I would have normally blamed tons of work, travel, failed internet connection, power failures and even the bleak prospect of world peace but viewing my previous posts here and at Facebook had me realizing that I have used up on those reasons. I offer no apologies... since I found this to put blame on: PROCRASTINATION! hahahaha (place evil laugh here)

In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of low-priority, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. (Many people are actually equating this 'P' word with 'F', [read: Facebook] not the other 'F' word.)

In my case, I promised MBS4 (Mindanao Bloggers Summit in Zambo last year to revive my blog) but it will be MBS5 (in Iligan City) at the end of the week and, still, no blog with my name on it. (Except for this one, of course, with all the 'digital cobwebs' on it.)

Now, my promise. I will update this blog often. Or I'm actually thinking of putting up a separate blog so I'd be pushed (really!?!) to always maintain it.

(Is checking my fingernails while writing this post a form of procrastination?)

I have a plan to make this possible. I've asked a techie-friend to put up a 'turnkey' site for me. Relying on my own self doing that would take the Vatican to 'elect' the third Pinoy saint before I get to run my own site.

Will announce the new name of MY own blog this week. (Promise, I'm not tapping a pencil before I wrote this... Wikipedia said that it is a form of procrastination.)

ABANGAN!

-EBR

Siocon is a rich farming and fishing town on the western coast of Zamboanga del Norte. Despite suggestions that the presence of a large-scale mining firm in Canatuan, a mountain community some 25 kilometers northeast, has harmed its agricultural productivity, Siocon remains one of the province’s top rice producers – proof that responsible mining practices can coexist with agriculture.

Which is why Sebastian “Boy” Ates could only shake his head in exasperation when he hears remarks that rice production in Siocon has been adversely affected since TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD) began operations in Canatuan in mid-2004. “Boy” to fellow farmers in his hometown has been with the Municipal Agriculturist’s Office as Rice Technician for almost two decades now. His being in the position has given him the advantage of knowing each and every farmer’s year-round rice produce as well as problems because he regularly visits their farms.

“Those who say that our rice production has been reduced these past years have not done their homework,” Ates laments.

“Rice pests and typhoons like Ondoy and Frank, both of which hit Siocon, affected our harvest,” he explains. “The high cost of fertilizers and pesticides is also a major problem of poor farmers. The government recognizes this, which is why there’s a subsidy provided to them. The subsidy may be small, but it still is a welcome help to rice farmers. I should know because I raised my family from the income I am getting from my rice lands.”

He points out further that his town lacks an irrigation system that can serve all rice farmers of his municipality. “We have enough sources of water. But not the irrigation system. And building irrigation canals will cost millions of pesos. We simply do not have the money. We might be better off next year because our Mayor Ceasar Soriano was able to secure funds for the repair of the damaged irrigation system in his barangay.”

Micubo is thankful to TVIRD for repairing a portion of the irrigation system that serves the people in the villages of Siay, Datu Saililah, Malipot, M. Francisco and Tibangai.

Ates, for his part, says that in 2008 Siocon was declared by the government’s Department of Agriculture (DA) as the top rice producing town in the province of Zamboanga del Norte. “And that happened despite the fact that there is an ongoing mining operation up in Canatuan,” he adds.

He explains that since the ‘90s up to the present, the average yield of an irrigated and non-irrigated hectare of riceland in Siocon remains the same per cropping. “In order to have a yield increase, a rice farmer must spend more than the usual P20,000 for fertilizer, labor cost and pesticides.”

Ates says records in his office will show that yield per hectare of irrigated and rain fed rice lands are even increasing from 2000 to 2010.

“Siocon has a total of 1,600 hectares of irrigated rice lands and another 550 hectares of rain fed rice lands. “Our last harvest in 2010 showed that the average yield of one hectare irrigated rice lands was 3.8 metric tons or 3,800 kilograms of palay, while average yield of a rain fed rice land is 3.5 metric tons or 3,500 kilograms.”

“That was also the average yield of one hectare of irrigated and rain fed rice lands from 2008 to 2009,” he averred showing its tables.

Micubo added that Lituban and Siocon Rivers remain the most reliable sources of water for irrigation projects in his municipality. Tributaries of these rivers include the Cusan, Canatuan and Lumot creeks, all of which emerge from within and around the Canatuan mine site.

The Canatuan River watershed represents less than 1% of the Siocon River watershed while the areas disturbed by the TVIRD mining operations encompass even less than this. As part of TVIRD’s erosion control measures, the company built six sediment control structures to capture sediment from the disturbed areas and prevent siltation of Canatuan Creek and the Lituban and Siocon Rivers. In addition, TVIRD has planted over 200,000 trees – with an 80% survival rate since 2002, prior to the company operations. Additional erosion control measures have also been implemented, such as slope benching, terracing, planting of grasses, water diversion control canals, and a variety of natural techniques using local materials.

Christopher Tolentino, TVIRD Environment Department’s Water Monitoring foreman checks the water pH level at the spillway of the Sulphide Dam. He leads his team in getting daily and weekly water samples from Canatuan Creek as well as the Lituban and Siocon Rivers. He explains, “My job requires me to monitor those rivers every day. And I like to think that am doing it well because I want these rivers to continue giving life to the people of my own town. The majority of Sioconians depend on water for their livelihood.”

Tolentino, a native of Barangay Lituban also in Siocon town, leads his team in getting daily and weekly water samples from Canatuan Creek as well as the Lituban and Siocon Rivers. The samples are then submitted for analysis at the company’s Assay Laboratory. His team also does its own field analysis of the samples for further monitoring. An employee of TVIRD since 2004, Tolentino has been diligently monitoring the water quality within these stream and rivers since the first phase of the company’s operations – the Gold-Silver phase, up to the present, the second phase – Copper-Zinc phase.

“My job requires me to monitor those rivers every day,” he explains. “And I like to think that am doing it well because I want these rivers to continue giving life to the people of my own town. The majority of Sioconians depend on water for their livelihood.”
Siegfred Bueser, a member of the Multipartite Monitoring Team (MMT) representing the local government of Siocon says reports of decreasing rice production in the town are “a big lie.”

“I have spent 45 years of my life in Siocon,” he stresses. “My grandparents and parents were also farmers, so I know the truth!”

The MMT is the monitoring body of the Mines Rehabilitation Fund Committee (MRFC), one of the legal requirements being followed by minerals development firms under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. MMT’s membership includes representatives of government regulatory agencies, such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its two sub-agencies, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau and the Environmental Management Bureau (EMB); representatives of host local governments, including the municipality of Siocon, the province of Zamboanga del Norte, and Barangay Tabayo, which encompasses Canatuan. Also represented in the MMT are the Subanon indigenous people (TVIRD’s hosts), Siocon-based NGOs, and TVIRD. One of MMT’s functions is to monitor the bodies of waters within the mine site, including the tailings storage facilities, as well as rivers outside the mine area. This includes the Siocon and Lituban Rivers.

Bueser, who has been a local government employee of Siocon for two decades, says he saw how badly contaminated Siocon and Lituban rivers were during the regime of small-scale miners in Canatuan in the mid to late ‘90s. “EMB records will show the deplorable status of these two rivers, including the Cusan and Canatuan creeks during those days,” he says.

“So far, results of our monitoring show that the Siocon and Lituban Rivers and sea waters in Sta. Maria and Siocon are free of contaminants from the TVIRD mine site,” he avers. “To ensure objectivity, we use third party laboratories in Manila to analyze the water samples -- and not just the Assay Laboratory of the company.”

Boy Ates loves his work, since he, too, has a small rice land that he wishes to till and manage himself when he retires. Farming, he says, is in his blood, being a son of a farmer. His ardent wish is for farmers in his hometown to one day have the adequate irrigation system they badly need. He may not realize it during his lifetime, but he is sure that it is not impossible because the Siocon and Lituban Rivers are being taken good care of by everybody. (Lullie Micabalo)

Emma Buyayo heads TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc.'s Environment Department Reforestation and Revegetation unit. Her team is at the forefront of the company's rehabilitation efforts in its copper-zinc mine in Canatuan, making sure that disturbed areas are returned to the Subanon indigenous tribe for their productive use in the future. Read the story written by Lullie Micabalo below.

Despite this condition, Geronima “Emma” Buyayo carries on with her task as head of Reforestation and Revegetation Section of the company’s Environment Department. Today, she leads her team in planting rice at an experimental farm that her department is developing at the lower portion of the surface mine which was previously disturbed by the mining operations. The company’s rehabilitation efforts will make sure that disturbed areas are returned to the Subanons for their productive use in the future.

Emma, a member of the Ifugao indigenous tribe in northern Philippines, says she always feels rejuvenated by the cool mountain breeze while she waits for the service vehicle that will take her to the company’s copper processing plant every morning. She may be new to the company, but within the past 12 months she and members of her environment team have already planted seedlings and wildlings on 27 hectares of areas disturbed by the mining operations.

She joined TVIRD in May 2010 and while she is hundreds of miles away from her family, Canatuan always brings memories of home. One will always find solace in the refreshing environment of Canatuan, with patches of forests and lush vegetation surrounding the village. Even during summer, chilly mists would envelop Canatuan, as if providing a layer of protection from the heat.

Before Emma joined the company, TVIRD had already planted a wide variety of tree species on lands disturbed by the company’s mining operations. This is why travelers passing by Canatuan would see tall mahogany and mangium trees lined up along the road through Malusok (a district in Canatuan), towards the Mine Plant, and around some areas at the surface mine. With the 27 hectares now planted since Emma joined the company, TVIRD now has a total of 84 hectares under active reforestation in this mining community.

According to Nilda Callora, TVIRD Canatuan Environment Manager, only 198 hectares are being used by the company in its operations within its 508-hectare Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) area granted by the Philippine government in 2001. “The 198 hectares represent only 39 percent of the total MPSA area.”

Callora adds that TVIRD also uses another 26 hectares of Subanon land within the more than 8,200-hectare ancestral domain covered by the Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) issued by the government to the Subanons of Siocon. “The company uses the additional land area for the Malusok staff housing facility, the access road strip, the Skyline area and the area occupied by the Canatuan Elementary School and the Canatuan National High School. All these constitute a mere 5% of TVIRD’s total MPSA area,” she avers.

“All in all, we are only using a total of 224 hectares – not even a half of our total MPSA area. Our surface mine, in fact, is just 31 hectares,” Callora said.

Earlier, SGS Philippines, Inc., the local affiliate of the global Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS), conducted a survey on the terrestrial flora and fauna within the MPSA of TVIRD and reported that rare birds, reptiles and plants can still be found and are actually thriving within the retained forest areas and the new reforestation areas.

“The 2010 survey conducted four years after the last survey in 2006 revealed a higher number of species,” part of the SGS report says. “A total of at least 372 flora species representing at least 253 genera and 88 families, were encountered. Of these figures, 30 species or 8% belongs to ferns and fern allies; two species were fungi, 79 species of 21% were herbs, 18 species or 5% were palms, 19 species or 5% shrubs, 199 or 53% were trees and arborescent and 25% were vines species.”

Among the most notable trees the SGS survey has observed are those that belong to the so-called hard premium woods like Bagtikan, Manggasenoro, Mayapis, Loktob, Almaciga, Apitong and Makaasim (Syzygium nitidium). The Makaasim tree is especially important as it is listed as among the critically endangered tree species with a high risk of extinction in the wild.

“The survey would like to emphasize that the so-called Queen of the Philippine Orchids, (Grammatophyllum sp.) was seen in between the top branches of an Ulayan tree in the forest patch down slope of the forested South Waste Dump Area,” the report also says.

John Ridsdel, TVIRD Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, was very pleased with the efforts of the company’s environment team and its vigorous implementation of the reforestation, revegetation and other environmental enhancement and protection program, and pledged his all out support.

During one of his recent visits to the Canatuan Mine, Ridsdel also toured the nursery and the reforestation areas of the Environment Department, including one of the remaining forest patches where he and Canatuan General Manager Heliodoro Valmores were shown the Makaasim tree.

Aside from revegetating disturbed areas, the Environment Department is also tasked to keep bodies of water around the mining community – including Lituban and Siocon rivers – safe for aquatic life and for people. This is ensured through regular water quality monitoring in partnership with the Multi-Partite Monitoring Team (MMT) whose membership includes representatives from the host municipality of Siocon, the IP community, the provincial government of Zamboanga del Norte, government regulatory agencies bodies such as the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the Environment Management Bureau, and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Emma is quite aware of the expectations of the company’s stakeholders as regards the need to protect and to manage the impact of TVIRD operations on the environment. That’s why she is serious about her job; she is committed to achieve her department’s goals of keeping Canatuan green and its surrounding bodies of water clean. She understands fully well the Subanon people’s love for their land and their aspiration to improve themselves while keeping the environment useful for generations to come. After all, she is an IP like them.

We have seen how Climate Change has devastated and wrought havoc on land. But we are not seeing the whole picture. This is how marine scientists in our country would like to put it in saying that less obvious but of equal concern is the damage this global phenomenon is causing underwater.

Marine scientists are saying that they have detected abnormal rises in coastal temperatures in some areas over the past two years which, they warned, could affect coral reefs—and their ability to protect coastal areas from storm surges.

A government-funded project tagged Ice Cream (Integrated Coastal Enhancement: Climate Research, Enhancement and Adaptive Management) has monitored rising water temperatures, coral bleaching and coastal erosion in several of its 28 project sites dotting the Philippine coastline.

The P98-million project, now in its third year, is funded by the Department of Science and Technology with support from the World Wildlife Fund and Conservation International. It involves 60 researchers, including 17 marine science experts, some of whom shared their initial findings with the Inquirer.

“Something that is not visible is much more difficult to understand. It (the sea) is much more prone to being dismissed by saying, ‘No, there's still a lot fish’,” said Wilfredo Campos, a marine biologist at the University of the Philippines-Visayas.

“You don't really see what's happening. You see mudslides, you see what's happening in the forest but at sea you really don't know what's happening,” Campos said in an interview yesterday.

Adds Porfirio Aliño, marine biogist at the UP Marine Science Institute: “The climate is always changing... we see it in relation to whether or not it’s going to be more frequent or accelerated. The bottomline is how we respond to it,” he said.

“Climate has changed in evolutionary times. But (during those times) there were no people yet. Now, climate change has a big effect on people,” he said.

Based on initial findings, the DoST climate change project found a three percent rise in shallow water temperature off Lian, Batangas, in April to May of last year—an increase not observed even during intense summers.

“Last May, it spiked to 31 degrees Celsius, while the normal range is 27 degrees to 29 degrees. For water, that's very high,”said Maricar Samson, an environmental scientist at the De La Salle University.

Such warm waters cause coral bleaching, which endangers an ecosystem that could buffer vulnerable coastlines from storm surges, the team said.

“If you take care of the reef, it will be able to compensate for sea level rise. But if it is in poor condition, it will not be able to buffer, for example, the storm surge. The increase in sea level will reach the shore,” he said.

Such temperature rises, if observed every five years, would leave only one percent of the current coral reef population, Samson said. The same rise, if seen every 10 years, would leave only 11 percent.

In Botolan, Zambales, scientists found the coastline had receded significantly from 1977 to 2003.

This has a big impact on coastal stability, such as reef systems and marine life, Samson warned. "We're working on some projections in various parts of the country regarding what could happen,” Samson said.

Another study under Ice Cream found a decrease in the productivity of fish species in coastal areas by roughly 20 percent—a “very fast rate” observed within two decades, said Aliño.

“If we don't take care of our coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass and other habitats, obviously, the decline will be faster, and we would not be able to cope with climate change.

"The other thing is, we are not as conscious about it unfortunately,” he said, adding that waters surrounding the archipelago were almost seven times bigger than its land area.

The team hopes to use data to influence policy-makers and stakeholders at the local and national levels. Local government units could draft ordinances for better coastal protection while communities could practice more responsible use of marine resources.

“The program hopes to give people tools so they can formulate their own [climate change adaptation programs],” Samson said.

“These are site-specific. It's not possible that the whole Philippines will sink... There will be different scenarios for [different parts of the] Philippines,” she added.

In what could be considered as a series of blows to large-scale mining activities in the Philippines, the Provincial Legislature of Zamboanga del Norte has passed a pending ordinance prohibiting open pit mining operations in this mineral-rich province. This move follows the lead of other local government units such as South Cotabato, Romblon, Capiz, among others. However, there is one group that seems to be not included in the deliberations or preparatory work prior to crafting of the anti-mining legislation, particularly in the case of Zamboanga del Norte -- the Indigenous Peoples who are the real owners of the land which is the subject of the legislation.

The Subanon Indigenous Peoples of Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte, together with other groups belonging to the Subanen tribe, has spoken of its opposition to the proposed legislative measure saying that it is violative of their rights as private owners of their ancestral domains as set forth in the Indigenous Peoples' Right Act (IPRA). Below is the news statement release by the group.

Various groups belonging to the Subanon tribe in Zamboanga del Norte are opposing a proposed ordinance filed in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) that would, among others, ban the use of the open pit method of mining in that province.

The Subanons said in a statement that the proposed ordinance should exclude from its coverage ancestral domains of tribes, which are considered private lands under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (Ipra).

The statement was released on Feb. 9 by lawyer Pablo Bernardo, chairman of the Provincial Consultative Body and Counsel for the Subanons in Zamboanga del Norte.

The proposed ordinance which is pending at the Zamboanga del Norte SP is titled “Protecting and Conserving the Integrity of the Land and Water Resources in Zamboanga del Norte.”

Bernardo said the position paper that the Subanons submitted to the Zamboanga del Norte SP said that some provisions of the proposed ordinance curtail the rights of tribesmen to manage their ancestral domains and to negotiate the terms and conditions for the exploration of natural resources found therein, which right is guaranteed under the Ipra.

One of the ancestral domains, the Pigbogolalan nog Subanon sog Konotuan (Traditional System of Governance of the Subanons of Canatuan) headed by Timuoy Jose Anoy and covering more than 8,000 hectares of land in barangay Canatuan, Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte, has been hosting the copper-zinc mining operations of TVI Resource Development Inc. (Tvird) since July 2004.

The Subanons, through Bernardo, said the proposed ordinance is “selective and discriminatory against a particular mining company” as the Tvird is the only mining company that employs the open pit mining method in Zamboanga del Norte.

A provision of the proposed ordinance, which allows some forms of mining operation—specifically small-scale mining—with no regard to ancestral domains violates the Ipra, the Subanons said.

The tribesmen cited “the reign of unbridled small-scale mining activities in the Canatuan gold rush area” before Tvird’s mining operations in the area.

The small-scale mining, the tribesmen said, “brought nothing to the Subanon communities and the individual families except environmental destruction and cultural exploitation. The small-scale mining activities observed no accountability for responsible and sustainable mine development or of conserving the environment and these resources for future generations. They thrived instead on narrow motives for fast money and personal gain, while there was nothing for our individual families except the exploitation of child labor and dissipation of human resources for the Subanon men and women who were engaged to render services on toxic and physically disastrous work environment without the slightest safety measure adopted.”

All these environmental and socio-economic hardships were abated when Tvird’s highly regulated mining activities began in Canatuan, the Subanons added.

Tvird Vice President for Corporate Social Commitments Rene Subido said in an earlier statement that the company provided socio-economic benefits to the members of the community in the areas of Responsive Education, Sustainable Livelihood, Health and Sanitation, and Infrastructure.

Citing provisions of the Constitution, of the Ipra and of the International Labor Convention, the Subanons pointed out that “the tribesmen, with respect to their domains, have the sole right, authority and discretion, based on their customs, traditions and practices on what to do with their domains.