Hers was a political fight maybe likened to the biblical battle between David and Goliath, where the “small unknown fighter” toppled down his giant enemy using a sling.

Bag-ao, concurrent caretaker representative of Dinagat Islands, won the congressional race against Gwendolyn Ecleo, the youngest daughter of Ruben Ecleo Sr., founder of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), with a margin of 3,246 votes.

She got 25,615 votes against Ecleo’s 22,369.

Bag-ao’s total number of votes was actually higher than PBMA’s “default leader” and matriarch, Gov. Glenda “Mommy Glen” Ecleo, who garnered 23,385 votes. The Ecleos ran under the Nacionalista Party.

Ecleo defeated her daughter Geraldine “Jade” Ecleo in the gubernatorial race. She is on to her second term for Dinagat province that was created in 2006.

Geraldine teamed up with Bag-ao under the Liberal Party in going against her own family who has ruled Dinagat Islands for four decades.

“I think it is also good that Jade is an insider. She has the integrity to talk about her family because she is part of the family,” Bag-ao earlier said in response to a query that Geraldine is still an Ecleo and she, Geraldine, would be conflicting her position against political dynasties.

Bag-ao has become the anathema in rallies involving the PBMA, a group largely considered a cult. The “Orange Team” of the Ecleos during the campaign period maligned her as a “thief, whore and bag-ang (molar teeth).”

In her speeches witnessed by MindaNews five days before Monday’s election, Bag-ao said she knew about the personal attacks and character assassination “but I cannot be angry, I really am not angry because in the first place, there is no truth to it.”

Dubbed as the “Team Yellow,” Bag-ao said she leaves it to Geraldine to respond to the mudslinging hurled by the Ecleo camp against her (Bag-ao) during the campaign period.

At the height of their miting de avance, a supporter of the Ecleo camp, identified as Ric Cabral, took the stage and fiercely attacked Bag-ao’s character for about an hour.

But the attacks apparently did not deter voters to choose Bag-ao.

A head teacher from Libjo, where Bag-ao slightly edged Ecleo (3,630 and 3,596 votes, respectively), said that Bag-ao won because she “did something in so short a time” contrary to the decades-old rule of the Ecleos where basic services were reportedly poor or at worst dismal.

Libjo is considered a bailiwick of the Ecleos.

The teacher, who only identified herself as “Mel,” said she voted for Bag-ao “like most teachers she knew” because the activist-lawmaker gave a clear platform to address the nagging poverty in the province.

In an earlier interview, Bag-ao said that through the P137.4 million Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel fund released last December, more than a month after she assumed as caretaker representative of Dinagat Islands in October 2012, P5 million was infused to the Caraga Regional Hospital in Surigao City for the immediate medical assistance of Dinagat residents.

Three thousand scholars were enrolled at the Surigao del Norte State University (SDNSU) and other schools while road and bridge constructions connecting the towns of San Jose and Loreto are ongoing, she said.

The PDAF was also used to purchase six 4×4 utility vehicles worth P1.5 million each, which include a Mitsubishi Montero, Toyota Hilux and Fortuner sports utility vehicles.

She used the PDAF to also purchase 77 units of multi-cab patrol vehicles costing P275,00 each, which were distributed to various barangays in the district.

The PDAF release was criticized as a “political patronage” since Bag-ao, an Akbayan partylist representative whose party mates are also holding key positions in national government, could use this to her advantage.

The Ecleos saw that as her biggest advantage against them.

San Jose town Mayor Alan II Ecleo said in an interview on Tuesday, after the proclamation of her mother Glenda and brother Benglen as governor and vice governor, respectively, that Bag-ao’s edge was her “wide network.”

“Well she is the incumbent (caretaker of the legislative district) and she has a wide network at her disposal,” Allan II said.

Benglen also earlier voiced similar criticisms through Facebook, that Bag-ao is using the “money of his brother,“ the dismissed lawmaker and PBMA Supreme Master Ruben Ecleo Jr., who was convicted for murder and graft charges, for her political interest.

‘Bloc vote’

Dinagat, which is synonymous to the Ecleos and the PBMA, is considered the biggest source for “bloc voting” in past electoral exercises in Surigao del Norte.

Before its separation from the mother province in 2006, politicians raring to win the elections covet the PBMA vote.

The bloc vote of the PBMA, estimated at 63,000, could easily sway the results in favor of whoever gets the blessing of the Ecleos.

But the recent elections, however, showed a different scenario, “swaying away” from the so-called “one voice, one leader” bloc voting of the PBMA.

Alleged vote buying on the part of the Ecleos took place in some towns that ironically are identified as Ecleo bailiwicks: San Jose, Dinagat, Cagdianao and Libjo.

In Libjo, Bag-ao posted a slim margin of 34 votes over Gwendolyn Ecleo, at 3,630 and 3,506, respectively.

Geraldine Ecleo, who ran and lost against her mother Glenda in the gubernatorial position, alleged that her mother’s camp spent millions of pesos to buy votes, ranging from P500 to P2,000 per voter.

“I worry because how will they get the money back,” she said.

Fr. Almario Ramada, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) chair in Surigao del Norte, said on Tuesday they received reports of vote buying in Dinagat town allegedly by the Ecleo camp.

On the other hand, the Ecleo camp, through Benglen, accused Bag-ao’s camp of resorting to harassment and violence against PBMA members in the town of Loreto to ensure a wide margin.

Loreto is Bag-ao’s hometown. She won there and also in the municipalities of Libjon and Tubajon.

In the four other towns considered strongholds of the Ecleos, Bag-ao mustered enough votes to win the congressional race. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

“There will be no protest. I have to accept it because I know wala naman dayaan (there’s no cheating),”the younger Ecleo told MindaNews hours after the proclamation of her mother.

The mother beat the daughter by a slim margin of 625 votes.

“It’s the princess and the queen who competed, and the princess had lost. But that is okay, I am still a princess,” Ecleo said.

Ecleo, considered the more “charismatic” of the Ecleo siblings, would continue to support congresswomen-elect Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao, who defeated Gwendolyn Ecleo, the youngest of the Ecleo children with Glenda or “Mommy Glen.”

Baga-o and Geraldine Ecleo ran under the ruling Liberal Party.

“I will not leave her during the rest of her term. I will be her project coordinator for Dinagat,” Ecleo said.

She said she will also continue her programs under the Jade Ecleo Foundation, which provides scholarships for poor but deserving students in Dinagat Islands.

“I still have a lot of things to do for the Dinagatnons and my vision for them and the province will continue (while leading a civilian life), ” Ecleo said.

Strained family relationship

The crack in family relations started when Geraldine ran for vice governor in 2010 without the support of her family.

Allan I, the mayor of Basilisa in his speech during the miting de avance of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), related that her sister also got hurt when the family decided not to support her bid for governor.

The PBMA, a sect founded by family patriarch Ruben Ecleo Sr. in 1965, was said to practice “bloc voting” during elections.

Allan I said he and Geraldine talked on the phone before the filing of candidacy to convince her to run for the congressional seat, which the latter refused.

Geraldine’s decision to run against her mother further caused the rift in the family.

She said her running against her mother was propelled by a “deep reason to spare her from the stress of work due to the latter’s health condition and age.

“Mommy Glen” underwent a triple heart by-pass operation a few years ago, Geraldine noted.

Geraldine insisted that she fought her mother in the gubernatorial race “to safeguard her.”

“How can a daughter allow her mother to go through this situation? I am only thinking of her condition,” she said.

“Now that she is still governor, she cannot go out and visit far flung areas because it will be difficult for her,” Geraldine noted.

But the daughter said she “was thankful that she did not win because I don’t think I can handle the thought that my mother will die if she will lose, which she will if I won. I don’t want to be the cause of my mother’s death.”

She said she will not be running again against her mother in future elections.

But if Gwendolyn will run, I will run against her, Geraldine, the incumbent vice governor, said.

No show

As early as Tuesday morning when canvassing resumed after being delayed for almost nine hours due to delayed transmission of results from the municipal level, talks of Geraldine conceding to her mother already spread at the halls of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan where the provincial canvassing was taking place.

As the official results were read and the crowd cheered when the elder Ecleo was proclaimed winner later in the afternoon, talks of Geraldine coming to the canvassing area still persisted.

Inside her house later in the night, Geraldine admitted she would have gone to the proclamation with her party mate Bag-ao but the presence of supporters flocking to her residence expressing their disappointment stopped her from going.

“I really wanted to cry while taking a shower but I couldn’t,” she said.

Facing reporters after the proclamation, a teary-eyed Bag-ao expressed gratitude for her victory and sadness to her party mates who lost, especially Geraldine.

Geraldine’s loss, however, did not change the fact that the Ecleos still rule the province, which is touted as a mystical island for its beautiful and scenic spots that are still largely untouched, except for the bonsai forest that is now bulldozed because of mining operations.

“It’s still the same, it is still Ecleo. The situation will not be changed because they still rule the place,” lawyer Victor Bernal said in an earlier interview.

Bernal was one of the lawyers who filed a protest against the creation of Dinagat Islands as a separate province of Surigao del Norte.

Dinagat Islands is considered one of the poorest provinces in the country.

During the campaign period, Geraldine criticized the PBMA leadership for making false hopes on people, especially for equating political governance to “divine providence.”

She also said that for several years that her mother and siblings have controlled Dinagat Islands as local chief executives, the province is still poor. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Dinagat town mayor Gwendolyn Ecleo (Nacionalista Party) lost the House race to Liberal Party’s Arlene Bag-ao.

Tubajon and Loreto towns delivered votes for Bag-ao and other Liberal Party candidates. But the five other towns went for the Ecleos or their allies.

In a rare intra-family matchup though, Gwendolyn’s mother, Glenda B. Ecleo, won by a slim margin of 625 votes against her daughter and Bag-ao ally Geraldine “Jade” Ecleo who had already conceded.

“I am happy of course. To my (fellow) Dinagatnons, I am thankful for your help that’s why I won. I hope and pray to God that He will bless us all and keep us healthy,” Glenda or “Mommy Glen” said after her proclamation at about 4 p.m. Tuesday.

His son and running mate, Benglen, trounced Liberal Party candidate Merly Lagroma.

“I am sad and happy because my sister lost. But she fought an honorable fight,” Benglen, younger brother of fugitive former Dinagat congressman Ruben Ecleo Jr., said.

Ruben Jr., who evaded a prison term for the murder of his wife, became “supreme master” of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA), which was founded by his father and namesake.

Allan Ecleo II, who was re-elected as San Jose town mayor, said the family is happy with the results but also expressed regrets over Gwendolyn’s loss.

Asked to react on Bag-ao’s win, he said the congresswoman had the advantage as an incumbent aside from enjoying the President’s support.

Allan Ecleo I, Allan II’s twin brother, won as mayor of Basilisa town.

Glenda made use of her role in making Dinagat Islands a province to ensure continued support from her constituents who are mostly PBMA members. Considered one of the poorest in the country, the province used to be part of Surigao del Norte.

Dinagat Islands’ creation as a province faced a legal challenge before the Supreme Court. But on Sept. 20, 2012, the High Tribunal upheld a 2011 decision declaring as constitutional the law creating the province.

PBMA, widely regarded as a cult for its mystical beliefs, is the Ecleo family’s main political base. According to a report by Rappler, the group has around 140,000 members in the country and abroad. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Bag-ao of the Liberal Party got 25,615 votes against the Nacionalista Party’s Gwendolyn Ecleo’s 22,369 votes or a lead by 3,246 votes.

Bag-ao was appointed “caretaker” representative of Dinagat by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte in October last year after the elected congressman, Ruben Ecleo, Jr. was expelled by the House for a murder conviction.

Gwendolyn (NP) is the youngest daughter of Ruben Ecleo, Sr.., founder of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, and Dinagat Governor Glenda “Mommy Glen” Ecleo (NP) who almost lost her reelection bid to another daughter, Geraldine, who ran under the Liberal Party.

“Mommy Glen” won by a margin of only 625 votes. She won 23,385 votes against Geraldine’s 22,760.

At 3:40 p.m., supporters cheered as the reelected governor arrived at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan hall for the proclamation, followed by her son Benglen, provincial administrator and newly-elected vice governor.

“The sun shines bright in Dinagat Island because Kaka is the epitome of principled and truly capable public service,” said Patricia Sarenas, chair of the Mindanao Coalition of Development Network.

Kaloy Manlupig, chair of Balay Mindanaw, congratulated Bag-ao for “finally winning the opportunity to realize her dreams for her island. We hope she does not start another dynasty which has characterized the island for many years.”

Lawyer Mary Ann Arnado, secretary-general of the Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus, said “Congress needs and brilliant, hardworking and highly committed lawyer like Bag-ao. Her victory is a resounding affirmation of the saying that you cannot put a good man and in this case, a great woman down. Her place is way, way up the glass ceiling in Congress. Her stint as Akbayan representative may be short-lived but God showed her to a much bigger plan.” (Vanesa Almeda/MindaNews)

Akbayan Rep. Arlene Bag-ao said her lawyers are “seriously preparing” charges against three men who were arrested Sunday allegedly in the possession of a firearm registered under the name of Libjo Vice Mayor Romeo Villarosa.

Villarosa is a known supporter of Bag-ao’s opponent, incumbent Dinagat town mayor Gwendolyn Ecleo.

Bag-ao believes the three suspects were out to kill her.

The three suspects were arrested 2pm Sunday at a beach resort in Sitio Kadaya, Barangay Sta. Cruz of this town owned by Mayor Romeo Vargas.

Allegedly seized from the suspects who were identified through their identification cards as Hilario M. Destura, Mariano S. Dagala and Daniel V. Dawat were an improvised M4 armalite, cash amounting to P134,560, mobile phones, cell cards, IDs, personal effects like bonnets, shawls, backpacks and several other items.

The three are reportedly working as municipal employees in Libjo.

Vargas said he saw the suspects waiting for hours on board a motorboat about 2 p.m. Sunday.

Tubajon police chief Insp. Arnel Banaken said the suspects will likely be slapped with violation of the election gun ban but declined to comment on the possibility that they were planning to kill Bag-ao, saying they were still investigating the incident.

Vargas, a supporter of Bag-ao’s, asked the men why they were at his resort and reported their presence to the police after seeing the nozzle of an armalite behind one of the suspects.

In a meeting Sunday night with Bag-ao, Banaken confirmed that the firearm belongs to Villarosa. He said it is licensed complete with a permit to carry.

MindaNews tried to get an interview with Villarosa through his allies but they refused to issue a statement.

Bag-ao is the first non-member of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) to contest the Ecleos’ political hold on Dinagat.

The PBMA is a quasi-religious cult founded by Gwendolyn’s father, Ruben Ecleo Sr., and has since become their family’s political power base.

“There are factual and circumstantial evidences that are leading to the probability that it (murder attempt) is true,” Bag-ao said pointing to the presence of the pumpboat that was on standby for hours inside a place where she was expected to arrive a day before the election.

She would usually stay at the resort every time she visits Loreto, her hometown.

“If they said they were there for some business, why then should they be carrying a gun? And why were they there for so long?”

“I think this is already a desperate move. Because they cannot convince the people through legal means they’ll resort to violence to silence their opponents,” she said.

Bag-ao added that if her opponents can do it to her, they can do it to the ordinary people of Dinagat.

She said she will pursue the filing of charges “to give justice to the people”.

“In this sense, I also want to bring back the respect of the people in the government institutions, elections, and governance by letting those who commit illegal acts answerable to the law,” she said. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Manuel Felicilda, acting provincial and municipal election officer, said the town was declared  an “area of concern” after sightings of armed men a few weeks ago, particularly in the island-barangay of Hibosong.

But Major Apollo Abao, assistant provincial police chief, clarified that the area has been placed under Comelec control because of the 2007 election-related violence where a house of a barangay captain was peppered with bullets resulting to a death of a supporter.

Abao said 60 members of the Regional Mobile Group of the Philippine National Police (PNP) are now scattered around the seven municipalities of the province plus an additional 34 troops of the Army’s 30^th Infantry Battalion. (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews) 

Aptly titled “Iska Pamilya, Iska Boto Kontra Mina,” the jingle – written by homegrown talent singer-songwriter and producer Zandro C. Urbiztondo – is original, crisp and upfront.

And unlike most campaign jingles whose music and lyrics are copycats of popular songs like Gangnam Style, Macarena, among others, “Iska …” talks of the fight of Carcanmadcarlanons against mining and the destruction it brings to the province’s waters and agricultural lands. Urbiztondo, called “Popoy” by family and friends, says that mining thus affects the people’s principal source of livelihood – fishing and farming.

Carcanmadcarlan stands for the five towns in Surigao del Sur affected by mining – Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza. Carcanmadcarlanons are the people residing in these municipalities.

The townsfolk, including the indigenous peoples (IPs), are in the forefront in the fight against the continued operations of Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC).

Cantilan, known as the “Cradle of five towns” in Surigao del Sur, leads the pack in this fight, and the election period is the arena for the pro and anti-mining camps.

Urbiztondo, in an interview Tuesday night, admitted it took him a month to conceptualize the song and put it into music for two days, producing it in his own studio, Studio Z in Los Angeles, California, and uploaded it on YouTube on April 9.

Since it was uploaded, it already generated 1,961 likes as of Wednesday evening.

All comments posted on YouTube and the Cantilangnon FB page were favorable. Here are a few, in their original form, in netspeak, typos, errors and all, with this writer’s attempt at translation:

rafael102493: daan pa ako anti sauna.,mga tao man gud ya mag huna2x ang ila tag huna2x ky ang kwrta ra..e2n..di kon damage..Marajaw ky ni kontra ra gjud tnan tao dd.on (I was already anti even before. But the people, they don’t think. What they think about is money. Now, the environment is damaged. It’s good all the people there are now against it.)

scot cale: idol….grabe ka ganing na kanta. ka abtik mo gajud…henyo ka idollllll. (Idol … the song is great! You’re really good … you’re a genius idol)

riverstyxhcb: kontrahon ta gjud ang mina…. sa tagsa tagsa nato ka pamilya. (We will fight mining … in each of our families.)

jasonseril: like times 10000000. padajon ta! (onwards!)

Prince Arreza: Poy ak ini gajod patukaron sa ato radyo….salamat sa pag share, (Poy, I will really air this in our local radio. Thank you for sharing.)

The ditty came out in the Cantilangnon Facebook page and on YouTube on the same day and has since made rounds in local radio stations in Tandag City. It is also used in campaign sorties of Cantilan reelectionist Mayor Genito Guardo.

A dance routine is also starting to create a following from young students who danced “Iska…” during the recently held “Save our Surigao Run for the Environment” Earth Day celebration in the same town.

The song is upbeat and has a dance tempo with lyrics written in the Cantilangnon vernacular. It urges CarCanMadCarLanons to unite for the protection of the environment and vote against politicians who are pro-mining.

It urges voters not to get blinded by money with the lines “Koman eleksyon paninguhaon ta, sa kwarta dili ta magpakabuta.” (Let us strive during this election that we will not be blinded with money.)

Here’s the lyrics of the song “Iska Pamilya, Iska Boto Kontra Mina” and this reporter’s attempt at translation:

I.

Dali na magkahiusa ta tanan (Come on let us unite)
Tanan higaya tanan kalumonan (All our friends, all our relatives)
Protektahan ta an kinaijahan (Let us protect the environment)
Dinhi sa Carcanmadcarlan (Here in Carcanmadcarlan)
Koman eleksyon paninguhaon ta (Let us strive for this election)
Sa kwarta dili ta magpakabuta (That we will not be blinded with money)
Carcanmadcarlanon magkahiusa ta (Carcanmadcarlanon let us unite)
Iska pamilya iska boto kontra mina (One family, one vote, against mining)

II

Uno na an mga bukid ta (What has happened to our mountains)
Sauna karajaw kagana (Before it was beautiful and splendid)
Kuman nanga upos guba na (Now they’re gone and destroyed)
Kay ila man tagtiwasan (Because they finished it off)
An kadaut dili hunungan (They will not stop the destruction)
Mga kabang sa Cabangahan (The patches of earth in Cabangahan)

III

An Carac-an na tapad ra (Carac-an which is beside it)
An tubig kuman nalipa na (The water now is dirty)
Irigasyon way kapuslanan (Irrigation is useless)
An ato mga basakan kasagulan na nan kaitan (Our farmlands are now mixed with orange clay mud)
Uno pa may ato katamnan (What is left for us to plant)

(Balik Koro)

IV

Uno man kinta nan sauna (How come in the past)
Pila ka henerasyon ta (For how many generations)
Yay mina tagsaligan ta (There was no mining that we relied on)
SA pagtanom sa pangisda ra nakalampos naka eskuyla (Through farming and fishing we  succeeded and got an education)
Sa mga mahinlo na pangita (Through clean and decent living)
An mga suba nangapuya (Our rivers have gone red)
Klaro sa mga pokot ta (It is clearly seen in our fishnets)
Uno pay gusto mo makita (What more do you want to see)
Simbako kun magbaha naman (God forbid that a flooding occurs)
Mapareho ta sa Cagayan (We will end up like what happened in Cagayan)
Hain ra kaha ta puyuta (Where do you think we will end up)

(Rap)

Lugar na hinigugma imo lang ba pasagdan (The place that you love, will you just neglect it)
Sa mga estranghero imo lang palipaan (To strangers, you will allow them to pollute it)
An ato kadayanan (Our roads)
An ato kadagatan (Our seas)
Hasta na kalangitan (Even our skies)
Puno na nan kaitan (Is already filled with orange laterite mud)
Pero pagbantay darling (But be careful darling)
Sa mga paling paling (Those who are indecisive)
Sauna mga anti kuman mga pro mining (Who were anti but are now pro-mining)
Kay lagi sa mina mahamok na kwarta (Since there is so much money in mining)
Ugsa namag-ilog mga nganga nolinya (That’s why they wrestled and line up)
Ugsa man tatay nanay mano mana pagbantay (That’s why dad, mom, sister and brother be careful)
An pilion nato siguradohon anti (Let us make sure we chose the anti)
Kay kun imo pilion iton mga bakakon (Because if you choose the liars)
Nagpa bibang-bibang (Sneaky like the monitor lizard)
Im bungsuyan minahon! (They’ll mine your front yard!)

Koro

Dali na magkahiusa ta tanan! (mintras sajo pa) (Come let us unite [while it is still early]
Tanan higaya, tanan kalumonan (kalumonan dali na!) (All friends, all relatives [all relatives come!]
Protektahan ta an kinaijahan (Protektahan ta!) (Let us protect the environment [Protect it!])
Dinhi sa Carcanmadcarlan (Iska Pamilya, Iska Boto Kontra Mina)   (Here in Carcanmadcarlan [One family, one vote against mining])
Kuman eleksyon paninguhaon ta (Paninguhaon ta!) (Today’s election let us make sure [Make sure!])
Sa kwarta dili ta magpa kabuta (Ajaw!) (We will not be blinded by money [No!])
Carcanmadcarlan magkahiusa ta (Dali na, Dali na) (Carcanmadcarlan let us unite [Hurry, hurry]
Iska Pamilya Iska Boto Kontra Mina! 3x (One Family One Vote Against Mining)

Here’s the song on YouTube:

Jegie Pereda, MMDC vice president for operations, confirmed Wednesday the company closed its Cabangahan operations but did not say for how long the suspension will last.

“We cannot enter the area because of the barricade. It is temporary (closure). As of now, we are operating at another area not affected by the barricade,” the official said.

Members of the Manobo tribe have been barricading the road in Barangay Cabangahan leading to the mining operations of MMDC in the past several weeks.

Pereda did not disclose where the new mining operation is but anti-mining groups claimed the company is operating in Sitio Pili at Barangay Panikian in Carrascal. The mining executive did not confirm or deny this.

This town’s Mayor Vicente “Baby Boy” Pimentel separately confirmed that the mining firm shutdown its Cabangahan operations and has pulled out its equipment allegedly due to threats from Lumads to burn them.

Pimentel told MindaNews last Tuesday that it will be a “great loss” for the people of Cantilan to lose the investment of MMDC, accusing anti-mining groups, including the Cantilan local government unit, of depriving its people of the economic benefits of mining.

“Look at our municipality, we have our heavy equipment, our new hospital which I have upgraded and soon its state-of-art equipment will be available for free to our people. I just pity the people of Cantilan that they are not enjoying the benefits of mining,” the mayor said.

The mayor, known for criticizing anti-mining groups, blamed Manobo tribal chieftain and evangelical pastor Jimmy “Datu Dagsaan” Bat-ao as the “troublemaker” that led MMDC to suspend its operation in Cantilan.

Pimentel alleged that Bat-ao and his clan asked a very “unreasonable demand” of P50 million outside the one percent royalty fee mining firms are mandated to give to indigenous peoples.

The mayor disclosed that MMDC will transfer its mining operation in his town, which could further boost the municipality’s income to an estimated P220 million in 2014 from P185 million in 2012.

The transfer of MMDC’s operation could pave the way for the cityhood of the town with the increased revenue that will be contributed by the mining firm.

Mum

Pereda declined to comment on the alleged P50 million demand, saying he is “not aware of those figures because I am not part of the negotiating team.”

“Of course, the company will not agree to unreasonable demands,” he said, noting the barricade is illegal and that the company intends to file charges against the protest leaders.

Told that the Lumads will not lift the barricade even with the company’s closure announcement, Pereda reiterated the barricade is illegal and the “law will prevail in due time.”

Get out of our land

Bat-ao said he was happy at the development “because this is what we want in the first place.”

The Bat-ao and Hunanhunan clans of Barangay Cabangahan are claimants to areas covered by MMDC’s mining operation.

Earlier, Bat-ao said they want MMDC out of their ancestral lands and to pay them damages amounting to P150 million for the desecration of their burial grounds and other sacred places and the destruction of their main water source.

The “hawudon” or elder of the Bat-ao clan also reiterated an earlier stance that their demand is “just and based on our customary laws and constitutional rights.”

Bat-ao said the demand set by their family is based on the customary laws of “salaon” or penalizing the “dayuhan” or outsider for desecrating their burial and sacred grounds.

He denied the P50 million demand, as alleged by Pimentel, as well as demanding a royalty fee and a 10 percent share solely for their family.

“Those are all lies. If you are the land owner and somebody uses your property without asking permission from you, will you not demand payment from the one who used what is yours?” Bat-ao asked.

He also admitted that there was a March 18 meeting held between the Bat-ao family and MMDC, but there was no agreement reached based on their demand.

The Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) requires companies operating in ancestral lands to obtain the Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) of the tribe.

“Is it not written in the law that before anyone can use and exploit our lands, they (private companies) should ask and consult us?” Bat-ao said, noting they were not consulted in the FPIC process.

Bat-ao said they also wanted the mining company out of their ancestral lands because “the truth is that there is little that they have contributed to the welfare of the people in Cabangahan.”

He cited that of the 1,000 Manobo residents in the village, the company employs only 137 individuals working on a contractual basis but allegedly out of jobs since last October.

The scholarships offered by MMDC also benefited a handful of youth only, Bat-ao said.

‘Tulisan’

Mayor Pimentel, who is one of the stockholders of CTP Construction and Mining Corp. based in the town, branded Bat-ao a notorious “tulisan” (bandit) in the province for carrying out such “unreasonable demand” from MMDC.

He also said that Bat-ao “is no longer a Lumad Cabangahan resident because his children and immediate family members are already immersed in the mainland.”

The mayor also lambasted the anti-mining groups for displacing people from their work as a result of the stoppage of operation of MMDC in Cabangahan.

But Bat-ao was not affected by the accusation, saying he leaves it to “Magbabaja” or the tribe’s God to forgive the mayor.

Bat-ao also denied that anti-mining groups, which include the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Tandag, the Cantilan LGU, irrigators’ group and other socio-civic organizations, were behind the Lumad’s barricade against the MMDC.

“The anti-mining groups are not part of this. They are only offering their solidarity to our cause as people who are fighting for what is ours,” Bat-ao said in the vernacular.

Bat-ao said that 18 Manobo elders have asked him to file charges against MMDC but he declined because he is already a signatory to another case filed against the mining firm that led to the issuance of a temporary environmental protection order. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Initial reports from the Provincial Police Office based in Tandag, Surigao del Sur revealed that one of the possible motives in the killing of Manobo tribal chieftain Manuel Gardigo “could be personal grudge and retaliatory acts” from people he may have crossed path with in fighting illegal logging activities.

Gardigo, known also as Datu Kajug-jug, was shot by three unidentified gunmen at around 2:30 a.m. Thursday while on the way home from the wake of a neighbor-cousin.

Police Officer 2 Charlemagne Salang, of the Surigao provincial police office, said that the 63-year old victim was shot five times using a .45 caliber handgun 50 meters away from his house.

Gardigo was chair of Kalasag, a Manobo tribal organization active in the local fight against illegal logging. His group is also opposing the logging concession of Surigao Development Corp. that also covers the towns of Carmen and Tago, also in Surigao del Sur.

Salang said that initial police investigations linked the tribal chieftain’s murder to his long-standing involvement in the campaign against illegal logging activities in the area.

Green Mindanao Association, Inc., a partner non-government organization of Kalasag, and the province-wide Kahugpungan ng mga Manobo ug Mamanwa (KATRIMMA), said in a statement that the slain chieftain had revealed to a friend in April “that his group apprehended an illegal logging operation allegedly run by a councilor in the area.”

Green Mindanao, which is also conducting a separate investigation on the killing, disclosed that prior to Gardigo’s death, he went to Tandag City to process some documents for a project involving the government’s National Greening Program.

He also reportedly signed a check amounting to P1.4 million on the same day and will encash it together with a KATRIMMA representative on May 2.

Nokie Calunsag, Green Mindanao spokesperson, said they are looking into the possibility that the grudge the police believed may have triggered the murder was caused by the group’s plan to implement systems or practices that will stop illegal logging activities in their area.

Gardigo’s daughter Aida challenged authorities to conduct a deeper investigation and immediately bring to jail those behind the murder.

“We want justice for the killing of my father, we love our father so much as we know his good performance to our fellow indigenous peoples…The people who did this showed no mercy,” she said in a statement.

Our family believed that hired assassins killed him “because the shooting incident was very clean and calculated,” she added. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Nokie Calunsag, information officer of Green Mindanao Association Inc. said Datu Manuel “Kajugjug” Gardigo, a Manobo chieftain from Brgy. Agsam in the town of Lanuza, was shot by still unidentified gunmen five times in the different parts of his body at around 2 a.m.

Gardigo was chair of the Lanuza-based Kalasag, a group known for its anti-illegal logging campaign in the area and its opposition to the logging concession of Surigao Development Corporation in 2006 until the company’s closure last year.

A MindaNews source who asked not to be named for security reasons, said Gardigo was supposed go to the bank with his colleagues Thursday morning to withdraw an undisclosed amount for a tree-planting activity initiated by the National Greening Program of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews) 

Organizers said around 5,000 participants came from the towns of Carrascal, Cantllan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza (collectively called CarCanMadCarLan, the areas that are in the forefront of the struggle against mining.

“This is a demonstration of their sentiment for a healthy environment,” environment activist Dr. Isidro Olan said of the fun run dubbed dubbed “Save our Surigao Movement: Dagan Para sa Kinaiyahan” which started at the Surigao del Sur State University (SDSU) into the town center.

“This is a show of force that the people understand our advocacy for a clean earth that is free from the ills of destructive mining,” Fr. Raymond Ambray of the Social Action Center in the area said.

Later at 1 p.m. in Tandag City, Gina Lopez of Bantay Kalikasan together with showbiz heartthrobs Gerald Anderson and Maja Salvador joined an estimated 3,000 runners around the city proper for the other leg of the anti-mining activity.

About 2,000 protesters from Lianga, Bislig, San Miguel and other towns in the southern part of the province were waiting at the bleachers of the city plaza cum open gym.

“I’ve been walking for years to fight aggression and I continue doing it until now because the government is still not listening,” 68 year-old Rosario Marcelo, from the town of San Miguel, told MindaNews.

Almer Cenados, a resident of General Island in this town, said fellow fishermen in the tiny island are guarding their shorelines and fishing grounds 24/7 against pirates and environmental threats including the threat of siltation from nearby Carrascal where two large-scale mining companies operate.

Cenados, president of the local environment group Islahanon Andam Magdumala nan Kinaiyahan said the group has already discovered the presence of silt in some part of the island brought by the current.

“We want this checked by experts but our problem is the money to finance the study since it will entail extensive funding to study and even clean the area,” he said.

The run aimed to raise funds for the campaign against the continued operations of a mining firm allegedly within a declared protected watershed area at Mt. Hilong-Hilong Range and to assist communities affected by its presence.

“While there is the growing concept of development all around us, we are holding this activity because we want to be pro-active in bringing this concern to everyone. This is a peaceful expression of our position on this so-called development,” Ambray said.

Showbiz and politics

“They’re here because of Maja and Gerald but they also here because of their strong stand against mining in Cantilan,” Emma Hotchkiss, chairperson of Baywatch Foundation said.

Over 5,000 people were inside the Surigao del Sur State University grandstand in addition to those who were outside, Chief Inspector Jesus B. Aranco , Cantilan police chief said.

A girl who appeared to be in her teens was overheard saying “we are yes to mining, why force us”, apparently reacting to chants from speakers urging the people to save the environment and oppose mining.

But the girl disappeared when sought to elaborate her comment as Lopez, Salvador and Anderson went up the stage.

Salvador and Anderson are talents of ABS-CBN, a major TV network run by Lopez’s husband, Eugenio Lopez III.

Lopez asked Cantilan residents not to sell their votes and vote for candidates who are committed to protecting the environment.

She openly criticized a politician who reportedly has a pending gold mining application in the province. She did not directly name the politician but when she asked the audience if they knew him, the crowd shouted “Pichay.”

Pichay is re-electionist Congressman Philip Pichay.

Anderson entertained the crowd by portraying “Budoy” in urging the crowd to protect the environment.

“Budoy,” a person with mental disability, is the title of a TV series where Anderson played the lead role.

His rumored girlfriend Salvador also took the microphone and spoofed her role as “Margaux” in another TV series “Ina, Kapatid, Anak“ in pitching for the environment.

‘Green’ pols

Olan, who leads the anti-mining campaign in his hometown Madrid, said his group will come up with a list of “green candidate” that it will openly endorse before the May 13 polls.

Ambray, head organizer of the event said it is difficult to assume that the turnout of the fun run will translate to victory for anti-mining candidates.

But he said that even if the “green candidates” would lose, their advocacy work against mining will continue. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Juanita O. Sering, customer service department head of the Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperative (SURNECO), said the cause of the increase is due to the hike in generation charges from the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) and Therma Marine Inc. (TMI).

She said SURNECO’s rate per kilowatt hour at P8 remains while generation charges from power producers have increased.

“The charges coming from TMI have already increased (which explains the increase) but our rates continue to remain the same,” Sering said.

Engr. Jorven R. Villafranca, SURNECO systems analyst, explained to MindaNews that another reason for the higher generation charges is due to the increase in the “contracted power supply” the cooperative bought from TMI.

He said starting this year, SURNECO had to increase the power it buys from the Aboitiz-owned power barge from five to six megawatts to help address the local deficiency of 10 MW. SURNECO originally wanted to get 8 MW from TMI but one of the latter’s power barges broke down last month, he added.

Surigao del Norte has a total peak demand of 26 MW but for the month of April, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) can only serve 10.33 MW and Therma Marine, 6 MW.

A February billing from TMI showed SURNECO will pay P44.343 million for the 6 MW it supplies to the Surigao del Norte area. NGCP, although supplying electricity much more than TMI, is charging SURNECO much less, only P40 million for the same period.

Sering said SURNECO has not increased its basic charges as it has to go through a public consultation and the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

The electric cooperative also had to increase its load nomination from TMI because of the failure of Napocor to supply the entire local power demand.

In its Facebook account “Surneco Surigao,” Facebook user Hajo Bago asked why the electric bill increased despite the frequent brownouts: “We’re not even using many appliances, like the refrigerator. Why the additional fees when these didn’t pass through consultation? Any time you can increase your rates without our knowledge. Is this still democracy?”

Bryan Ferol Calang, on the other hand, said Friday their participation in the Earth Hour was already too much. “We lost power this morning, and it’s now dark and we still don’t have electricity,” he added.

Chirry Lyn Arayan complained why her bill has doubled despite the frequent brownouts. She said she only has a TV, a small ceiling fan, and a fluorescent lamp that she uses only at night.

The online complaints did not get any responses from the electric cooperative.

Its public relations department said it is still finalizing strategies to make the issue more easily understood by the already irate public.

Sering said they already added more support to their corporate service department to accommodate complaints from customers. She added that those with increased electricity bills are “those who have appliances.”

She said once the complaint forms are filed, the electric cooperative will check the meter again. But “if there is really a problem then we can calibrate it,” she added.

The complaints started coming when SURNECO released its billing last Tuesday.

A sample of a consumer ledger’s form showed a resident’s power consumption for three months: for the February consumption, usage totaled 371 KWH with an equivalent bill of P2,884.49; March dropped to 253.1 KWH with a bill of P2,060.46; April increased to 346 KWH with a total monthly bill of P3,059.41. (Vanessa L. Almeda / MindaNews)

Rallyists plank in front of the regional office of the Mines and Geoscience Bureau in Surigao City Monday afternoon, April 22, 2013, to protest the operations of Marcventures Mining Development Corporation in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur. MGB regional director Roger de Dios is under fire from anti-mining groups for refusing to impose a court order against the company. MindaNews photo by Roel N. Catoto

The protesters also called on MGB regional director Roger A. de Dios to resign for repeatedly refusing to impose the order stopping Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC) from operating within a watershed forest reserve in Cantilan town in Surigao del Sur.

The order was issued by Judge Alfredo P. Jalad of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 41 in Cantilan in November 2010, and affirmed on May 26, 2011 as “subsisting and effective until there is an order, lifting, revoking or dissolving it.”

Chito Trillanes, a spokesperson of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Tandag, said they will continue pounding on the gates of the MGB until the order was enforced.

The group was also awaiting the go-signal of MGB Director Leo Jasareno to send a multi-disciplinary team that will investigate alleged environmental violations by MMDC.

De Dios said the team was scheduled to conduct the probe between April 20 and 23.

In a March 13, 2013 memorandum from the MGB Central Office signed by Elmer B. Billedo, de Dios was told that the regional office “is not at liberty to disregard” the order and that “whether or not it would be appropriate to issue an Ore Transport Permit and Mineral Ore Transport Permit” in favor of MMDC “under the circumstances is a matter that is ultimately addressed to the sound discretion of the regional office.”

“However, it bears stressing that the exercise of such discretion must be done responsibly,” the memorandum added.

The same memorandum reminded de Dios of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, particularly paragraph 3, Section 4 which obliges officials from “doing acts contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public policy, public safety and public interest.”

But de Dios said that while the memorandum “blames him and his office” for the fiasco, he said he will stand by his decision.

“I really did not find any reason to order a closure when the allegations of siltation and the reduction of water of the irrigation system were not substantiated. We really cannot attribute it (to the mining activities),” he argued.

“What we found out was the siltation was due to the rampant logging in the watershed and small-scale mining activities upstream. Why can they not expose this?” he said.

He added he is willing to conduct another probe that will include Trillanes, Emma Hotchkiss, media and others so the real situation will be known.

Hotchkiss is a leader of the Nagpakabana nga Carcanmadcarlanon (NnC), an environment group covering the towns of Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza, all in Surigao del Sur.

“Before, I was also shouting and marching on the streets calling for Marcos to resign, but now I am the one being protested and told to resign,” de Dios said in half jest. “That is their right. I have nothing to hide.”

He expressed disappointment at Monday’s activity which he called a “mob rule” as the protesters rammed the MGB gate, padlocked it and waved tarpaulins with the words “MGB for sale”.

“That is already a violation of human rights of our employees who were also working at the time,” he said.

The official called on Trillanes and Hotchkiss to be “more objective” and to “respect me and my credentials and intelligence.”

“I will stand pat on my decision. I can face them in any forum to defend my decision,” the beleaguered public official said.

Aside from the Social Action Center and NnC, Monday’s protest action was also participated in by Iglesia Filipina Independiente priests and laymen from Dinagat, Siargao Island and Surigao City, and the United Church of Christ of the Philippines.

IFI Bishop Rhee Timbang refused to call the activity a protest but “an expression of the faith of the nation about the value of the earth because we only have one home”.

“Every 22nd of April the whole world celebrates and the various faiths here in Surigao join in this celebration,” Timbang said.

“This is also part of our solidarity with the people of Carcanmadcarlan who have been here for a long time now because of the MGB’s failure to implement a court decision to stop mining activities in Cantilan,” he said.

“The first threat to human beings on earth is large-scale mining,” he added.

Some 3,000 members of the Nagkahiusang Gagmay’ng Minero (Nagami) and their families joined the Earth Day commemoration.

Nagami spokesperson Ating Bustillo said their participation is to show support to the people’s sentiment against the massive destruction caused by large-scale mining.

Bustillo claimed that small-scale mining operations near the Parang-Parang watershed in Barangay Mat-I, this city the past 40 years have not disturbed the surrounding environment. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Richard Ampo, who represented his stepbrother,  Martin Ampo Jr., Cabangahan barangay chair, said Wednesday that 18 “hawudons” or tribal elders in the barangay held a dialogue with residents and workers who were rendered jobless, and agreed to come up with a resolution asking Gov. Johnny Pimentel to stop the human barricade set up since April 6.

Some 50 supporters of the Bat-ao and Hunanhunan clans led by Datu Jimmy “Dagsaan” Bat-ao set up a human barricade and tent along the  road leading to the mining operations of Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC), paralyzing operations and temporary stopping soil extraction activities for about a week now.

Bat-ao demanded P150 million in damages for the alleged desecration of the clan’s burial site and water source and the closure of the nickel-mine firm while upholding its claim on the ancestral land of Cabangahan and outlying areas where the protected watershed is also located.

Ampo countered Bat-ao’s claim saying the latter is not the sole claimant of the area since there are other clans who share the rights over the land which is also the subject of protest of anti-mining groups led by the Social Action Center Vicariate of the Carrascal-Cantilan-Madrid-Carmen-Madrid and Parang (CarCanMadCarLanPar) Zone.

MMDC’s has a Mineral Production Sharing Agreement No. 016-93-XI which covers 4,799 hectares, approved on October 23, 2009 “on interim basis.”

The tribal chieftains also met Leo Orquina, a mayoral candidate described by critics as “pro-mining” Orquina told MindaNews that the company will be filing a case of damages against the “anti-mining groups.

In an earlier email message, MMDC vice president Jegie Pereda told MindaNews the company is thinking of filing charges against those responsible for the barricade.

Amid the discord between pro- and anti-mining Manobo supporters, the SAC issued its “solidarity to the Manobo community” by holding a mass at the barricade site on Saturday.

Fr. Raymond Ambray, executive director of the SAC said “it may be that they are now in different positions, but it is the task of the church to let them understand of the real situation that befalls them.”

Chito Trillanes, SAC spokesperson,  said what is happening is a manifestation of  the deception committed by the mining company against the Manobo’s through a questionable free and prior informed consent (FPIC).

“It only proves what we earlier pointed out in the early days of our struggle that the FPIC was done with the intent to deceive the people,” said Trillanes, who also joined the Saturday solidarity mass in the barangay.

Both officials admitted that amidst the ongoing ‘conflicting’ sentiments of the people, is the need to emphasize the reality amongst tribesmen and even the public that they are exploited as a group and continue to be one should the issue will not be resolved.

During Saturday’s dialogue with Bat-ao, several residents voiced concern that the barricade will cause the closure of the mining firm.

But Bat-ao told them the alleged violations committed by the company against their tribe should make them indignant.

Margarito Ondao, a teacher at the Cantilan National High School, said he was not against the mining firm at the start of the operation. But with its continued failure to honor its commitment based on the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), then he would rather that the mine will close down.

“Well if nothing is agreed then it’s useless. All the same we are still being looked down anyway,” Ondao said referring to the unfulfilled MOA.

Francisco Sumbiran said the mining company should have delineated the area as it earlier promised so the conflict could have been avoided.

Some Manobos who lost their jobs due to the barricade, expressed fears they would not be reinstated if they join the “anti-mining” barricade.

But Ampo said his brother and the ‘hawudons’ are not pro-mining but “are only looking at the interest of the people.”

“If the mining company will close, what will happen to the people?” he asked.  (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)

Dr. Jay Remy Gonzales II, race director of the “Silangan Surigao (Half) Marathon 2013: A Run for Surigao River” on May 5, said the Boston tragedy that left three people dead, including an eight-year old boy, and 176 others injured has not dissipated their spirits  but instead “it’s an added motivation to run (because) this time it’s for the (victims) of the Boston tragedy.”

“We actually planned this day as remembrance day for the victims,” the EENT (eye-ear-nose-throat) doctor said after a five-round run at the oval.

The members of the Surigao Runners Club, an organization of young professionals who love running , wore the Red Tie Run shirt, the singlet used during the first fun run organized by the group, and black armbands to signify their honoring those who died and suffered because of the tragedy.’

The Boston Marathon incident also comes at a time when the group will be holding the first half-marathon on May 5, 2013 “to raise awareness on the state of the Surigao River” in the city.

Gonzales said what happened in Boston will not likely effect participation to the marathon but instead create greater interest on the post-Earth Day celebration that the group is co-sponsoring with Silangan Mindanao Mining Corporation.

“Doc Jay” as he is called among runners, added that security measures are already in place in time for the marathon, but have been beefed up in lieu of Monday’s incident.

Triathlete Nigel Short, a 62 year-old runner who hails from New Zealand, expressed his dismay over the Boston incident as a product of a “sick mind of a sick person”.

“You gotta be a mentally insane person for doing this,” Short said.

“I just don’t think it will affect the (Surigao) run..it is just very sad that so many people got hurt,” he added.

The 62-year old will be joining the “Iron Man Triathlon” in Cebu in May and August. He has been running and has been a triathlete since 2007.

The Silangan Surigao (Half) Marathon: Run for Surigao River next month is open for registration. Interested persons can log on tosilangansurigaomarathon.blogspot.com for details. (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)

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Datu Jimmy “Dagsaan” Bat-ao said the Bat-ao and Hunahunan clans want  MMDC out of their ancestral lands and to pay them damages amounting to P150 million for the desecration of their burial grounds and other sacred places and the destruction of their main water source.

MMDC vice president for operations Jegie T. Pereda said the company was “considering filing cases against those responsible for the barricade.”

In a statement emailed on Sunday night, Pereda said “MMDC has no existing violation, the barricade is illegal and goes against RA 7942 or the Philippine Mining Act”.

He said the barricade violated Section 107 of the law, which states, “Any person who, without justifiable cause, prevents or obstructs the holder of any permit, agreement or lease from undertaking his mining operation shall be punished…”

On Monday last week, MMDC management issued a memorandum temporarily suspending mining operations as the tribal members set up a tent in the middle of the road. By Tuesday, MMDC lawyer Noel Libres came together with security guards, police and military personnel to stop the barricade.

WHY THE BARRICADE. Datu Jimmy “Dagsaan” Bat-ao, tribal chieftain of the Manobo tribes in Lobo and Cabangahan in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur, explains to residents of Barangay Cabangahan why they barricaded the road leading to the mine site. MindaNews photo by Vanessa L. Almeda

But Bat-ao questioned the presence of the military and police since “he (Libres) could have just talked to us and not order somebody to call me that they are coming. He could have just called me and talked to me directly me so we can talk.”

Three barangay officials stopped Libres and the policemen and soldiers from breaking up the barricade as some women and children were seen sitting on the road, barangay officer-in-charge Gilbert Duero said.

“I had to tell them that they cannot forcibly evict the protesters because there are women and children who are taking part in the barricade,” Duero said.

But Pereda said the presence of the soldiers and policemen was justified “because the barricade is illegal.”

Reason for barricade

Bat-ao said they were forced to barricade the road because MMDC has refused to heed their demand for the past three years asserting that his clan is the rightful claimant to the land.

“This area where they are now extracting earth is ours since the time of our forefathers. Why will they dictate us on what we should do when we are only doing what is right. This is our constitutional right,” Bat-ao, who is also an evangelical pastor, told MindaNews in an interview at his house Friday.

Pereda said the company had talked with the Bat-ao clan last March 18.  But he said that since the issue is on the sharing of the royalty paid by MMDC to the tribe, the company asked the Lumads to “to resolve this matter first among themselves with the assistance of the NCIP (National Commission on Indigenous Peoples).”

“The company is willing to assist in the resolution of the issue,” the official added.

The tribal chieftain denied MMDC had talked to them, although he admitted that they were demanding royalty.

Clan and tribal conflict

Duero said the barricade stemmed from a misunderstanding among tribal chieftains and ‘hawudons’ or elders of the clans over the memorandum of agreement signed between tribal leaders and MMDC which excluded Datu Dagsaan Bat-ao.

Dagsaan’s brother Teodoro, a signatory to the agreement, is said to have the support of MMDC and receives the royalty allegedly without giving his other siblings their share of the 1% fee, Duero said.

Dagsaan has reportedly demanded a 10% royalty for the alleged damage to the burial sites as well as to Pangiyawan Creek, the community’s water source.

Duero urged local government officials to not side with any group, and management to see the real situation of the people in Cabangahan.

“It’s good this will be put in the news so they’ll know what is happening here,” the official said.

“For the first year, the promise was fulfilled but later on they have not been doing anything,” he said.

Duero said the company has stopped giving monthly allowances to tribal elders as well as the scholarship grants for honor and deserving students.

Instead of the previous arrangement where tribesmen would be hired as regulars, they have been dismissed from their jobs, and the water system project was left unfinished, he added.

Pereda denied Duero’s statements.

STOP OPERATIONS. Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation decided to stop its operations at a mountain in Brgy. Cabangahan, Cantilan, Surigao del Sur when a group of Manobos barricaded the road leading to the mine site. MindaNews photo by Vanessa L. Almeda

Meanwhile, MMDC still has to compute the revenue losses caused by the ongoing barricade and their decision to put on hold mining activities.

“There is no opportunity loss computation yet but it must be substantial,” Pereda said.

Court order

Cabangahan sits within the tenement of MMDC which is also the subject of a temporary environmental protection order (TEPO) issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 41.

The Social Action Center of the Diocese of Tandag, local residents and environmentalists are also protesting the mining operations in the area as it is part of a declared forest reserve.

On April 6, some 50 supporters of Bat-ao set up a human barricade and tent along the mining road leading to the extraction area, a thickly forested mountain which is the headwater of Carac-an River, the main source of water that irrigates the towns of Cantilan, Madrid and Carmen.

The Pangiyawan and Cabangahan creeks, which originate in the same area, are now heavily silted, according to the Social Action Center and other anti-mining groups.

“We were able to acquire a TEPO but did they honor it?” Bat-ao said.

“So our strategy now is to undertake this barricade because this is our constitutional right,” he added. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

He said he does not agree to the DOE’s proposition that Mindanao only has two choices – cheap electricity but with the frequent brownouts, or reliable supply of electricity but expensive.

Escudero, together with fellow senatorial candidate Grace Poe-Llamanzares, was in the city Wednesday on a blitzkrieg campaign where he only visited two radio stations and engaged media in a 22-minute press conference before proceeding to Butuan City.

The solon said Mindanao and its people have more valid choices to demand for a “cheap” and “available” power source because it uses an “energy mix” that is environmentally sound and cheaper compared to the more costly and environmentally hazardous coal power plants.

“Mindanao still has the cheapest power rate in the country and has a comparative advantage because of the energy mix used to generate power,” the senator said.

He further urged Mindanaoans to fight for this advantage. He said the right approach is not to sell the hydroelectric plants along the Agus and Pulangi rivers but to rehabilitate them.

This city and the province of Surigao del Norte is now on a three-hour rotational brownouts daily. But other areas in Mindanao even have longer brownouts.

On Monday, the National Power Corporation warned that rotating brownouts in Mindanao will further worsen next month with the summer season as the water level in Lake Lanao will decrease. NPC said the decreasing water level will force it to limit power generation from the 700-megawatt Agus power complex.

The announcement came on the heels of a DOE proposal to create the Interim Electricity Market in Mindanao (IMEM), which will reportedly cause power rates to increase by 30 centavos per kilowatt hour.

But the senator does not see the reported solution believing that the energy department should instead “immediately conduct a study on the viability of self-generating capacity.” (Vanessa L. Almeda / MindaNews)

Alluding to his colleagues who like him are seeking reelection, Escudero today said in a campaign sortie here that making further statements could only muddle the issue.

“I once said ‘wag nang sawsawan ng mga senador ang isyu ng Sabah. Foreign policy is within the sole domain of the President while the role of the Senate is to ratify treaties,” he said.

“I would prefer that we speak with one voice through the President and not act like we’re washing our dirty linen in public while some candidates utter inanities, dip their fingers into the issue to get popular, get publicized, forgetting that the lives of Filipinos and national interest are at stake here,” he said in Filipino.

Escudero, however, stressed that the country should pursue the Sabah claim because “it is ours”.

“For me, Sabah is ours. But we have to choose the time when we can advance and fight for it. What is important is we should not let it go and turn our backs on whatever is our claim,” he said.

He said he agrees with the intent of the President to resolve the issue while averting another conflict and without having to sacrifice more lives.

But he said the ongoing crisis in Sabah that included reports of human rights abuses committed by Malaysian authorities against Filipinos should serve as a “wakeup call for us”.

“This is a wakeup call for us to look into their situation, protect them and make sure that Malaysian authorities uphold their human rights.”

An estimated 800,000 Filipinos are said to be living in Sabah now, Escudero said.

“The lives of Filipinos are important but we must also take into consideration the responsibility of the President over the interest of the majority,” Grace Poe-Llamanzares, Escudero’s fellow candidate under the administration coalition Team PNoy, said in apparent reference to criticisms that the President seemed to be deferring to Malaysia each time he spoke on Sabah.

But she supported Escudero’s position that the country should not give up its claim “especially in the international courts.” (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Former Surigao del Norte Governor and three-term Representative Robert Ace Barbers,  who has been rumored to withdraw from the congressional race in the second district of Surigao del Norte, told a cheering crowd he has changed his mind but asked the people to give him “time to talk to my wife and family.”

Elder brother Lyndon, who served as Governor from 2001 to 2007 announced he will go on with the fight “while we spare my brother Ace.”

An estimated 1,000 loyal supporters of the brothers braved the heat of the mid-day sun and trooped to the Barbers’ mansion in upper Barangay Lipata at around 1 p.m. Sunday to urge the brothers to “continue with the fight” against those they claim “bring drugs, crime and dirt” to the city and province.

“Ato i-excuse si Ace ibalik ta si Batman… Laban que laban kita bahala walay ato kwarta,” (We will excuse Ace…we will fight, fight even if we don’t have the money), Lyndon addressed the euphoric crowd.

The eldest of the Barbers sibling, Lyndon was given the monicker Batman for his drug-busting activities on his first year as governor of Surigao del Norte in 2001. He initiated late-night operations against drug syndicates in the province including those threatening to enter the province and the city. Lyndon served as governor until 2007, when he ran for his brother’s seat in Congress but lost.

Ace, who ran for governor in 2007, won but lost his bid for reelection in 2010, to Sol Matugas. Lyndon lost the mayoralty race in 2010 to another Matugas.

For the 2013 elections, Lyndon filed his certificate of candidacy for governor while Ace filed his certificate of candidacy for the second district. Both are running under the Nacionalista Party.

Lyndon confirmed rumors that both are withdrawing from the race but vehemently denied they had been bought by the opposition at P50 million each.

“Ever since we filed our candidacy in October, talks of our supposed withdrawal have persisted and reached their peak since we arrived here Thursday. The talks are true that we are withdrawing from the race,” he said.

As early as Thursday morning, the city was abuzz with stories that the Barbers brothers were withdrawing from the race

MindaNews was able to talk with a local candidate of its allied party Koalisyon nan mga Oposisyon sa Surigao (Kosug) headed by mayoralty candidate Alfonso S. Casurra, a former city mayor and staunch ally of the two and learned that an emergency meeting was held on Friday afternoon purposely on the rumored withdrawal.

But the same source declined to provide details of the meeting, saying only that the Barbers would call for a press conference on Monday, April 8.

MindaNews sought the Barbers’ camp Saturday, but Lyndon declined to issue a statement saying they would meet with the press either Monday or Tuesday.

But Sunday’s gathering of supporters right at their doorstep, a number of them crying as they urged them “not to surrender,” convinced the brothers to “change our plans.”

“An ako desisyon sauna na mo withdraw kuman nautro…,” (I have changed my earlier decision to withdraw), said Ace. The crowd chanted, “laban, Ace, Laban” (fight Ace, fight Ace).

But Ace appealed to be given time to talk to his wife.

The brothers will be leaving for Manila on Monday for the birthday celebration of their grandmother, Virginia.

Lyndon told MindaNews they would call a press conference on Thursday, April 11, to confirm whether Ace will leave with his wife for the US and he campaigns in absentia or he will finally withdraw from the race.

Ailing wife

Lyndon explained that the brothers’ decision to pull out from the political race was prompted by the critical condition of Ace’s wife who is suffering from Stage 3 laryngeal cancer.

“It has been a difficult period for us especially since we arrived here on Thursday. We couldn’t sleep and Ace and I have been constantly talking of this decision….But with your love and support, your pleas go beyond our (present) situation”, Lyndon said.

The former governor, who was sobbing as he spoke, said that as a brother he cannot turn his back and deny help for an ailing family member. He said what “little funds” he has will be given to support the treatment for his brother’s wife.

“This is really difficult on my part…but if this is what you want, may I also appeal from you to tell our people, the country and the rest of the world that a poor man can become a leader…we will go on and fight”, Lyndon said, to the cheers of the crowd.

“While we’re away I am appealing to everyone to give us your time of prayer, even for just 30 seconds, to pray for my wife and family,” Ace said.

He emphasized that what the family is facing now is similar to the time their father faced a similar ailment and considerable resources from the family were spent to treat their father.

But the crowd shouted “bisan way kwartahay” (even without money) while alluding to earlier speeches of supporters on the opposition’s financial resources to bankroll its campaign.

Ace is expected to leave for the US on the 20th of April for his wife’s treatment, according to Lyndon.

The senator’s legacy

Political allies of the Barbers brothers who asked not to be named, told MindaNews that a withdrawal from the provincial opposition line-up could cause the downfall of the political clout of the Barbers.

Some raised concern that the Barbers’ move will only hasten the belief that “they sold out” to the opposition led by the Matugas’ husband-and-wife tandem Francisco and Sol and former ally Rep. Guillermo Romarate Jr., who is a re-electionist and strongest contender of Ace.

But Lyndon flatly denied the issues and told supporters their soul is not for sale.

Loyal supporters, however, expressed mixed feelings of sadness and agitation.

Jamar Gavino, a political ally known for leading a string of graft complaints against the Matugases, reminded the brothers of their father’s legacy saying he was witness to the senator’s last words to his sons before his demise to “not to leave the Surigaonons.” (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)

Power supply was restored at around 12:15 p.m. Tuesday in the coverage area of the Surigao del Norte Electric Cooperative, Inc. (Surneco).

In an advisory this morning, Surneco said a destroyed 69-kV steel tower of NGCP located in Barangay Mabini here caused the power blackout.

Engr. Alex Diaz, Surneco maintenance engineer, said that NGCP crewmen have been deployed to repair the transmission tower that was discovered destroyed at around 3 a.m. Tuesday.

“This tower is the main source [of power] so it will really affect all our lines in the city and yes, the province,” Diaz said.

Quoting a text message from the NGCP crewmen, he said one of the posts of the tower was destroyed when a “length of rope tied to it, probably that of a carabao, pulled off the anchor guy.”

The “anchor guy” is the bunting or rope that is tied to a tower to ensure that it can withstand a fall, Diaz explained.

According to Surneco, the areas affected by the power outage include Anislagan in Placer, the whole Surigao City comprising 54 barangays, Masapilid and Bayagnan Islands, and the entire barangays in the towns of Sison, Taganaan, San Francisco and Malimono.

Diaz, who spoke with MindaNews this morning in the absence of its general manager Engr. Danny Z. Escalante, who is reportedly in Manila, said that once power supply is restored, they will request the NGCP to exempt tonight’s daily two-hour (6 p.m. to 8 p.m.) scheduled load curtailment.

Meanwhile, the city did not experience brownouts during the length of the Holy Week starting Holy Wednesday.

Diaz attributed this to the industries that went on a holiday, allowing enough supply for residential users. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Former city mayor Alfonso Casurra kicked off the proclamation rally with a march that passed through the city’s famous seaside Boulevard, seen joined by vendors, urban poor settlers, fishermen, farmers, traders, youth and several members of the Muslim community.

Casurra is vying for the mayoral post against incumbent Mayor Ernesto Matugas, stalwart of the local administration party Padajon Surigao.

Matugas’ party was scheduled to start their proclamation rally at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Kosug’s five-hour proclamation rally, which started at 1:30 pm. Monday at the dilapidated gymnasium here, had a festive mood—with supporters dancing and chanting—that also saw opposition bets taking snide remarks at their rivals.

The opposition party bets particularly called for clean and honest elections, citing the alleged cheating in the May 2010 elections that failed to bring back the brothers Robert Ace and Robert Lyndon Barbers, both former governors of the province, into power.

“We cannot allow this to happen again so we urge you to help us in ensuring that somebody out there (at polling precincts) can monitor everything that is happening on the ground,” said Casurra.

The Barbers camp had filed a petition at the Commission on Election (Comelec) on the alleged rigging by the Matugases of the 2010 election results.

The Comelec ruled on the petition last year in favor of the Matugases, but Ace had claimed that “it was not a clear victory.”

Casurra said the Barbers family did not pursue the case owing to the expensive cost of opening all the ballot boxes, which was estimated to cost P25,000 per box.

Earlier on Monday, Casurra and his party mates met with the leaders of the Roman Catholic and the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI) churches to rally support for a clean and fraud-free automated election in the area.

The opposition bets also attended mass at the Vigen de Buen e Viaje parish in Bilang-Bilang at 5:30 a.m. Monday in this city, known as “The City of Island Adventures.”

IFI Bishop Rhee Timbang backed the calls of the opposition party for clean and honest elections.

He said the IFI church has long been working to ensure a more credible election, adding they have youth volunteers who will be trained and taught about the election and how to watch the ballots.

Timbang also agreed to a proposal raised by Surigao Bishop Antonieto Cabajog to revive PEACE Surigao or the People’s Alliance for Peaceful Election Surigao, an initiative of the local churches that include the United Church of Christ of the Philippines as well as the Surigao Muslim community.

Kosug’s proclamation rally was highlighted by criticisms against Matugas’ trusted political ally Balgamelo Ma Jr., whom the group accused as the one running the local government.

Ma, according to the Surigao City government website, is the head of the Quick Action Response Team and Executive Assistant III. He has been a constant subject of criticisms for his alleged meddling of government affairs.

Councilor Jose Expeditus Bayana, Kosug’s vice mayoralty bet, warned supporters that voting for Matugas “is equivalent to voting for Ma as the chief executive officer.”

Matugas has been accused as an “absentee mayor” who allegedly reports once or twice during workweeks, as he was purportedly often in Manila.

Both Matugas and Ma have denied the allegations as “simply politicking by their detractors.” (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Supt. Jeffrey Lawrence Mauricio, Tandag City police chief, said that Jalandoni Campos was released Monday night after a court order was presented to them.

Campos was handed to Pimentel at about 9:23 p.m. Monday based on the transfer of custody order issued by Judge Alfredo Jalad of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 28 in the municipality of Lianga, Surigao del Sur. The order was signed at about 7:30 p.m. the same day.

Campos was arrested last Saturday night by the police and elements of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency (NICA) and the Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU) after an interview at a radio station in Tandag City.

He was nabbed by virtue of an arrest warrant issued by Jalad on May 2, 2011 for murder and rebellion charges. Campos was allegedly involved in a New People’s Army raid at the Lianga police station on April 28, 2011.

Apart from the court order, Mauricio said they released Campos because of the massing of people outside the police station.

“For security reason also since there were already people picketing outside the station. He has many supporters,” the police official said.

Some 200 Manobo tribesmen had picketed the Tandag police station, including teachers, students, nuns and those from other support groups. Another 80 persons protested outside the RTC Branch 28 office..

Campos is the chair of Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (MAPASU), which is active in the campaign against large-scale mining in the Andap Valley complex in Surigao del Sur, which covers the towns of Lianga, San Agustin, San Miguel, Tago and Marihatag.

In a statement, Myrna Belandres, MAPASU deputy secretary general, welcomed the release of Campos, attributing the swift action of the court to the “unity of the Lumad people together with the other concerned sectors.”

She said unity is a “superior instrument in the search and achievement of the truth. Let us further strengthen our unity and cooperation so that we can achieve genuine justice and peace in our society.”

“The bombardment of support and public outcry hastened the normally snail-paced court process that expedited the signing of the court order,” Dr. Naty Castro, Karapatan-Caraga secretary general, said.

In a phone interview Tuesday night, Castro said the transfer of Campos to the custody of the provincial government was based on security and health reasons.

Campos’ defense lawyers have emphasized to the court that unidentified men were already tailing him since the warrant was issued, she added.

As to his health, Castro said Campos, who is 55 years old (not 45 as earlier reported), is a diabetic who needs to take daily medication.

She said the transfer of custody order “will be effective until the case is resolved.”

Castro noted that they specifically sought to have Campos in the custody of Governor Pimentel because of the continuing threats on his life and his health condition.

Karapatan-Caraga claimed there “there were at least two attempts by NICA and RIU elements to have Campos in their custody” in the last two days.

Mauricio confirmed this but did not release Campos to them in the absence of a court order.

For Pimentel, Mauricio said he offered to provide sanctuary to Campos after his arrest last Saturday night.

The provincial prosecutor’s office promised to conduct a “complete re-investigation” on charges filed against Campos. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Jalandoni Campos, chair of Malahutayong Pakigbisog Alang sa Sumusunod (MAPASU), was arrested “by virtue of a warrant of arrest for rebellion issued by Executive Judge Alfredo Jalad on May 2, 2011, with no bailbond,” the PIA said.

Campos, 45, is now reportedly detained at the Tandag Police Station.

The Katribu Partylist, of which Campos is a member, said he was arrested by a team policemen led by SPO1 Versatalico Quinones Pacate about 8 p.m. after the tribal leader was interviewed over radio 97.5 SURE FM.

He talked of the programs of Katribu Partylist, human rights violations committed against the Lumads and the continuing destruction of the environment by mining activities, the group said.

Genasque B. Enriquez, regional coordinator and national vice president of Katribu Partylist,  condemned the arrest, saying it was a continuing harassment against the Lumads who continue to oppose militarization and destructive mining in their ancestral lands.

Campos is one of the 37 who were implicated in what Katribu claims to be fabricated criminal and rebellion cases filed by police and the military after a raid of the police station of the municipality of Lianga on April 28, 2011 by the New People’s Army.

The Katribu statement said majority of those charged were old and sickly, some of them Lumads.

Enriquez himself faced murder and multiple murder cases after a separate NPA raid incident in Agusan del Sur sometime in 2011 but he said the “military was put to shame” when his case was dismissed by government prosecutors.

The Lumad leader said the military has been constantly using alleged NPA presence in some areas to justify their continuing combat operations which in reality are intended to repress the Lumad people “who strongly oppose the plunder of natural resources.”

Dr. Naty Castro, secretary general of Karapatan-Caraga, said in a statement that Campos and other MAPASU members were not informed of the complaints filed against them, even though Campos is a well-known leader of one of the biggest people’s organizations in Lianga.

Campos and the MAPASU leaders are active in the campaign against large-scale mining in the Andap Valley complex in Surigao del Sur, which covers the towns of Lianga, San Agustin, San Miguel, Tago and Marihatag.

The same group led the opposition in the combat and civil-military operations in the 22 MAPASU communities in the past that resulted in massive evacuations in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011.

The case against Campos and MAPASU, noted Castro, is among the 12 documented cases of  what they claim to be trumped up charges filed against over 80 leaders and members of progressive organizations in the Caraga region.

“We have engaged the local prosecutors’ office and the Department of Justice to address these cases since 2012 but the cases have persisted despite their reassurances to reinvestigate. Moreover, new cases have been filed with the same disregard to proper legal procedure,” lamented Castro. (Vanessa L. Almeda / MindaNews)

NUJP chair Rowena Paraan said the two-day training held on March 16 and 17 at the Gardens of Malasag Eco-Tourism Village is historic, it being the first ever all-women training for safety and risk awareness undertaken by the organization.

“We want to give attention to the specific needs of women working in media – whether field work or office-based because we know there are a lot of issues that are encountered by the sector,” she said.

Paraan, who was recently elected as NUJP president,  said the activity serves as the venue to surface the issues confronting women in media “so we will look about what we can do with it.”

Women in media experience discrimination, harassment and worse,  death, in the performance of their duties and even those working inside newsrooms and other related media work suffer the same. “We know that (women) media practitioners are harassed by sources, officials and even colleagues in media,” she added.

NUJP chair Rowena Paraan (in NUJP shirt) gives first aid training during the all-women safety training for Mindanao journalists and media workers on March 16 and 17 in Cagayan de Oro City. Photo courtesy of Vic Kintanar

In explaining the rationale of the activity, Paraan said NUJP has not given much focus on women issues before “inasmuch as we want to” but with this training “we hope we’ll be able to push this work for the organization and later on [the committee] will be more active to address women concerns,” she said.

The training was held in Mindanao to highlight the situation of women media workers in the region confronted with the complex issues.

“It will be good if we understand what is happening in Mindanao, understand its cultural diversity and how this will impact on women situation,” she said.

The challenge is also in the context that media in the Philippines is faced with the pervading culture of impunity and violence regardless of gender. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that the country ranks as one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists, with Iraq on top.

It also ranks 2^nd in terms of percentage in cases of complete impunity covering the periods 1992 to 2013. Iraq also ranks No. 1, Philippines 2^nd, followed by Algeria, Colombia and Somalia in the top five countries.

The killings with impunity continue with government failing to address the problem until now. Under the  two-year old Aquino regime, 15 deaths were already recorded, five of which are from Mindanao, JB R. Deveza NUJP-International Federation of Journalists  Mindanao Safety Officer said.

These are Christopher Guarin, publisher of the newspaper Tatak News Nationwide who was shot dead in an ambush in General Santos City on January 5, 2012; Rommel Palma, April 30, 2012, Bombo Radyo driver; Alfredo Velarde Jr., Nov. 11, 2011; Aldion Layao, Davao City who was gunned down on April 8 while on his way home; Nestor Libaton, Mati City, Davao Oriental.

Participants to the all-women safety training include women journalists and media workers from Pagadian, Zamboanga, Lanao del Norte, Kidapawan and Surigao del Norte and development communication students from Mati, Davao Oriental.

The two-day activity was preceded by a trainers training on March 10 and will end on March 20, also in the same venue.  (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)

Environment advocates who have picketed the MGB regional office here since Monday are questioning why the Chamber of Mines Caraga Region Inc. (CMCRI) has been allowed to hold office at the said government building.

The picket was triggered by the refusal of MGB-Caraga to enforce a 2-year old court order stopping MarcVentures Mining and Development Corp. (MMDC) from operating in a watershed reserve in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur.

Chito Trillanes, spokesperson of the Social Action Center of the CarCanMadCarLanPar zone, said this setup doesn’t look good.

CarCanMadCarLanPar refers to the municipalities of Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza and Barangay Parang (Cantilan), all in Surigao del Sur, where the protesters came.

“The MGB will end up biased because it is hosting the mining companies. It that’s the case, the MGB should also give us a space so we can easily bring our complaints to them,” he said in the vernacular.

But Dulmar Raagas, president of the CMCRI in a telephone interview said they should not be dragged into the controversy between the protesters, MGB and MMDC.

He said MGB-Caraga accommodated the chamber because it has no money.

“CMCRI is a non-stock, non-profit organization. It is an association of (mining) companies but it doesn’t mean we are into profit making,” the official said.

He said their office space, which is located on the 3rd floor of the building where the MGB regional director also holds office, is a “privilege given to us as partners.”

“Our office is so small it can only accommodate two chairs,” he said.

Raagas, who has been president of CMCRI for five years already, said the chamber’s office was already there even before he was elected to the post.

He added the organization is hardly even earning as its membership fee is only P500. “We cannot even impose an increase to P1,000 because others complained they are already paying to the Chamber of Mines (of the Philippines) where they are already members.”

Caraga region has a total of 27 operating mines, MGBs latest data showed.

Among the big mining firms in the region that are members of the CMP are Nickel Asia Corporation and its affiliates Taganito Mining Corporation, THPAL and Hinatuan Mining Corporation, Platinum Group Metals Corporation, Philsaga Mining Corporation and SR Metals.

Raagas said most CMCRI members are small mining companies.

He said CMCRI is not a member of CMP, and membership to it is not mandatory for all Caraga-based mining firms.

CMCRI is more of a “service institution” that facilitates “easier access to communication with MGB and other concerns,” he said.

Raagas said he is not even paid for his work as president of the organization for the last five years.

Engr. Reynaldo Gonzales, chief of the mine environment, health and safety division, told the protesters on Monday that CMCRI’s presence is temporary, and this was already relayed to the chamber several months ago.

“We already informed them but it has not been realized yet. Thank you for reminding us about this,” Gonzales said.

Raagas said he would welcome it if those who complained about their presence at the MGB can offer an office for them “so we can transfer immediately.” (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

MGB-Caraga regional director Roger A. de Dios told anti-mining protesters from five towns of Surigao del Sur, he would not enforce the 2-year old temporary environment protection order or TEPO against the firm without a written order from MGB Director Leo Jasareno

The protesters came from the towns of Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza. Numbering close to 100, including some church officials, they have picketed the MGB office here since Monday.

De Dios met the protesters around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. He told them he would only implement the TEPO if Jasareno issued a written order for him to do so.

In an interview over RMN-DXSN Wednesday morning, Jasareno said the TEPO should be enforced if it is executory.

“Hintayin natin ang utos ng (MGB) Region 13…may aksyon na yan,” Jasareno said, adding he already spoke with de Dios on Tuesday in Manila.

In Wednesday’s dialogue de Dios said Jasareno told him they would talk about it but that no conversation took place because the latter and did not return.

De Dios said that despite what Jasareno said on the radio, he will still prefer a “black and white” order from his superior on the TEPO.

He said he is willing to enforce the TEPO if the group can get a court order directing him to enforce it. “Lisud man sad kaayo kung moingon ko ipasarado kun wala kini nakabutang og klaro,” (It’s difficult to order a closure [of the mining firm) if there is no clear order)

The TEPO was issued by Judge Alfredo P. Halad of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 41 in Cantilan in November 2010, and affirmed on May 26, 2011 as “subsisting and effective until there is an order, lifting, revoking or dissolving it.”

Halad added: “This case shall not be dismissed on the ground of non-inclusion of the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) as defendant”.

But an ocular inspection done by the local government unit of Cantilan and civil society groups on June 16, 2011 in Barangay Cabangahan, Cantilan showed that MMDC has continued to operate there despite the court order. This prompted the filing of a motion to cite the firm in contempt on July 19, 2011.

Halad, however, inhibited himself from the case as his son was hired by the law firm that serves as the legal counsel of MMDC.

Two other judges also inhibited themselves. Judge Merlyn Pacaro-Canedo of RTC Branch 40 in Tandag cited “heavy workload”. Judge Victor A. Canoy of RTC Branch 29 in Surigao City begged off as one of the counsels for MMDC is a complainant of an administrative case against him.

The complainant groups asked Supreme Court administrator Midas Marquez to appoint a new judge or transfer the case to Cagayan de Oro City but no action has been taken so far.

Chito Trillanes of the Social Action Center further questioned the MGB for issuing an ore transport permit despite the TEPO and the absence of a mayor’s permit as required by the MGB itself.

De Dios said the MGB doesn’t really require a mayor’s permit.

Fr. Raymond Ambray, spokesperson of SAC and of environment watchdog Caraga Watch, said they were dissatisfied because the MGB refused to enforce the court order.

“Everything indeed has fallen on deaf ears. We have time and again tried our best to address the issue through our letters and request to the MGB office but they had refused to act on it,” said the priest.
Emma Hotchkiss, president of the Nagpakabana na CarCanMadCarLanon, hit Jasareno for his statement saying “he only pays lip-service.”

‘Destruction of watershed’

The protesters feared MMDC’s operations would further destroy the watershed forest reserve in Cantilan which is covered by Presidential Proclamation No. 1747 dated March 23, 2009. They said Pangihawan and Cabangahan creeks have become heavily silted.

De Dios said what is being mined is a “small part” of the watershed area which could not affect the 1,800 hectares of irrigated farmlands. But he told the protesters he will send a team next week to investigate the alleged destruction in the two creeks.

On December 17, 2012, the DENR dismissed a petition filed by the Cantilan Irrigation System Federation of Irrigators Association and six NGOs against MMDC questioning the legality of the firm’s Mineral Production Sharing Agreement vis-à-vis the PP No. 1747 and the environmental destruction it has reportedly caused.

Hotchkiss said they already filed a motion for reconsideration on the decision.

Elvie Arrubio Sr., president of the irrigators association said the decision was biased particularly when it said that it found the mining operations “will not endanger environment” and “endanger the water and river systems of the area.”

“They didn’t invite us. We were not even included when they conducted the investigation in the area,” Arrubio said.

The farmer, who shed tears during the dialogue lamented that they have exhausted all peaceful means to bring their message to officials.

He said conflicts have occurred among their members owing to the reduced water supply.

“We can no longer plant, so what is going to happen in the next cropping season if mining will not be stopped?” he said.

Fr. Frank Olvis, vicar forane of the SAC for the five municipalities said the picket will continue until the TEPO is enforced.

‘Funny decision’

Environment groups outside Surigao also hit MGB’s repeated refusal to enforce the TEPO.

Nokie Calunsag of Green Mindanao who previously worked in the area shared his disappointment over the decision.

“This is a very funny decision from MGB, a very controversial one since the mining firm operating in the area is closely linked to politicians in Surigao del Sur. A law is a law and nobody is supposed to be above the law, the president should take notice of this and take considerable action. I’m sure there is a bigger anomaly behind this and that the MGB is afraid that this might come out in the open,” said Calunsag.
Juland Suazo, spokesperson of Panalipdan Mindanao based in Davao City, said MGB’s decision was an “obstruction of justice” that has deprived the affected communities of their right to clean water and healthy ecosystem.

Clemente Bautista, national coordinator for Kalikasan said the MGB officials should be investigated and held responsible for their failure to implement the court order.  (Vanessa Almeda, with a report from Erwin Mascarinas/MindaNews)

Residents from the town of Cantilan and other parts of Surigao del Sur march on the streets in Surigao City Monday afternoon to protest the non-enforcement by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau regional office of the Temporary Environmental Protection Order issued in 2010 against Marcventures Mining and Development Corp’s operations in Cantilan’s watershed. MindaNews photo by Erwin Mascarinas

After failing to get a positive response at last January’s meeting with the same office, the group led by the Social Action Center of the Vicariate of CarCanMadCarLanPar (referring to the five municipalities of Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza, and Barangay Parang of Cantilan, in Surigao del Sur, also referred to as CCMCLPar) decided to take to the streets their concern and stage a picket at the MGB office here.

“So we’re here again so you will act fast. We will not go home until you will comply with this,” Emma Hotchkiss, president of the Nagpakabana na Carcanmadcarlanon (NnC), told MGB officials in a dialogue Monday afternoon.

At least 90 environment advocates representing the five towns marched towards the office of the MGB around 4 p.m. Monday to demand the immediate implementation of the temporary environment and protection order (TEPO) issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 41 in Cantilan two years ago.

Last January 31, Hotchkiss, Msgr. Florio Falcon (judicial vicar of the Diocese of Tandag), Fr. Frank Olvis (vicar forane of the SAC CarCanMadCarLanPar), environmentalist groups, farmers, fisherfolks and irrigators’ association meet with Caraga’s new MGB chief, Engr. Roger A. de Dios, on the same issue. But the latter issued a similar stance as his predecessor, Alilo Ensomo – MGB cannot implement the TEPO because it is not party to the case.

Hotchkiss said she finds it incomprehensible that a government agency principally tasked to regulate mining concerns refuses to enforce the TEPO. On Nov. 11, 2010, the court issued a TEPO against MMDC for operating in a declared watershed forest reserve.

The municipal government of Cantilan, various groups and stakeholders conducted an ocular inspection later. On May 26, 2011, the court affirmed the effectivity of its ruling “until there is an order lifting or revoking the same.”

On August of the same year a congressional inquiry was held, prompting MGB Director Leo Jasareno to commit a compliance. Consequently, on August 18, a memorandum was issued by Jasareno addressed to Ensomo to enforce the TEPO.

An earlier interview with a company official denied the group’s contention, saying MMDC complied with the ruling for the next three days.

Hotchkiss on one hand expressed her exasperation, saying the group has been given a run-around by the MGB. During last Monday’s meeting, Engr. Reynaldo Gonzales (the mine environment, health and safety division chief who was the OIC at this time) told the group they will wait for the decision of the director.

De Dios is reportedly in Manila since last week and is attending an expanded meeting on Monday with other officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

Earlier, De Dios confirmed a letter has been forwarded to Jasareno but the latter, in a separate interview, said he has not received any complaint that the TEPO has not been enforced.

Asked if the dialogue held Monday was a “stalemate,” Gonzales said: “We are doing our best to bring the letter to the director.”

Director’s order

“I don’t find the logic here when you question your director’s order,” Hotchkiss said, referring to the continued refusal of the regional office to comply with Jasareno’s order which was issued in 2011.

Chito Trillanes, spokesperson of SAC CCMCLPar, said the group recognizes the authority of the MGB to resolve the issue at hand but likewise lamented that it failed to act on a serious concern of the people – the Watershed Forest Reserve which serves the irrigation and water needs of three towns, namely, Cantilan, Madrid and Carrascal.

Trillanes said despite the TEPO, MMDC continued to operate without letup, causing further destruction of the watershed and causing the significant reduction of water inflow into the irrigation canals in Cantilan and Madrid.

The Cantilan Watershed Forest Reserve is protected under Presidential Proclamation No. 1747.

Trillanes said the livelihood of local farmers have been greatly affected, citing the latest Farmers-Irrigators Association report that an estimated 400 hectares of rice land has not been planted during last year’s cropping season.

“Because of their failure to plant, an estimated 1.6 million kilograms of potential rice harvested or an equivalent of P24 million of farmers’ income was lost,” he said.

Trillanes questioned a document received by the LGU of Cantilan which was hand-delivered by a personnel of MMDC. “The MMDC was the one who delivered the document wherein it became the postmaster of the MGB?” he said.

The document referred to is a letter issued by MGB tenements head Charlo Basadre to MMDC about the memorandum issued by Jasareno.

“We also questioned why the MGB issued an OTP (Ore Transport Permit) when it did not even ask permit from the Cantilan LGU. We were told earlier by Dir. De Dios that a town permit is not needed but when we looked outside of the office, the mayor’s permit is part of the requirements in the issuance of the OTP,” he said.

“We are very serious of this matter and we will not go home unless this thing is acted upon by the MGB,” Trillanes said.

Run around

Hotchkiss said the group has been given a run-around for several years now, citing their grievance against Jasareno and other MGB officials. “We don’t find logic here. Or there can’t be stupid logic because if it is stupid, then there is no logic to it,” she said.

She said Jasareno told them it cannot enforce the TEPO because of the standing motion for reconsideration that the mining company has filed against the TEPO.

Further, Hotchkiss – the younger sibling of retired Philippine Air Force General William K. Hotchkiss III, who is now the executive director of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines also known as staunch environmental advocate who is anti-mining – said even the court has given them a similar treatment as judges assigned to the TEPO case have been repeatedly inhibiting themselves.

“And now, the MGB is saying this and that and we’re treated like we’re six-year olds,” she exclaimed. “Our feeling now is, who is going to protect us?” she lamented.

“We are doing our right to be heard that’s why we are here on the streets,” Trillanes said.

He added that the group is emotional because of “our sorrow towards our land which is a watershed. This is our life, engineer,” addressing Gonzales.

With no result at hand owing to the absence of De Dios, the group said they will continue to set up their picket lines. (Vanessa L. Almeda / MindaNews)

Vice Governor Carlos Egay Jr. said the meeting was called to further develop the potentials of MSMEs vis-à-vis the province’s big businesses.

He noted that while mining is one of the sectors that substantially contributed to the local economy and jobs generation in the province, “it is still our (small) entrepreneurs and tourism that is the backbone of our economy.”

“Mining will not always be there and we have to make sure that our programs are in place especially for the entrepreneurs,” the official said.

Data from the provincial Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) showed that MSMEs comprise at least 90% of business establishments in the province, with capitalization of P3 million or less.

In her presentation on the role of MSMEs, Alice Eusena, provincial economic consultant and former DTI regional director for Northern Mindanao, said the sector is projected to increase its contribution by 40% to the Gross Domestic Product of the country by 2016.

Based on the 2010-2016 Small and Medium Enterprise Development Plan, the sector is seen to contribute three million additional jobs, she reported.

She said that under Republic Act 9501 or the Magna Carta for SMEs, the state “fully recognizes the full potential for more employment generation of the sector, which will help provide a self-sufficient industrial foundation for the country.”

The policy declaration of the state is clear and biased towards rural and agriculture-based enterprises, the ex-DTI official said.

The 2010-2011 industry figure showed that 91.9 percent of the total enterprise in the country belongs to micro-enterprises, 7.7 percent to SMEs, and 0.4 percent to medium enterprises.

There is great growth potential for MSMEs considering their dominating presence in the economy, Eusena said.

The presence of MSMEs in Mindanao is virtually low compared to Luzon, she said, attributing this to the presence of many economic zones there.

In Surigao City, the Nonoc Industrial Economic Zone created more than a decade ago remained dormant or without economic activities.

In terms of employment generation, the MSME sector is actually labor intensive, generating 68% in employment share for Luzon-based enterprises, 14% for Visayas and 12% for Mindanao, she said.

Gracielda Mante, Provincial Economic Enterprise and Development Management Office (PEEDMO) officer-in-charge, expressed confidence the activity will result to a unified plan that will consolidate all the existing programs and projects from both the government and the private sector.

”Our common mission is to flourish the micro enterprises in the province,” she said. (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)

“What I want is not antagonism. We go into a dialogue, we go for means that will make them aware because it is the people in the barangays who are suffering,” the bishop told local media in a press conference held Saturday at the Park Way Hotel, where he was the guest speaker of the first activity organized by the Surigao Media Forum, a loose organization of media practitioners in the city.

Surigao del Norte is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Surigao.

Surigao del Sur, which is under the Diocese of Tandag, on the other hand, is more vocal in its campaign against mining operations in that province and in the whole of Caraga Region, the region being the hub of mining operations in the country with 28 operating companies.

Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar and the Social Action Center (SAC) of the Diocese of Tandag have been in the forefront in the anti-mining campaign.

Cabahog said the diocese’s position on the issue has always been on “responsible mining”, the same position that the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) took since several years ago.

“The CBCP is not anti-mining per se but for responsible mining,” he noted.

He added that part of his advocacy work is to directly communicate with concerned agencies in Manila on the effects of mining in the province. “If we will just bring it up here, nothing is resolved, so we just go directly to Manila,” he stressed.

He said there are “different realities” in the two provinces, citing that Surigao del Sur has been historically strongly opposing mining.

The Diocese of Surigao has been silent in several high-profile mining issues, including during the October 4, 2011 raid by the New People’s Army at Claver because of labor issues in mining companies and massive environmental degradation.

But Cabahog, who is also a Canon lawyer, is taking the tact of peaceful negotiations, saying he had been communicating with the national agencies on what he sees in his sorties around the province.

Recently, a group of anti-mining groups from Cantilan, Surigao del Sur came to visit the bishop for a dialogue purposely to get his support on the group’s call to implement a two-year temporary environment protection order (TEPO) against Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC).

Asked what agreements were reached, Cabahog said he has expressed his support but qualified that he is still waiting for the document that will resolve the issue on the subject.

Meanwhile, the Surigao bishop admitted that mining companies in his area of jurisdiction have not been responsible in fulfilling their duties as “stewards” of the areas that they mine.

It is just unfortunate that some provisions of the law are not being followed by the mining companies, Cabahog lamented. “Hopefully mining companies will have the social responsibility to restore the [destroyed] resources that they leave behind,” Cabahog said.

He spoke of the global experience where mining companies operate but once they leave, the areas end up barren and wasted.

He said the church will continue to work on its advocacy on the effects of mining and will not hesitate to call the attention of government if it finds the grievances of the people left unheard.

The media forum include journalists from MindaNews, Agusan-Surigao Enquirer, GoldStar Daily, RMN-DXRS, RPN-DXKS, CMN-DXSN, Philippine Daily Inquirer and INQ.net, Interaksyon and TV5, and GMA 7 and GMA Online as media partners. (Vanessa L. Almeda / MindaNews)

Engr. Reynaldo Y. Gonzales, chief of the Mining Environment and Safety Division  (MESD) said mayors voiced strong opposition to the special order issued by Caraga mines regional director Roger de Dios late last year but discussed at a two-day seminar only on  February 21 and 22.

“They are now appealing to the director,”  Gonzales said.

De Dios’ memorandum prohibited a local government unit from being represented in more than one of the following committees: Community Technical Working Group (CTWG), Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) and the Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT).

He explained that this was meant “to implement what the law has provided” and ensure check and balance in the prioritization of livelihood projects for the communities.

“We found out that local representatives are sitting in two to three of these committees. How can we ensure there is check and balance if a member in one committee also becomes a member of the MRFC or the MMT? Or vice versa,” he said.

In the two-day seminar,  Taganaan  town mayor Cesar Diaz objected to the removal of the town representative in the MMT. The objection was seconded by Tubod mayor Cristina Hemady Romarate-Arcillas.

Both mayors asserted that the removal is untimely since barangay officials are “not capacitated” and still need to be taught on technical monitoring work.

On February 22,   the mayors were given an orientation on the ‘changes’ of the Social Development and Management Program (SDMP) which required that livelihood component be allotted 20% of the 75% budget for SDMP.

Under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, operating mines are required to allot 1.5% of their operating cost to social development projects. The law’s implementing rules and regulations also defined the composition of the MRFC and the MMT.

The members of the CTWG, the body that creates the Annual SDMP. was also streamlined,   prompting complaints from barangay captains.

“We are not agreeing to this. We like it that there were many of us in the committee because at least a lot of us can explain to the people about what mining is,” Urbiztondo barangay captain Carmelito Galing said.

Galing had  earlier said that reducing the  CTWG membership to five members from the previous membership of 10 to 15, defeats the purpose of the concept started in 1999.

Gonzales said the CTWG was created for the purpose of uplifting the lives of the communities and not to serve the interests of the LGUs.

“This (CTWG) is strictly practiced in the region because this is where it started. The law did not write  this but  (it was) an initiative of the regional office,” he added.

Created in 1999, the SDMP was a result of “the nagging negative impression that mining is an environment and community despoiler” and the CTWG  was created to “empower the people.”

But industry observers, including mining executives and MGB officials, have criticized the SDMP and  the CTWG for allegedly not serving their purpose.

De dios said the SDMP  focused on infrastructure projects and sidelined the livelihood initiatives to uplift the economic conditions of the host and affected communities.

MGB records show that in the last 13 years, infrastructure projects were allocated a total of P103.099 million while livelihood was only P65.097 million.

Gonzales said it also became a venue for some local officials claiming the project as theirs.

Gonzales said he did not mince words when he told local officials that no other private entity, not even the mobile phone companies raking in millions of profit, has shelled millions of pesos for social development projects, except the mining industry.

He also showed them a comparative figure on the taxes generated from mining companies which were returned to local government coffers thru its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

Aside from the IRA, LGUs also earn from occupational taxes and real property taxes.

“You cannot say the (mining) communities are ‘luoy’ (pitiful) because the money is there. They were all silent when I showed them the figures,” he said.

He said the SDMP is private money and not public funds.

“We always get feedback that the industry is not giving anything to the community but we have the figures that millions have been infused for community development. The question is where is this money and how was it used?” he asked.

“The SDMP is there to co-with the barangay’s existing AIP (Annual Investment Priority). There is already the BDP (Barangay Development Plan) where government’s IRA is used. The SDMP will just fill in that gap,” he said.

Gonzales also said barangays will retain its membership with the CTWG and MMT but cannot sit down with the Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) since it will be represented by municipal and provincial heads.

The MRFC is the highest body to approve and endorse the SDMP that the CTWG will create.

The MMT on one hand is designated by the MRFC for the regular monitoring of environmental issues and concerns.

The MGB director issues the certificate of approval for the SDMP.

The MRFC  has yet to meet for the first quarter of this year to discuss the issue. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

The controversy stemmed from MGB’s memorandum issued last year prohibiting a local government unit from being represented in more than one of the following committees: Community Technical Working Group (CTWG), Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC) and the Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT).

MGB regional director Roger A. de Dios explained his memorandum was meant “to implement what the law has provided” and ensure check and balance in the prioritization of livelihood projects for the communities.

“We found out that local representatives are sitting in two to three of these committees. How can we ensure there is check and balance if a member in one committee also becomes a member of the MRFC or the MMT? Or vice versa,” he said.

But his proposal, which he presented during a two-day reorientation seminar on Thursday and Friday last week, did not sit well with some local officials.

Barangay chair Carmelio I. Galing of Urbiztondo, Surigao City said the limit set on committee membership might result in priority projects for his barangay getting disapproved by the MRFC for political reasons.

Galing said it’s likely that the municipal official in the MRFC would favor a barangay where the officials are his supporters over a barangay where the officials are not his allies.

He said the MGB, which is attached to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), should have consulted them first before calling them to attend the seminar and tell them about the changes.

He said the changes mean that a barangay official who is already a CTWG member can no longer sit either in the MRFC or MMT.

Interviewed at the sidelines of the seminar, de Dios said he was worried he might be perceived as a spokesperson of the mining industry for introducing the changes.

But he said his memorandum merely reiterated Department Administrative Order (DAO) 96-40 or the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the Mining Act of 1995.

Section 183 of the IRR says that the MRFC shall be composed of the MGB regional director as chair, the regional executive director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as co-chair, and representatives from the local government unit, NGOs and community organizations, church or civic organizations, and from the permit holder.

A seat is allotted for autonomous regional governments where this is applicable.

Section 185 of the IRR says the MMT is deputized by the MRFC “to serve as the monitoring arm of said Committee”.

CTWG was a concept that started in the province in 1999 as a result of “the nagging negative impression that mining is an environmental and community despoiler”, an MGB document said.

The committee, however, has received criticisms it has become “too populated” with as many as 25 to 30 members taking part in the formulation of the Social Development Management Program.

De Dios said the large membership of committees due to the repetitive inclusion of barangay, municipal and provincial officials can be a financial burden to companies.

Every committee member receives a P1,000 honorarium for every meeting he or she attends.

But Galing said their protest has nothing to do with the honorarium they receive saying they are entitled to it as volunteers. He said MGB personnel are the ones who should not get honorariums since they are government employees.

“We agree to an honorarium because this goes direct to the barangay,” he said.

Galing said the CTWG membership has been reduced to five – MGB, barangay captain, company representative, religious and NGO.

The barangay chair said a bigger membership is better because there would be many people who can explain to the community in case there are problems like anti-mining sentiments.

He proposed instead that they be stripped of voting power but not of their membership.

For her part, Mayor Christina Hemady Romarate-Arcillas of Tubod town, Surigao del Norte conceded the committees were indeed too big and welcomed the de Dios’ initiative. But she said she was worried over the exclusion of the municipal government in the MMT since the host barangays are still “not capacitated”.

Vice Mayor Alfred Vargas of Carascal town, Surigao del Sur asked de Dios if they were already removed from the MMT.

De Dios said the matter will be raised to the proper committee for discussion and final resolution.

The MGB director said that when he assumed the post in August last year, he noted that the SDMP focused on infrastructure and allocated less for economic and livelihood projects.

“I think the law (Philippine Mining Act of 1995) is clear when it said that social development projects should be given more weight because in the first place this is why we allow mining companies here…to improve the lives of the people in the communities where it is operating,” he said.

According to the MGB-XIII data, infrastructure projects got P103.099 million and economic projects only P65.097 million during the last 13 years.

In a memo issued last year, he ordered that the share for livelihood projects should be 20% of the 75% share for SDMP from the 1.5% of the mining firms’ operating cost that should be allocated for the development of host communities as per DAO 2010-21.

The memo also set an 80% share for health, education, public utilities and socio-cultural preservation, with health and education as “continuing priority projects”.

Allocations for fiesta celebrations were reduced to a maximum of P50,000 per barangay. Festivals and “Araw ng Barangay” got the same amount. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

But despite this reality, the price of fish and other marine products in the local market has become “unreasonably high.”

Gregoria A. Tisang, of the Bureau of Agriculture and Statistics (BAS), said what was normal before is rare nowadays. “We are already used to the high price of fish that if it goes down it becomes unusual. Being cheap now is rare while expensive is normal,” she said.

The BAS database showed that Surigao del Norte’s supply of marine products for the past five years had been enough, albeit decreasing in terms of volume, to feed the city’s population and the rest of the province.

Roberto T. Senaca, BAS provincial officer, said the supply of fish in the city is more than enough contrary to the perceived notion that fish is now sold at a steep price because of the lack of supply. Surigao City has a total population of 132,151 while the province has a total of 277,317 as of May 2010, the National Statistics and Coordination Board’s records show.

“We have enough. But we have middlemen who do not directly supply to the market,” he noted.

Dr. Alan Quines, city market administrator and city veterinary officer, said the situation is pervasive not because there is no supply of fish but mainly because of the low fish catch caused by the bad weather condition that the city and the rest of Mindanao have experienced since last year.

Another factor cited by officials is the ovulation and hatching period of the fish which runs from December to February, and thus not wise to catch the pregnant fish nor the young ones.

A check at the local public market Monday this week showed the price of “Dalagang Bukid” or Caesio has ranged from P160 to P180.

The same fish during the pre-Christmas season and before typhoon Pablo hit Mindanao was P120 to P140 per kilo. The price however spiked to P200 to P220 a week before Christmas.

The BAS database showed “Dalagang Bukid” was sold around P125 a kilo in 2007 but price has steadily increased yearly until its prevailing price of P140 to P160.

Decreasing volume, increasing prices

The same government statistics showed the prevailing market price of fish has continually increased through the years while the annual volume declined.

In 2008, the volume of fish was 3.777 million metric tons, 3.263 million metric tons in 2009, 3.413 million metric tons in 2010, 3.445 million metric tons in 2011 and 3.068 million metric tons in 2012.

Meanwhile, the retail price of fish continuously increased, as shown in the table:

Source: BAS-Surigao del Norte

“Galunggong” (or Roundscad) has undergone a similar fate – from P64.59 in 2007 to P100 in 2011. Today, a kilo of Galunggong, which became known as the “isda ng masa” (fish of the masses) during the presidency of the late Corazon C. Aquino (1986-1992), sells from P110 to P130 at the local market.

Another common fish preferred by local market goers is “Tulingan” or Frigate Tuna, which sold for P70 to P75 a kilo in 2007 but is now P150.

City Council probe

The City Council last year conducted an investigation on a public clamor that the city government could not seem to stop the spiraling increase in prices.

Consumers complained that the excessive and unreasonable pricing is caused by fish traders controlling the prices even before the catch reaches the fish landing site. Meanwhile, a bulk of the fish catch in the city and even in the province are delivered in faraway places, including Butuan, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, and even to the Zamboanga provinces, officials said.

There is also a persisting sentiment that Surigaonons end up not enjoying the area’s produce, putting the blame on the government for not trying to put a stop to the unmitigated price increases.

The probe resulted in the exposé on the presence of the “mamikilay” or speculators who dictate prices even before the catch arrives at the port or at fish landing sites, down to the tables at the local market.

Quines said of the 160 tables or stalls, at least 10 people are using each stall at different times.

This is because a stall owner may lend the space to another fish vendor, and this vendor in the next day will give the space again to another vendor, and so forth, Quines said. The transfer of “ownership” of the stall results in the increase in the rental of the table which contributes to the unstable prices of the fish, he added.

Leonardo Ejandra, president of the Surigao Fish Vendors Association, said there are actually layers of people who cause fish prices at the market to go up. He explains that if for instance a buyer gets to get the fish at the port at P60 per kilo and buys these in bulk from a box that contains 45 to 60 kilos, he then sells these at P100 to P110 per kilo.

Before the fish reaches the market, another group of middlemen negotiate to buy the fish at say P115 to P120 a kilo. The process goes on until the fish arrives at the table and the price is now pegged at P130 to P140, when originally these cost only P60 at the fish landing site.

Quines said city ordinance No. 339 or “An Ordinance regulating the distribution and sale of marine products within the city and for other purposes” was enacted in May 2012 as a result of the investigation and the public clamor.

But he admitted this has not been fully operationalized yet as there is still a need to meet various government agencies concerned, including the City Agriculture Office, the Department of Health, the Philippine National Police and other concerned agencies to monitor the implementation of the said ordinance.

“Our first step is to meet the fish vendors and tell them that we need to cut down on the number of helpers that each stalls have. This will make sure that we can easily monitor the so-called mamikilay which has caused the excessive prices,” he said.

Ejandra confirmed that a meeting was undertaken Friday morning and the association agreed to have one helper each. “We have agreed on that because things can be monitored anyway with the installation of CCTVs (closed circuit television),” he added.

Interestingly, prices went down Saturday to the delight of market goers. Ejandra said the drop is due to “dabos” or an abundant supply of fish. Dalagang Bukid, for instance, has dropped to P130 per kilo from Monday’s P160 to P180, while other “first class” marine products dropped to an average of P40 per kilo.

Ejandra said the prices have gone down but they are the ones who suffer because of the low return.

“If the prices are high, it gets into the news. But now that the price is low, it doesn’t get reported,” Alejandra’s helper complained. (Vanessa L. Almeda / MindaNews)

Ace and Lyndon Barbers, both former governors of Surigao del Norte, told the local media that while they may not be “well-oiled,” they have the “public support to bring them back to office.”

“The election is not about money and I think we are insulting our fellow Surigaonons if that is the case. The people can see how the current administration is running the government, and from our visit in the communities, there is a strong clamor for change,” said Ace, who ran but lost in 2010 against now Gov. Sol Matugas.

“It is God who can decide who will win, and we trust in Him that we have the people’s support,” said Lyndon, who lost to Mayor Ernesto Matugas in the 2010 polls.

The Barbers camp had filed a petition at the Commission on Election (Comelec) on the alleged rigging by the Matugases of the 2010 election results.

The Comelec ruled on the petition last year in favor of the Matugases, but Ace said “it was not a clear victory.”

Lyndon said that “change” is needed and that change is reverting back to the “old” Surigao, referring to their family’s rule on the province.

Ace earned national prominence when he became part of the House of Representatives’ so-called “Spice Boys,” which called for the impeachment of then President Joseph Estrada.

Surigao del Norte was once the bailiwick of the Barbers, when then Senator Robert Z. Barbers was still alive. The older brother Ace was then congressman and Lyndon the governor.

Another brother became a Makati councilor and later named officer-in-charge of the Department of Tourism and general manager of the Philippine Tourism Authority.

The political dynasty of the Barbers ended in 2010 when the Matugases swept the key positions in the area. Francisco Matugas won as first district representative, Sol as governor, and Francisco’s younger brother Ernesto as city mayor.

The hold of the Matugases in the province will be put to a test with the Barbers’ re-entry in local politics. In the fold of the latter is former city mayor Alfonso P. Casurra. In the 2010 polls, Cassurra was beaten by Rep. Guillermo Romarate in the congressional race for the second district.

In the May 2013 polls, Ace will slug it out with Romarate; Lyndon against Sol; and Casurra, a lawyer, against incumbent Mayor Ernesto “Nitoy” Matugas

Reelectionist Francisco will fight it out with another Liberal Party stalwart Gertrudes Saberon.

Last year, when Padajon Surigao, the local political party of the Matugases, filed their certificates of candidacy, they “predicted a 10-0 sweep in the city and provincial slates and a clear win in the congressional races.” (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Newly-installed MGB director Roger A. de Dios said his office will refer to their central office the legal action to take on the order against Marcventures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC).

On 10 November 2010, the local government of Cantilan filed a petition for injunction at the Regional Trial Court Branch 41 in the same town against MMDC for failure to consult them and the residents, threatening the water source of local communities and the livelihood of fisher folk and farmers, among others.

Judge Alfredo P. Halad granted the petition on the same day, but it was only on May 2011 that the court affirmed its decision.

MMDC and another mining company, Carac-an Development Corporation, are operating within the 43,601-hectare Cantilan-Carrascal-Madrid Watershed which is proclaimed as a water forest reserve through Presidential Proclamation No. 1747 dated March 2009.

The same watershed is serving at least 3,335 hectares of agricultural lands and 3,346 farmers in these three towns.

De Dios said he was not privy to the case as he was new to the post.

He said he will also seek clarification from MGB Director Leo Jasareno on his memorandum to then MGB regional director Alilo Ensomo to implement the court order.

Jasareno issued the memorandum in keeping with his promise during a hearing called by the House committee on environment and natural resources on Aug. 17, 2011 that he would enforce the court order. Ensomo, however, did not comply saying his office was not a party to the case and there was no direct order from the court to enforce it.

“We will bring this matter back to Manila for their legal opinion,” De Dios said.

“In the first place the TEPO is only good for 72 hours,” Jerry Bayana, a staff at MGB 13 said.

Sec. 8 of the Rules and Procedures for Environmental Cases states that a TEPO is “effective for only 72 hours from date of receipt of the TEPO by the party or person enjoined.”

However, the same provision adds that “the court shall conduct a summary hearing to determine whether the TEPO may be extended until the termination of the case.”

In a telephone interview the petitioners’ lawyer, Perry Eugenio, said the decision clearly stated that the TEPO would subsist “until it is lifted by the court.”

“De Dios was lying when he said it is just 72 hours because the court clearly stated its position. It is also a lie that they are not party to the case because the court is also clear that all agencies concerned are parties to this, and that includes the MGB. They cannot say they are not part of this,” Eugenio said.

He said no court is presently handling the case after Halad inhibited himself after his son became a lawyer for MMDC.

The case was raffled in Tandag, Surigao del Sur and in Surigao City. In both instances, the judges inhibited themselves, Eugenio said.

He added a letter sent to Supreme Court administrator Justice Midas Marquez had remained unanswered.

Meanwhile, a group said it may file an administrative case against MGB officials if they would still refuse to implement the TEPO.

Emma Hotchkiss, chair of the Nagpakabana na Carcanmadcarlanon (Concerned Carcanmadcarlanons) said “filing of cases including before the Ombudsman will surely follow if the MGB will not act within 30 days.”

Carcanmadcarlan stands for five towns in Surigao del Sur namely Carasscal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza.

Hotchkiss, Msgr. Florio R. Falcon of the Diocese of Tandag, Datu “Dagsaan” Jimmy Bat-ao of Cantilan, Almer G. Senados of the local fisher folk group, Chito Trillanes representing Cantilan town and Balaod Mindanaw trooped to the MGB regional office here on January 31 for a dialogue with de Dios.

Hotchkiss said that during the dialogue de Dios used the same argument cited by Ensomo in not enforcing the court order, and told them instead that they can file a case against erring officials.

She said she was exasperated on MGB’s inaction arguing that a court order cannot be ignored “unless a new one is in effect”.

“What are they supposed to be doing? Is this not their job as a government agency to discipline erring mining companies? ” she said in a telephone interview.

Falcon said the TEPO was issued primarily to protect the environment from further destruction pending an investigation into alleged violations.

“But the MGB spent more than two years doing nothing,” he said.

Hotchkiss said de Dios refused to give her a copy of the ore transport permit (OTP) he issued this year to the mining company even without the permit from the local government concerned.

When she raised her voice and told de Dios that she is entitled to have a copy since she is a party to the case against Marcventures, an MGB staffer offered to give it to her if the LGU would write their office.

Trillanes said “the agency’s arrogance in issuing the OTP despite the mining company’s lack of business permit is an affront to the power of the local government unit.”

A notice posted at the MGB office entrance said business permit obtained from the municipal or provincial government is one of the requirements for the OTP. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Some 6,000 advocates chanted and raised their fists to mark their strong anti-mining stance against the continued degradation of an ecosystem area that has already started to grow brown and murky.

The subject of their protest is the MarcVentures Mining and Development Corporation (MMDC) operating in the Mt. Hilong-Hilong ranges that is seen to threaten a major river serving a major irrigation in three towns in the province.

Lopez’s attendance to this quiet and rustic town sent buzzwords to locals who for months have pinned hopes of her presence so they will be able to bring their cause to national attention.

Chito Trillanes, head of the Social Action Center (SAC) in Lanuza town, said Lopez’s presence “has been a long dream of our people to find a link to bring our issues to the national government.”

Jeanette Palang-Zayas, municipal councilor, said they have high hopes that Lopez’s presence and commitment to help in their anti-mining cause will get to the President’s ear as soon as possible.

The managing director of the ABS-CBN Foundation was in provincial capital Tandag City a day before the Cantilan sojourn as part of her two-day sortie in the province.

The Cantilan gymnasium was filled to the rafters with participants from this town and neighboring areas, as well as students from local public schools, fisherfolks, farmers, women and religious groups, bank employees, retirees, and ordinary folks gathered to see Lopez.

Johnny Lugo, chair of Barangay Linintian, said 80 to 90 percent of his constituents are solid against mining.

Linintian is one of the populated barangays of this municipality, which has 17 barangays. Five barangays are opposing the operations of MMDC, which residents blamed behind the murky waters of the Cantilan River due to siltation.

Miguel Azarcon, kagawad of Barangay Parang which is close to where MMDC operates, lamented how his riceland in Sitio Tuog has turned into a brownish pond of silt. He complained of the government’s alleged continued inaction against MMDC’s operation that he claimed destroyed agricultural activity in the area.

Don’t sell your vote

In her hour-long talk, Lopez presented her position against “how mining is being run in this country” and why it should be stopped.

She said the only way to stop mining in the country is for the people to act and bond together and “to not sell your votes,” reminding them of the forthcoming elections just a few months away. She also hinted on the division between the pro and anti-mining politicians, to which the audience roared and applauded.

Cantilan is known for its strong opposition against mining operations in the province dominated by the Pimentels, who own and operate CTP Construction and Mining Corporation in neighboring Carrascal town.

Cantilan Mayor Genito said in his speech that the continued mining activities in the mountains of Hilong-Hilong will further threaten the waters of Cantilan, affecting fisherfolks.

Lopez rallied the students to join her in generating 10 million votes for the Save Palawan Movement while also urging them to cast their votes wisely.

“Don’t go for candidates who only think of filling up their pockets, but go for those whose interest is not for himself but for others. This is nothing political but we just want to say we don’t want to destroy our rich biodiversity,” she said.

Tandag Bishop Nereo P. Odchimar, in a message read during the gathering by Fr. Ovies Pateros, denounced all mining operations in the province while also citing a study conducted by the Social Action Center (SAC) that mining companies do not operate “responsibly”.

Anti-mining advocates here has organized a fun run on April 27 during the Earth Day Celebration to drumbeat the call for a moratorium on mining in the province.

Fifty thousand runners are expected to join the run that will stand to benefit farmers and fisherfolks in Cantilan, Bislig, Liangga, and San Miguel towns, Lopez said.

A petition letter calling for President Benigno Aquino III to declare a moratorium on all mining operations in the province signed by various local non-government organizations, environment groups and sectoral organizations in the area was handed over to Lopez. She promised to bring it to the President. (Vanessa L. Almeda / MindaNews)

Engr. Marilyn Pono, chif of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office said the evacuees from Barangay Quezon are still staying in different evacuation centers in the town of Mainit, four days after evacuating on January 16.

A total of 1,080 families evacuated as Lake Mainit overflowed due to continuous rains since January 14

The residents sought refuge at the municipal gym, a pastoral house, a women’s ceenter and the office of the Department of Agriculture in the said municipality. (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)

City Mayor Ernesto T. Matugas, together with police and military intelligence officials, presented the seized items to media on Sunday and said these were recovered from suspected gunrunners led by Danao-born gunsmith Allan Banson Avelino.

Avelino, along with his son Archie, Richard Zambrano, Emer Ortojan and Jorge Consigna will be charged with illegal possession of firearms or violation of Republic Act 8294, according to SSgt Dominic Rubio of the Intelligence Service Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Archie and Zambrano were identified as gold panners, while Ortojan and Consigna worked at Patis Cargo Forwarders as driver and helper, respectively.

Inspector Gerson A. Soliven of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group said Ortojan and Consigna were arrested on their way to deliver five pieces of magazines for cal. 45 pistol, one Colt cal. 45, one Remington cal. 45 and one PARA Ordnance cal. 45 pistol, at about 12:30pm. The guns had come from Cebu.

An hour and a half earlier, seven firearms were recovered inside a house allegedly rented by Avelino for the past seven months at Espina Extension, Barangay Taft. The firearms included a Pietro Beretta cal. 9mm pistol that bore a “PNP property” marking.

Officials said they are still investigating the identities of the supposed buyers of the confiscated firearms.

Matugas said the incident would help deter criminal. “We are happy with this development and this goes to show that our police are doing something to solve threats to our peace and order,” he said.

The mayor admitted the aborted gun smuggling could be election-related.

The incident came a day before the start of the gun ban for the May 13 midterm polls.

For his part, City police chief, Supt. Joseph Nohara, said it is too early to say that the presence of loose firearms in the city is already serious.

Renee Patis, proprietor of the local cargo forwarder, said in a separate interview it was the first time that her company was implicated in a crime in the 30 years that it has serviced deliveries to and from Cebu.

She, however, admitted that their cargoes don’t pass through the X-ray machines upon entry at the Cebu port.

She added they don’t normally ask from customers of the contents of their package saying this has been their practice. “Next time, we will not allow it anymore. We will really open their package.”

Patis said she never had doubts about Ortojan, a distant relative who had worked for her for three years already.

“Kaluoy pud sa pamilya ani,” (I pity his family) she said, adding she has provided her driver a lawyer.

Patis, however, said she is anxious that the incident might affect her business.

Ortojan on the other hand said he was just a driver of the cargo forwarding company and denied knowing Avelino’s activity.

In an interview Avelino said he is only a gunsmith who attends to guns that some policemen bring to him for repair or “enhancement”. He declined to name the policemen who he said were his customers.

He asked the mayor and Surigao del Norte Gov. Sol F. Matugas for forgiveness and a chance to redeem himself.

Archie meanwhile said he was at his father’s rented house at the time purposely to join a beach party together with his friend Alaba. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

The Surigao Metropolitan Water District (SMWD) in a 10:30 a.m. advisory sent through the Philippine Information Agency-Surigao del Norte said it was cutting water supply from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. “due to water turbidity at the Parang-Parang water source caused by continuous rains.”

Meanwhile, Quick Action Response Team (QART) head Ralph Rowan told MindaNews the risk of landslides would increase if the downpour did not stop in the next 48 hours.

He, however, added there was yet no cause for alarm.

“No alert level has been issued. This is just a normal rainy day for Surigao,” Rowan said.

QART is a member of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office that acts as one of the first responders during disasters and emergencies.

There were already no classes at the Surigao City Pilot School starting this afternoon.

City Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Fidela Rosas clarified in a telephone interview that classes were not suspended but were merely shortened because of the examinations this week.

She said they received no alert, although she emphasized it would be up to the parents to let their children go to school or not if heavy rains occur.

Susil Ragas of the provincial PIA office said the Department of Education allows school principals to suspend classes during heavy rains if an area is prone to landslides or floods.

In another development, Rowan said the bodies of the three students of Claver National High School who went missing last January 12 after taking a swim at the Baoy River in Gigaquit, Surigao del Norte were already recovered yesterday noon.

The victims were identified as Rjay Cruz Bayeta, 18, Ralp Fernandez Esperon, 16, and Richard Gonia Peralta, 21, all residents of Purok 3, Barangay Daywan, Claver, Surigao del Norte.

The victims went swimming with two of their friends but strong currents swept them away.

Those who survived are Mark Clerrjep Adlao Sering, 14, and Vince Esperon Canion, 15, also of Daywan.

Rowan said two of the rescued bodies were recovered within the Daywan River network and the other one at an islet in Becebos Bay in Claver.

The search and rescue operations were undertaken by the QART and the Philippine Coast Guard. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)

Vice Mayor Danilo Menor announced the suspension at 7 a.m. as rains continued without let up since late Wednesday afternoon.

In Dinagat Islands province, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (DRRMC) ordered a preemptive evacuation, relayed to residents through text messages written in the local language

The advisory urged residents to be on alert for landslides and to coordinate with barangay officials and their municipal DRRMCs.

The LPA nearing Surigao, estimated by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)  at 1,090 kilometers east of Mindanao as of 4 a.m. January 10 is different from the LPA southeast of General Santos City.

PAGASA in its 11 a.m. advisory said the LPA was estimated at 480 kilometers southeast of General Santos City while the LPA east of Mindanao had dissipated.

Engr. Marilyn Pono of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office told MindaNews that as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday, she was able to receive confirmation from the Philippine Army based in Malimono town in Surigao del Sur that the area is already passable. Earlier in the morning, reports indicated the town was isolated as the main river connecting it to the city had overflowed.

As of 5:30 p.m., Pono was still trying to contact the DRMMC of Malimono She acknowledged it is is difficult to phone the area due to bad network signal.

“We are still trying to contact them but the Army based there told us that it was able to pass the bridge this afternoon,” she said.

A text from Malimono Vice Mayor Dulmar Raagas confirmed the town is no longer isolated. He said the river that’s overflowing is Punta River and the wooden bridge leading to Mainit town is not passable.

“We are monitoring our towns and municipalities until now but we have not received reports (other than in Malimono) about rivers reaching an alarming level. Earlier, it said that the river in Gigaquit has risen but then the rain stopped. For now, we will still continue to monitor,” Pono said. (Vanessa L. Almeda/MindaNews)

Jessica L. Nepomuceno, program coordinator of the STI/HIV/AIDS Program of the City Health Office, said the figure does not include those that are unreported, citing the prohibition on compulsory testing for the ailment.

Under Republic Act 8504 or the Philippine AIDS Prevention and Control Act of 1998, Article III, Section 16 prohibits compulsory HIV testing and “is deemed unlawful” if forced.

“This is actually one of the setbacks since we really can’t force anyone to undertake testing. The 2012 case was actually a referral from Butuan City since the victim is based here,” Nepomuceno said.

A document acquired by MindaNews showed Surigao City has a total of four HIV-positive cases from the period 1995 to July 2012.

But it was learned that in 2009, a study was conducted using the Integrated HIV Behavioral Serologic Surveillance (IHBSS) which showed that the rate of increase in terms of epidemiological rate posed an alarming figure.

Dr. Romulo Ybiernas, resident doctor and coordinator for the HIV/AIDS campaign of the CHO in Brgy. Washington, disclosed that a one-percent increase is a cause for alarm “when 10 years ago, HIV/AIDS was not yet known in the city, but suddenly, in a span of two or three years we have such cases as this.”

The document showed one HIV-positive case in 2011, another one in 2012 plus the additional case that was referred from Butuan City.

Nepomuceno said the reported HIV in 2009 here caused some shockwaves in the medical community “more so in 2012.”

Ybiernas said several years ago key centers in Mindanao – like Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos City and Butuan – reported only minimal cases of HIV afflicted persons. But when the cases started to shoot up, it was only the time when people started to take notice of the issue.

“And we don’t want this to happen in Surigao. We are just a small community, there is no reason for Surigaonons to not know about this,” said the physician who took part in spearheading the Red Tie Run 2012, a fun-run to raise HIV/AIDS awareness.

Cold indifference

Ybiernas and another source from the Surigao City Local AIDS Council who spoke with MindaNews on condition of anonymity observed that government support in drumbeating public support on the issue has been met with cold indifference.

“We have zero government support,” the doctor said, a fact which the source from the City Local AIDS Council confirmed. “There is more emphasis on harping on investments coming in the city but without offering support to better social services,” the source added.

Nepomuceno, for her part, said there is limited source in the campaign against the ailment with P115,000 annually. “We still have to deduct money from that for the Social Hygiene Clinic,” she said.

The United Nations 8 Millennium Development Goals project that by 2015 HIV/AIDS reported cases have “halted and begun to reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS.”

Ybiernas said this can only be realized if there is a pro-active participation from government and also the public in combatting the spread of the disease by raising awareness.

The physician-athlete emphasized the importance to break religious taboo on sexual discourse and the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS.

He said the lack of knowledge on the disease, which is still pervasive in a small community like Surigao, can further spread the disease.

“Of course there is no information about this and everyone seems to be indifferent about HIV and AIDS, (the) sexual practices that can cause the illness will perpetuate,” he said.

He said contrary to common perception that HIV is transmitted primarily through sexual intercourse with several partners, the recent study shows the primary cause for transmission is men having sex with men (MSM).

“What was known before was the disease is due to multiple sex partners and women who are involved in the sex trade. But recent studies show that it’s actually an occurrence of men having sex with men,” the physician said.

Nepomuceno said what is even alarming about the trend is that it is common among men from 15 to 24 years old. “All our cases are 24 in age and male,” she said.

Both health officials said there is a need to double-time efforts to educate the public and Nepomuceno said she will continue to focus her campaign with high schools students.

The Council has also tied up with the Surigao Unified Gay Association (SUGA) in information-education campaign activities.

The Red Tie Run, which was co-sponsored with the Surigao Runners Club and the CHO, was joined by several peer educators who were also members of SUGA who acted as marshals. (Vanessa L. Almeda / MindaNews)

This was December 3, when Mark Anthony 35, together with its mother boat Lorna 9, and two other fishing vessels Lorna 7 and Lorna 8 were sailing for safety towards Mati, Davao Oriental. In the past three months, they were fishing off the seas of Payao in Siargao Island.

“We were already at 60 when it (typhoon) hit us,” Leopoldo said, referring to 60 as the distance in nautical miles from the shorelines of the nearest island of Hinatuan Islands where Typhoon Pablo was supposed to landfall.

The super typhoon (international name Bopha) was then packing maximum sustained winds of 175 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of 210 kph.

Leopoldo recalled telling his boat master as early as Saturday that they should be getting home to General Santos City.

But the apparent “bright and sunny” weather condition in the Pacific seas off Siargao Island that time did not cause alarm to his immediate superior.

“It’s still okay…let’s just wait and see,” Leopoldo quoted his immediate superior’s response.

But the looming typhoon left him uneasy for the rest of the day until Sunday when he told his two crewmembers—younger brother Rolly and chief mate Joemar N. Quiritan—to prepare their lifesaver, which they called torpedo (an ingenuous invention of a huge foam tied together with a rope).

“I was still trying to get through but the speed of the typhoon was too fast compared to the speed of our boat,” Leopoldo added.

But as they tried to speed up in order to escape Pablo, another tortuous task forced them to back track from their course.

“Nag rescue man pud mi sa kauban namo mao nibalik mi (We also rescued our companions that’s why we had to go back),” Rolly said.

Lorna 8 and Lorna 7, all mother boats under RLG Fishing Company, were joining the fleet of fishing vessels that were escaping the wrath of Pablo on the night of December 2, Leopoldo said.

Sometime Sunday night, Leopoldo said they were already ahead of the fleet sailing towards the direction of Mati when Lorna 8, as well as Lorna 9, sent distress calls.

The rescue meant they had to bring the boats toward the direction that the waves will not directly hit them.

“Our boat was the only one that was in good condition so we had to go back,” Rolly added.

Leopoldo, after answering the distress calls, assumed they were all sailing towards the same direction.

“I think it was already 11 o’clock…and I did not hear any calls already [so we went ahead]. It was quiet,” the boat captain said in the verge of tears while interviewed in his hospital bed at the trauma room of the Caraga Regional Hospital on Thursday.

Eventually, the Arias brothers and Quiritan were rescued by M/V Reefer Cala Portese off the seas of Liangga Bay on Wednesday morning between 9 to 10 a.m.

A minute under the sea

Leopoldo said it was about 1 a.m. Monday when their boat flipped and they went down under.

“It was about a minute when we went under the boat and this huge emptiness engulfed us for several seconds and then we were tossed inside the boat. I told myself this is really my end,” the 43-year old father of four said in the vernacular.

He and his brother were the first to get out of the capsized light boat followed by Quiritan.

“I was wearing a life vest and it got entangled in some part of the boat,” Quiritan, who suffered the most in the ordeal, said. The 27-year old fisher said he can’t remember how he managed to get out of the boat. He suffered injuries in his stomach, chest and legs.

Leopoldo said it was pitch dark and the 20 to 30-foot waves tossed them in and out of the ocean, coupled with the torrential rain.

“We had our flashlight but it did not last because the water eventually seeped inside it,” he said.

But for several hours, the flashlight gave them the opportunity to tie themselves together using the rope and then the torpedo. They were also using the flashlight hopefully to get the attention of other vessels, but for naught.

“I doubt if they also saw us because I think they also tried to save themselves from the rampaging waves and the rains,” he added.

Their ordeal lasted for three days and three nights, and the tossing stopped on the early morning of Wednesday.

Prepared

When Leopoldo learned about the typhoon, he prepared 20 liters of water stocked in a blue container, a flashlight, his ID, and his bag. He ordered the same to his younger brother Rolly and Quiritan.

“I am always like this, preparing the water, even two containers of it, whenever a typhoon is coming,” he said.

But Pablo was different. He was strong and a super typhoon, he said.

Death beckons again

The second thought that death was inevitable was on Tuesday night, December 4, when Quiritan was already losing strength.

“My body was already shaking at the time due to the cold and fatigue and he (Quiritan) was already losing out on us. We thought maybe we should stop kicking and swimming and just keep afloat,” Leopoldo said.

But the three of them still kept on with the little hope that is left of them–by entrusting everything to God and by engaging in conversations and banters.

At one time, they talked of Manny Pacquiao’s fight, and Rolly said they can’t just “pass out” because on Sunday, their “kababayan” (townmate) will fight against Juan Manuel Marquez.

Swimming to safety

With the help of the torpedo lifesaver, they tried their way to “safer grounds.”

“Sige lang mi og kampay-kampay og sikad,” (We kept on just flapping and kicking),” Rolly said.

At times when fatigue sinks in, they had to bring their feet upwards on top of the torpedo to relax. Leopoldo’s primary concern was Quiritan, whom they have to bring to the top of the “torpedo” so he can rest.

“It was actually the water that helped us to survive. If we get hungry and tired, we drink lots of water, and once energized, we continue with our kicking and flapping,” he said.

Rolly did not mind losing his cellular phone worth P6,000, saying what is important was they were saved. “We were really crying hard when we saw Cala Portese turned around for us.”

Leopoldo said they were still crying so hard when they reached the rescue ship’s deck and that they could not even talk because their lips were parched.

“The captain of the ship was so happy to see us alive that he even prepared a banquet for us. But I did not even want to eat because I was so tired,” he added.

A call from her 17-year old daughter somehow eased the fatigue he felt.

“We’re lucky there were no sharks even if we were bleeding already. A group of fish was actually encircling us for the rest of our ordeal. We even saw them when we were already on board the (rescue) ship,” Rolly said.

Thanksgiving

Quiritan is planning to offer a thanksgiving mass in six different Catholic churches in their hometown and light candles. All three are residents of Diamond Valley, Tambler in General Santos City.

“Now I really believe that there is God,” Quiritan said in a soft voice.

“Pahuway sa mi kay wa pa mahuman among lisang (We will take a break first because the horrors remain),” Rolly said.

“Mosugot na lang siguro ko mag drive lang (fish car) bisan gamay ra og sweldo (I think I will just accept driving a fish car even if the pay is not so good),” Leopoldo said. (Vanessa Almeda/MindaNews)