tightly zipped purse of the powers that be. What was important was that we were not sleepy and were fully energized to cover the event. But that is another story.

Upon reaching Sitio Palatong at 6AM of September 17, 2012, we were surprised to find farmer-residents already standing arm-in-arm, shoulder to shoulder behind a diagonally parked boom truck that blocked the road leading to the drill site at Sitio Madaymen. This was to stop the delivery of fencing material to the mine drill site in one of the Far Southeast projects of Lepanto and prevent law enforcers from delivering a special court order by Judge Agapito K. Laoagan, Jr. of RTC Branch 64. Deputy Sherrif Henry Longay said this was unexpected. The sheriffs were assisted by more than 70 policemen led by P/Supts. Glen Lonogan and Darnel Dulnuan. 

Aside from around 100 resident picketers, I saw several Ninja-like masked men and women who were apparently hiding their identities from cameras and authorities. With that, I asked myself, “why would these people have to wear masks and hide their faces to confront the authorities if they have no other interests except to really fight for a good cause?” The rest of the crowd was composed of young out of school children, “uzis” (uziseros) and residents who just wanted to witness the incident and did not want to participate in the barricade, but who were affected just the same because the ingress and egress to their community was blocked by none other than their own neighbors.

As the morning sun warmed the tense atmosphere and after Sheriff Longay explained to the barricade leaders their position and purpose, the protesters turned into an unruly mob that started shouting invectives and throwing rocks at the law enforcers. Supt. Dulnuan’s mouth was seriously hit by a rock while the police were breaking open the barricade to arrest defiant protesters. My right shoulder blade was also hit by a UFO. I could not point my camera to the rock-throwing protesters behind the boom truck for fear that they might hit my one and only Lumix DMC-FZ10, but I saw children follow after the actions of the adults and picked up stones and threw them to any direction. 

What kind of mother or guardian would allow innocent children to do things that they are too young to grasp? This was a manifestation that the protesters would not obey any lawful court order, and seeing Dulnuan bloodied in the face, Atty. Lyman Salvador of the Commission on Human Rights said, this clearly is a “mob rule.”

The assistance of former Mankayan councilor Atty. Richard Kilaan, the protesters’ counsel, in helping pacify the aggressive mob of protesters at that moment was sought after, but he was a no-show at the time when the violent confrontation was at its peak. I was later informed by Longay that he did show up later in the afternoon and the boom truck that was blocking the road was removed. There was also a political circus in the air that time with some elected politicians who came to persuade Longay and the law enforcers to postpone enforcement of Laoagan’s order. 

What puzzled me was while they talked about delaying enforcement of a court order, they were not keen on asking the protesters to remove their barricade because they were blocking a public road and were stopping economic flow to and from the area which were clear violations of laws. My only answer to the puzzle that came to my mind that time why they were obviously acting in favor of the protesters and going against the order of Judge Laoagan was that the sheriffs and majority of the policemen, including the Judge in the case were not voters of Mankayan.

Yesterday, I was told by my spies in Mankayan that last September 21, unidentified “foreign observers” were seen on site at Sitio Madaymen. I said, “awan manen, nausar manen ti kakailian.” Now I know why the barricades had to be maintained for days – for the foreigners to see and assess for themselves the situation on the ground. You have the answers as to who invited them and why they are here, but I can only conclude that the foreigners who were “interfering in the affairs” of another sovereign state were here to monitor the financial assistance they have been sending to their NGO solicitors who would surely report that the moneys have “really been going to the Third World IP communities who are fighting for their rights,” and not to the pockets of NGO leaders who now have built their mansions somewhere. 

Who benefit from the barricades? Not the mining camp, not the resident-protesters, not the misguided and uninformed kailians and kabagians in the barricades, but the instigators who are your “user-friendly,” I mean your friendly user neighbors. I wish these foreign NGO partners tell the world who really benefit from the barricades and stop sending financial assistance that do not trickle down to the real beneficiaries.

I was also told that last September 26, some pseudo participants in a community consultative assembly led by the NCIP at Barangay Tabio spoiled the meeting by staging a walk-out when information about the FSE gold project was about to be reported out. The additional info would have been necessary to help the assembly decide on whether to go for or against the Lepanto-GoldFields partnership project in a voting process during the FPIC to be conducted soon. 

But those who staged the walk-out who misleadingly pulled away from the assembly some of the elderly participants did not want the latter to be well informed nor become more knowledgeable about the FSE project. How then can one vote intelligently during the FPIC? I was told that an elderly woman who was crying due to confusion was heard saying “haan ku maawatan ti garaw dagituy u-ubbing” (I cannot comprehend the actions of these youth).

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The objectives of the self-styled oppositionists are no longer firm, as far as I am concerned. I do not see consistency in placing “environmental destruction” as a reason, because if that is so, then mining should have been stopped even before the Americans took over from the Chinese in the early 1900s. And by the way, if one is a true-blue Mankayan denizen, then certainly he or she has benefited from the gold and copper in one way or the other. As in Itogon, residents of Mankayan have built homes and were able to send their children to school. Land ownership would be a better reason to fight Lepanto, even if the court says otherwise. But decisions can be appealed.

I also have the feeling that there must have been something wrong that occurred in the process of land transfer from the IP owners to Lepanto, but until the court reverses itself, Lepanto owns the disputed property. On the other hand, Lepanto has to exert more effort in “courting” her host community. I am quite sure they have not been up to date in fulfilling their commitments. After mining the gold and copper for almost a hundred years now, only Lepanto and Poblacion as the centers were being improved. Lepanto has a golf course and an airstrip but we see that the communities around the centers have yet to experience cemented roads, and have yet to have 24 hour water in the kitchens supplied through taps and pipes. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com