Haribon Foundation features women in the book Stories from the Mines… of struggle, sisterhood and solidarity released by Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM); these are the women “who continue to campaign for human dignity, biodiversity conservation and sustainable communities.”

Beverly Longid was born in Lepanto, Mankayan. Her lolo (grandfather), a worker from the Lepanto mines, raised her and her three siblings. An articulate speaker, Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. would have benefitted a lot from her as their organic resource person for their community relations. Until, Longid witnessed directly the difficulties experienced by laborers (and their families) working for the mining company. And so she has made it her life’s mission—to speak the truth about the life under Lepanto mines.

“Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company would always say that the Ibaloi people, especially in Mankayan, should be grateful to the company, for the education of their children. But why do they keep saying this? It is not as if our parents and grandparents owe them this. The workers have worked hard; it was not an act of charity,” Longid expressed.

Longid said that it was thru her participation in the Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance—from being an education officer to chair, and DINTEG (Cordillera Indigenous Peoples Legal Center), she came to understand the plight of the mine workers. The Lepanto Employees Union held strikes in 2002 and 2005, and the workers were demanding for higher wages.

The mining company was earning so much on the back of the low wages given to workers. It was during these strikes that Longid really understood the dangers that come hand in hand with being a miner. Entering the mining site is never easy—scorching hot inside, no fresh air, and the lives of the workers are always at risk, as the tunnels may collapse anytime. “With these dangers faced by workers, their wage is unjustly low.”

While the company was declaring increased earnings, the mine workers and their families were attesting that their lives and the conditions in their communities have not improved, if not worsened. Longid saw with her very eyes how mining has destroyed the Ibaloi’s agricultural and pasture lands. “In fact, rarely do we see rice fields in Benguet, especially in Itogon and Mankayan. Wala na nga yata [I think there’s none,]” Longid said.

Then there’s the sinking of Mankayan. Longid would remember growing up in Mankayan with wide land areas. There was this particular photo she had with her and her ate (older sister) taken in front of the municipal hall, and there was this huge portion of land in the background. But this land, as well as the other areas, could no longer be seen today. These have sunk.

What can be seen today are open pits throughout the province. What cannot be seen today are pine trees, creaks, rivers and forest cover.

For Longid, there is one most common sight today in the Mankayan communities—a long line of pails waiting for their turn to be filled up with water, a precious resource in this dried up land. She asked, “Why can’t the company provide this service to the people?”

Lepanto has been in operation for 75 years yet what does it have to show for? “A golf course,” according to Longid. The hospital that the company put up supposedly to provide health services to the community is not well-equipped, that’s why residents still need to go to Baguio or La Trinidad for better medical care.

She began, “I really don’t see a better or more progressive life for the communities affected by mining.

“My advocacy for mining to be genuinely responsible, pro-environment and support to national industrialization was developed much from my social involvement,” Longid added. Her social involvement can be traced from her being a student activist and a member of League of Filipino Students, and then later a member and officer of PIGSA (Progressive Igorots for Social Action), which literally means in Ilocano, strength.

She continued, “If not for the indigenous peoples movement, I will not be able to appreciate the defense of ancestral lands, even if am a full-blooded Igorot. I will not be able to appreciate and understand the interrelationship of things.”

“Hindi naman tayo kontra mining per se. Tingin ko kailangan pa rin naman ang pagmimina kasi totoo rin naman na kailangan natin ng kaldero, computer, medical equipment, etc. Ayaw naman natin bumalik sa Stone Age kahit na katutubo tayo [I don’t oppose mining per se. I think we still mining because it’s true that we need cauldrons, computer, medical equipment, etc. We don’t want to go back to the Stone Age even if we belong to tribes],” Longid further explained.

She added, ‘Sa pambansang industrialisasyon ay mahalaga pa rin ang pagmimina. Mas kailangan lang talagang pagbuhusan ng panahon ang research at pag-develop ng mas maayos at ligtas na pamamaraan sa pagmimina. Kasama din ang pagpalit ng framework sa mining—mining na hindi profit-driven but mining towards national industrialization [Mining is important for national industrialization. And we need to spend more time on research and development of safe mining practices. We also need to change the mining framework for mining that is not profit-driven but mining toward national industrialization].”

And so today, with this advocacy, Longid brings her activism to a different platform—Congress. She is the first nominee for the indigenous people’s party-list, KATRIBU. Longid recognizes that mining is an issue besetting indigenous peoples not just in the Cordillera region, but also throughout the country.

Longid, as the chairman of KATRIBU, was part of the consultations held nationwide in relation to the campaign against the Mining Act of 1995. As a concrete result of the series of consultations, a peoples’ mining bill was drafted, and was brought to the House of Representatives. With this proposed law, Longid is not just earning the ire of Lepanto Mines, but the entire mining industry. And this is one of the tough challenges that Longid would face in the 2013 Congress, should KATRIBU wins a seat, or two.

Judy Pasimio is the coordinator of LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights). LILAK is a collective of women’s rights advocates and feminists for the advancement of indigenous women’s rights.