“Nagmalampuson kay ilang gihatag ang ayuda sa katawhan.” — Allan Montecalvo, spokesperson of Indug Kautawan
By MARILOU AGUIRRE-TUBURAN
Davao Today
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Barricading Typhoon Pablo victims hailed the decision of Apex Mining Co. Inc. (AMCI) to award them a PHP 3-million worth of reparation after 30 hours of militant protest at the company gates.
AMCI gave in Tuesday evening resulting to the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between its representative, Engr. Raul Cezar, and Indug Kautawan’s Allan Montecalvo, Ruel Casilao and Arlendo Lucas in Masara village, Maco town, Compostela Valley.
“Nagmalampuson kay ilang gihatag ang ayuda sa katawhan,” Allan Montecalvo, spokesperson of Indug Kautawan, told davaotoday.com in a phone interview.
In the three-page MOA posted by rights group Panalipdan in its Facebook account, AMCI and Indug Kautawan agreed for the firm to pay the latter PHP 3 Million for the repair of 84 damaged houses through the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) and to be released in three tranches in three months.
The AMCI will also release PHP 600,000-worth of rice to the MSWDO-LGU to be distributed to the Pablo victims within three months. About 450 packs inclusive of five kilos of rice, packs of noodles, canned goods and coffee will be distributed immediately.
The AMCI also acquiesced for the stay of 42 small-scale miners and their families in St. Francis, Teresa village with assistance from the company, suspension of AMCI’s operations in Sagaysagay village to give way to the Mansaka tribe’s ancestral domain, prohibition of open-pit mining, repair of damaged bridge in Elizalde to Malamodao and damaged municipal roads covering the villages of Elizalde, Malamodao, Otso, Tagbarus and Limbo, and riprap in the Masara river.
The AMCI also promised to rehabilitate the Masara River, through joint programs with the LGUS, by planting bamboos along the riverbanks, among others.
The MOA signing was witnessed by Juland Suazo of Panalipdan, Elizalde village captain Fidel Cabello, Elizabeth Uy of the MSWDO-LGU and Raul Villocino of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office-LGU. (Marilou Aguirre-Tuburan/davaotoday.com
