Special Report: Desperate Housewives
Women and mothers are reeling from the impact of the new value-added tax (EVAT) law, and some have gone to extreme measures to make both ends meet. One of them…
Of Strokes, Figs and Canvases
Even the uninitiated can tell if a work of art was done by someone from Mindanao or who has been influenced by the island’s peoples, culture and the strife. You can sense this in the strokes, in the medium, in the subjects.
In this issue of davaotoday.com, five visual artists who all hailed from Mindanao share their passion for the arts and for Mindanao. Some of them are fresh out of college while others have been around since the ?70s. Through their craft and their vision ? of the people, of nature, of revolution, to name a few — they depict not only their world but ours.
Diwalwal’s Never-Ending Tragedies
The series of violent incidents in Diwalwal last October – a huge fire, a gas poisoning, and a cave-in – could be part of the plot by vested-interest groups to drive small-scale miners out of Mount Diwalwal.
By Daisy C. Gonzales
davaotoday.com
DIWALWAL, the Philippines — Alma Placio, 33, looked exhausted. She just had a baby. Six days after the child was born, Alma lost her husband. On this day, she was at the mining company’s small office here, sitting in a corner.
Evidently grief-stricken, Alma sits calmly as she stared blankly at the television in front of her. The TV was showing images taken days before of a rescue operation inside one of the mining tunnels here, where several died. One of those who perished was Alma’s husband, Al.
Alma was new to this place, so was Al. The lure of Mount Diwalwal, however, was no stranger to them. Earlier this year, they left their home in Manila, where they had stayed for almost two decades, and found their way into this mountain village. Al’s brother had worked here and had convinced Al that he, like him, could work here as a “helper.”
Al went to Diwalwal ahead of his family. In June, Alma and her two children reunited with him. Little did Alma know that the reunion would be short-lived.
Alma’s husband was among the 31 declared to have died in the October 26 tragedy inside the mine tunnel operated by the JB Management and Mining Corp (JBMMC). The cave-in, which was said to be precipitated by an explosion, is the latest reminder here that the main issues about this contested gold-rush mountain village in Monkayo town, in Southern Mindanao, are far from resolved.
At war over her body
Tudaya’s Allure
Gushes of spray bathed me, and even when I looked down, the water would sting my eyes. After a few minutes, the loud drum roll of the waterfalls faded into light pelting and my vision cleared. We were past the waterfalls and before us was the large green patch of vegetation I had long wanted to see.