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Regular readers of this and other newspapers are by now familiar
with pictures of the MV Princess of the Stars, lying capsized in the
Sibuyan Sea less than a kilometer from the shore of the municipality
of San Fernando, Romblon. Some of the pictures feature in the
background a lush, saw-tooth-shaped mountain called Guiting-Guiting,
one of the natural wonders of the Philippines.
The tragedy that befell the inter-island ferry
owned by Sulpicio Lines graphically illustrated the perils of
corporate avarice. However, the mountain that provides a magnificent
backdrop to the ill-fated ship is itself in danger of falling
victim—also to business greed.
Guiting-Guiting was declared a “natural
park” in 1996 on the strength of Proclamation No. 746 promulgated
by then-President Fidel V. Ramos. It is one of the few remaining
sites of rich biodiversity in our archipelago, and hosts numerous
flora and fauna that are endemic only to the protected area. But
that has not stopped certain commercial interests from trying to
spoil, nay, ravage the unique ecology of Sibuyan and, in particular,
Mount Guiting-Guiting, which is the island’s natural centerpiece.
Mount Guiting-Guiting has long been known to
contain reserves of iron and nickel as well as precious metals,
notably gold. In fact, some islanders make a living out of gold
panning. Its mineral reserves, however, have caused some quarters to
cast covetous eyes on Sibuyan and even the protected area around and
including its fabled mountain.
Last year a company tried to pass itself off as
a “small-scale mining operation” and began bringing earth-moving
and other equipment to the island. It immediately met stiff
resistance from the islanders.
Matters came to a head on October 3, when a
security guard hired by the mining company opened fire on a group of
locals protesting the mining operations, mortally wounding one of
the protesters. The killing took place at Sitio Olango in Barangay
España in the municipality of San Fernando. The fatality was
42-year-old Armin Marin, described as a former member of the
environment group WWF-Philippines and a municipal councilor of San
Fernando.
The incident managed to grab headlines in Manila
and caught the attention of then newly appointed Secretary Lito
Atienza of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),
among others.
Actually, the DENR had no hand in the permit
granted to the mining company. All that the company needed to
do—since it described its operations as merely
“small-scale”—was to secure the approval of local government
authorities, which it did.
Atienza, however, decided to step in when it was
revealed that the mining company was using heavy equipment, belying
its claim of small-scale operations. “Small-scale mining means you
only use picks and shovels to dig out mineral ore from the
ground,” the DENR chief pointed out at a press forum, which was
also attended by a large delegation of Sibuyan islanders.
Then and there Atienza vowed that if any mining
company were to apply for a permit from DENR to operate on Sibuyan
he would reject it outright. The Sibuyanons were relieved and
elated.
The uproar over the killing of Armin Marin by a
watchman employed by Sibuyan Nickel Properties Development Corp.
last year eventually compelled the provincial authorities in Romblon
to withdraw the permit issued to the company. Over a dozen other
anti-mining advocates have reportedly died in the struggle to keep
Sibuyan’s protected area pristine, but few details are available
to confirm this claim.
Some months back, Sibuyan Nickel began
dismantling its equipment, indicating its abandonment of its
“small-scale mining” (wink, wink) operations on the island.
However, while this was going on the islanders received reports that
no less than 27 applications to commence mining in several areas in
Sibuyan are pending with either DENR or local authorities or both.
According to documents accessed by concerned
Sibuyanons from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, a sub-agency of
DENR, the mining applications cover the villages of Canjalon, Otod,
Azagra, Campalingo and Panangcalan, all in San Fernando
municipality. Other villages on the island, including portions of
the protected area around Mount Guiting-Guiting are reportedly
targeted also.
Guesting at the Kapihan sa Sulo media forum last
weekend, former San Fernando mayor Dindo Rios expressed alarm over
the 27 pending mining applications.
“Do they intend to level Mount Guiting-Guiting?”
Rios asked. “If the pending applications are approved, those
mining operations will completely destroy the island.”
A reiteration of the DENR chief’s
determination to block any mining in Sibuyan should reassure the
worried islanders—and affirm Mount Guiting-Guiting as a
state-protected natural park.
dansoy26@yahoo.com
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