Environmentalists increasingly anxious over the effects of mining in Davao Gulf
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Sustainability, transparency in mining urged
Sustainability, transparency in mining urged
Saving the uplands, saving the gulf
By GERMELINA A. LACORTE | Davao Today
DAVAO CITY—A top official of the island garden city of Samal cracked a joke about the fish of Davao Gulf before a recent mining conference here to raise a point on the need to protect the environment amidst the flurry of activities in mining.
“The fish that we’re going to eat for lunch already contains an intolerable level of cyanide,” Samal vice mayor Orly Amit said in jest, as he presented the environment group results after a workshop at the Waterfront Hotel here. “We’re going to eat it all, even those of us involved in mining.”
Participants composed of foreign and local mining executives and government officials burst out laughing but Amit said everything in Davao Gulf will be affected once mining go full blast without strong regard for the environment.
“Even if we don’t have mines on Samal island, we are all affected so we have to join hands together,” he said. “The fish in Davao Gulf doesn’t stay in one place, you know, it can also reach Governor Malanyaon’s city of Mati and other parts of the ocean.”
He defined responsible mining as “borrowing the land from future generation,” that’s why those who are involved have to make sure to safeguard the environment to “eventually return it safe and sound” in the future. He earned applause from the pro-mining participants, who vowed to only allow responsible mining in Davao Gulf.
Environment groups, however, are not easily convinced.
Jo Villanueva, member of the nationwide group Alyansa Tigil Mina, said that without sufficient safeguards put in place, there is always a danger of government restrictions being ignored. “How can DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources), for instance, monitor all of 300 mining permit holders in the country?” Villanueva said in another forum joined in by anti-mining groups.
Villanueva said that groups opposed to the entry of foreign mining in the country is now circulating a draft proposal for an alternative mining bill that will not threaten the environment and safeguard food security in the country. “It will address issues which were missed out in the 1995 Philippine Mining Act, that allowed the entry of big foreign mining firms in the country,” she said.
Among others, the draft bill will require stringent implementation of environment and land use laws to ensure that mining companies will not leave a tail of disasters in areas where they operate, she said. It will also call for actual, and not just token, participation of the communities in the mining projects.
“Most of all, we will no longer allow the entry of foreign mining firms,” Villanueva said.
Although there seems to be a hype in the mining activities in the country, Villanueva said that most of the companies applying mining permits are mere prospectors who do not really plan to embark in actual mining projects but are only waiting for a chance to sell their mining permits to big mining firms.
She also said that most foreign mining firms are also using these prospectors to clear the area and only decide to come in later after these “social issues” are ironed out.
Rep. Lorenzo Tanada III, a member of the committee on the environment in the House of Representatives agreed. “There seems to be a lot of selling here and there, no matter whether there is an actual deposit or not in the area,” Tanada said in the anti-mining forum at the Grand Menseng Hotel.
He said that government only tried to assuage the fear of civic organizations about the adverse impact of mining in the environment. “Even the so-called community participation and community consultations are nothing but lip service,” he said, “In cases where communities are strongly against mining, they’re actually being ignored.”
Victor Agustin, the regional director of the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) earlier complained that the mining industry has been attracting only a few “real” investors despite the opening of the country to foreign mining firms.
Agustin said that most of those who applied for mining permits were only speculators who were not really planning to go into actual mining projects.
He said that the jobs targeted for mining in the Davao region failed to meet their midterm targets because the actual activities in mining were not really as good as their projections.
“A lot of speculators who don’t know anything about the technical implications are selling mining areas to global corporations whose only interest is to rake profits,” said Villanueva.
She said that the mergers and acquisitions frequently happening among global mining companies these days aggravate these threats, considering the loose implementation of environment laws in the country.
“It’s becoming such a very risky business,” said Villanueva, “We’re becoming subject to the whims of the global market. In the communities, mining is not just about profit,” she said. “It’s about the survival.” (Germelina Lacorte/.davaotoday.com)
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Davao firms to issue warning on closures, retrenchments
September 24th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Sept.24,2008
The Real Causes Of Guinsaugon Mudslides According To Geoscientists
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.
Maasin City, Southern Leyte-What are the real causes of massive landslides in brgy. Guinsaugon which “unexpectedly” occurred on Feb 17,2006 at past eleven a.m. burying less than 2,000 people alive coincidentally during a Women’s Day celebration? At that time elementary schoolchildren, teachers, some barangay health workers, some town employees and some visitors from nearby barangays were gathered at the auditorium for the aforesaid celebration.
The several causes that the geoscientists were discussing and revealing one by one during a conference on Guinsaugon mudslides were also attended by scientists from Canada, United Kingdom, Japan,Sir Lanka,Nepal and the Philippines. Richard Guthrie, a landslide expert and a research assistant of Dr. Stephen Evans, both from the University of Waterloo in Canada visited Guinsaugon after the great catastrophe, as part of the Canadian government’s aid to the Philippines following the landslide.
The weeklong international conference that were held in 3 places of Tacloban City, Palo town and in St.
Bernard recently were also attended by Prof.Mark Albert Zarco of the Dept. of Engineering Science, University of the Philippines,Diliman,Quezon City and St.Bernard Mayor Rico Rentuza. On the other hand, Guinsaugon is one of St.Bernard’s barangay which is less than 10 kilometers away from the town proper. While St.Bernard is about 124 kilometers away from Maasin City, the capital city of Southern Leyte
Prior to the great disaster, there was a continual heavy rains as early as October 2005 up to February 2006 according to the residents in the area. The continual 4 months heavy rains have caused a gradual saturation of Mt. Kan-abag’s “soft soil”. The condition of its soil compounds was aggravated with the scarcity of forest plants with very less population of huge trees that could hold large volume of soil.
At the foot of Mt. Kan-abag, six barangays were established where hundreds and hundreds of folks have inhabited and earned their living by farming. But only Guinsaugon was hit and even sparing a nearby brgy. of Magatas. A resident of Magatas who is now a teacher and teaches here said.” If you look at the situation of Brgy.Magatas,it is also highly vulnerable and a potential hit by the mudslide, but we were thankful that it was spared.” The said teacher had lost a cousin, a UCCP pastor who was assigned in Guinsaugon.A close family friend of my late mother had also lost 2 siblings living in Guinsaugon and 5 cousins. Indeed, the great unforgettable tragedy has brought sudden orphans to many children and students, lost of loved ones and hundreds of relatives grieving in anguish, sorrow and agony.
Former St.Benard Mayor Erlinda Lim, who was supposed to be with the group of town hall’s employees as the speaker on a Women’s Day Celebration in Guinsaugon including a municipal nurse, was luckily spared from the mudslide.Instead,she went to San Juan, the next town which is 7 kilometers away, to attend to another appointment. Another town hall employee w ho was instructed to go back to their office to get the forgotten camera for taking pictures, was also luckily save. As he left Guinsaugon in haste by walking towards brgy. Tambis located along the road, he said, he heard a roaring sound like an airplane. When he turned his back, he said, he was engulfed with fear and ran as fast as he could to save himself.
When the shocking news reached her in San Juan via cellphone, Mayor Lim who was obviously shock of the unexpected tragedy, and somewhat controlling some injured emotion,said:”Maybe it is not yet my time..But I could not believe that Guinsaugon would be hit by the mudslide and be buried entirely, because it is located one kilometer away from the foot of the mountain…”Until now I could not l believe what happened to Guinsaugon”she said during her speech before some barrio folks, visitors, dignitaries, donors and the press at Ground Zero.
According to the geologists, the less than 900 meters High Mountain is also located within the Philippine fault line that’s responsible for the yearly movements of pyroclastic deposits estimated at 2.5cm./year.Guthrie study had also confirmed to this claim by saying “that tectonic weakening of the failed rock mass had resulted from active strike-slip movements estimated at 2.5 cm/year”. “Within that, the rocks have been stretched and strained”, he said “As time moves on, the rock began to age and die and finally it collapses”.
Zarco said that there were many existing evidences within the area prior to the landslide but people (the residents) were not aware of these. Among the things were cracks on the grounds, muddy water coming out from the holes and irregular water flow from the mountain.
Another contributory factor to the landslide was small magnitude earthquakes which happened the night before the massive landslide and another tremor the following morning prior to the actual mudslide.
In a report Mayor Rentuza said that many of their questions were clarified by the visiting geoscientists, just like how it did happen and how come it’s very devastating. “While there were studies conducted by the national government”, the Mayor said, “the researchers from the academe and foreign geoscientists are more comprehensive considering their vast experiences in working in different calamity-striken areas of the world”.
On the other hand, Zarco further said, there are many existing evidences within the area confirming that Mt. Kan-abag is very prone to landslide. He said: “The calamity happened already. What is important is that we all agreed that this area is highly vulnerable to landslide. If the people have been more careful, noticing that the signs are already there, many lives were spared…There should have to be ways to get people report their information to authorities. That’s very good early warning system. For landslide, we don’t have a warning system. We can only warn people by way of monitoring”.
This report from the geoscientists and experts should also served as a lesson to all residents in other areas of the country and other nations with similar geological make-up to that of Guinsaugon.One of the ways to detect a potential landslide is to be aware of the signs of an incoming massive landslide that were revealed in this article.
(Copyright 2008 by Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)
Newly-planted Trees Should Be Taken Care Of
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.
Majority of the planting trees activities conducted in the various part of my province lack the necessary caring of the newly-planted trees. A big percentage of the small trees that were planted were left on their own to grow. As if planting hundreds and thousands on them on vacant lots and along the highways is the end of it all.
If those who are leading this kind of environmental protection are really very serious they should consider caring of the newly-planted trees seedlings in different places. Before conducting a tree planting as part of a city, municipal or provincial anniversary or celebration, or in support of a government’s program in the conservation of our environment, a certain group should be assigned in every area to take care of the newly-planted trees. Leaders of the Environmental Groups should instruct them to water the small trees everyday until such time that it will reach an indicative height that it can be left alone sans regular watering.
Fifty percent or even more mortality of the newly-planted trees have been discovered by the groups of environmentalists upon ocular inspections as revealed to yours truly a few years ago during an interview for an article in the progress of tree planting activities conducted in several occasions in the province of Southern Leyte.
When I was working at DENR during the previous years, contract projects in various reforestation programs in different parts of Southern Leyte have been taken care of by the contractors themselves. Once small tree seedlings were planted in large hectarage whether it were mahogany,,G-melina,lawauan,molave,narra, including mango, jackfruit trees, etcetera, contractors’ hired workers would always take care of the planted trees by watering it everyday, whenever there is no rain. However, mortality still occurred despite of the caring, but in a very low percentage compared to those trees that were just left alone after planting them.
In DENR’s reforestation projects, purchase of organic or inorganic fertilizers were inclusive for the contractors’ management application s in all of the projects involved to help make the hundreds and thousands planted small trees grow faster. Likewise, in any planting activities done by either the NGOs or a government group outside the reforestation projects of DENR, they can also use either organic or inorganic fertilizers if they have the funds. If hardly they can afford for its fertilizers’ maintenance until it will grow enough to stand on its own, then watering everyday the newly-planted small trees will be quite enough to let it grow into maturity..
By this measure, the numerous tree-planting activities done in various places of the province and in the entire country lead by either a Barangay Captain, Mayor, Governor or Congressman will not be all in vain. Their conscientious caring for the planted small tree seedlings in various annual tree-planting activities nationwide would mean additional man-made forests as potential replacements for our unimaginably colossal deforested areas. Likewise, in order to realize the environmentalists global desire and the peoples’ concern to achieve such vision, a selective log ban should be implemented by the Governments of nations where its mountains have become bald because of indiscriminate cutting of forest trees, whether legal or illegal, and that huge deforestation have also occurred.
The newly-approved Philippine law on “One Million trees” should serve as an inspiration to all earthlings and should encourage the peoples of the whole world and their respective governments and the private sectors to plant millions of trees on their vacant lots and denuded forests. If put into realization, the millions and millions of trees planted will serve as absorbers of carbon dioxide in our environment and provide us with the needed oxygen. It will also help as our protective shields in our polluted surroundings..(Copyright 2008 by Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.)
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