Small-scale miners grapple with the impact of landslides and the government’s demolition order.

Ordinary folks say deteriorating incomes and high prices of basic commodities overshadow the bright prospects for the New Year.

A month after Typhoon Sendong swept away homes, killed thousands and dislocated tens of thousands in Northern Mindanao, survivors plea for decent relocation. Alas, no solutions are forthcoming.

PANTUKAN, Compostela Valley, Philippines -- Local authorities and members of the rescue and retrieval operations fear the existence of "leaking" in Sitio (sub-village) Diat Uno will result to bigger and more deadly landslides. The “leaking,” according to them, is a big crack on earth and is the origin of landslides.

Extreme weather made worse by unchecked mining and logging projects in the watersheds of Northern Mindanao have rendered thousands homeless in the aftermath of Typhoon Sendong.

An elderly woman leads fellow residents to stop a high-end subdivision project, the Le Jardin, owned by a prominent landlord family in Davao City.

The coffin where the body of Fr. Fausto “Father Pops” Tentorio lay was bedecked with flowers. As the vigil continued day and night, so was the outpouring from ordinary folks who stayed for the daily mass and tribute. They paid respects for the missionary who spent much of his life to serve the poor in Mindanao.

Lucita Nombreda or Ate Cita was the first to discover the dead body of Italian missionary Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME. The 72-year-old caretaker of the convent compound was about to throw trash at around 8 o’ clock on that Monday morning of October 17.

Her voice rising above the soft hum of radio songs, Amelia Dano could not hide her restlessness. Sitting at the front of a four-wheel drive vehicle, Dano waits in trepidation as the 10-vehicle convoy finally crosses Monkayo town, the last municipality in Compostela Valley province

Those who criticized the mayor panicked because she showed she was ready to burn bridges and betray her social class in defense of her constituency. Mayor Inday did not grab the law into her own hands -- she slammed it for its anti-people character.

Residents of Pantukan, a coastal town in Compostela Valley province, are locked in battle against two large-scale mining companies attempting to wrest full control of the area’s mineral resources. They also bewail the unfair advantage the government gives to these companies at the expense of small-scale miners.

To prevent rebels from gaining ground in Toril, the Army established a military detachment in a village and sent out more soldiers. The soldiers are called “Peace and Development Teams.” But residents find the soldiers’ conduct rather unbecoming of the new tag by which they are now called.