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| Trouble Brewing among Lumads in Proposed Mine Site |
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| Friday, 23 October 2009 00:00 |
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By Bong S. Sarmiento/MindaNews KIBLAWAN, Davao del Sur (MindaNews/22 Oct) -- Even before a big mining project could take off, trouble among frustrated Bla’an tribesmen has erupted, exacerbated by the proliferation of loose firearms. Circled by mountains, there’s an eerie calmness shrouding Bong Mal, an enclave of B’laan tribesmen, most of whom could neither read and write, nor speak or understand the language of the lowlanders. On a clear day, thick rolling greenery of giant trees, grasses and corn fields playfully swing to the cool breeze as far as the eyes could see. The night is unusually cold, the air filled by the sound of crickets, as fireflies dance the night away on tree tops. Deep into the jungle, Bong Mal, located in Barangay Kimlawis, can be reached through a two-hour back-breaking slow ride off treacherous dirt roads from the town proper. It is a prospective copper and gold monster producer. But lately, not everything is going on fine in this tribal community where wielding a gun has been traditionally considered a “way of life and a badge of honor.” Tempers have finally gone out of control -- with blood already staining the ground and voices of discontent flowing out strong like the current of crystal-clear waters in a nearby river. “I’ve shot a militiaman to death a few months back out of dismay,” said 18-year-old Joel Saluli, an improvised shotgun beside him. “I was disgusted because they promised me a job and it did not come. They did give jobs but those who benefited were not us but those from outside our community,” he added. The young killer was with two other teenaged tribesmen when they committed the crime, and have since remained in hiding in the vast jungle whose terrain they know by the palm of their hands. Saluli, who came out under the cover of darkness, appeared unrepentant of the life that he claimed. The young man narrated that before the shooting, he was arrested by soldiers and later released for barricading the road out of disgust for the desecration of the tomb of his elders. All it took was a bulldozer and the hallowed ground was gone, he lamented, noting the activity was done without the prior consent of his family. Saluli blamed Sagittarius Mines, Inc. for what happened. Sagittarius is the mining firm currently exploring Bong Mal for copper and gold deposits. The village is just part of the so-called Tampakan project of Sagittarius, which owns mining rights in a vast area straddling the towns of Tampakan in South Cotabato and Columbio in Sultan Kudarat. The tremendous mines development site covers five tribal communities. But the bulk of Sagittarius’ drilling activities has been focused in Bong Mal since last year following the daring raid by the communist New People’s Army (NPA) at the company’s base camp in Barangay Tablu in Tampakan town. No one was killed in the incident but at least P12 million worth of equipment were burned. At the heart of the village (Barangay Kimlawis) where Bong Mal belongs, a company base camp fenced with barbed wire now stands well-guarded by private security guards, like it were a concentration camp. This once quiet village is now roaring with activities. Payloaders, bulldozers, road rollers or “pison” and tractors are but some of the literally earth-shaking heavy equipment here. It has also become a showroom of the latest pickup truck models like D-Max, Frontier, Strada and other four-wheel drive vehicles. At any given time, not less than 30 of them reportedly cruise different points within the mines development site. The opening of the roads has so far been the most thankful part of the operation of the mining company in as far as Bong Mal natives are concerned, allowing the B’laans to transport more easily their products, mostly corn, to trading centers in the lowlands. Militarization With the heightened presence of Sagittarius here, more and more guns have been brought into the mountains, not including the armaments long in the hands of the tribesmen. Aside from the numerous private security guards of the company, soldiers and militiamen have been deployed here. The soldiers are under Task Force Kitaco. Earlier, the three mayors within the mines development site agreed to institutionalize the Kiblawan-Tampakan-Columbio (Kitaco) Growth Area that shall map out their common economic roadmap. The Kitaco Growth Area initiative has the support of Sagittarius. Task Force Kitaco’s role was to keep peace and protect the community from possible attacks from the communist NPA rebels -- and not as protectors solely of Sagittarius, as critics charged. In either case, the scenario here nowadays is that wherever the facilities of the mining firm are, just a stone’s throw away are the military detachments. Last week, along the road where Sagittarius is conducting activities related to its continuing exploration activities in line with the final feasibility study completion, soldiers and militiamen stayed in a tent, guarding. “That’s been the case here. If soldiers are not in the front, they are at the back, as the mining firm carries out its activities,” said B’laan leader Pilo Capion. Capion is an erstwhile supporter of the company, having worked for it as a community relations staff. He’s now waging an opposition -- recently siding with the local Catholic church -- to boot out the company from their community. For several instances, the 28-year-old husband of two wives and father of five children narrated that soldiers allegedly forced the tribesmen to have their area cleared to provide access roads to the drilling activities of Sagittarius. “In some case, some of us were not informed by the company that they will bulldoze our lands to serve as access roads. We’d only find about it later,” said Capion, who, in his younger years, had killed a man and suffered for it in prison. Lairan Jantin, Capion’s grandfather, said it is better that Sagittarius will pull out from their community. “The company’s here in our community but those benefitting are from the outside. They better go away,” the old man stressed. According to him, when the mining company entered their community several years ago, the tribal elders were promised the heavens so they would give their consent to the firm’s plans. But he claimed they were not told about the project’s ill-effects, such that they will be uprooted from their communities and transferred elsewhere because the mountains will be turned upside down. “If we’re informed by then about the bad impacts, we will not let them push ahead,” Jantin said. Dagil Capion, Pilo Capion’s younger brother, said the money the company will give them in exchange for their lands will eventually be drained. “Here in the mountains, we can live even without money. Everything here is basically free. The presence of the mining company is doing more bad than good to our community. They should respect us if we don’t want them anymore,” Dagil said. Like Pilo, Dagil also experienced working at Sagittarius, an indication that, observers say, the duo has leadership in the community hierarchy. Several other tribal members tell tales of alleged manipulation, intimidation and deceit that “only vultures could bring to a tribe stuck in poverty and ignorance in so long a time.” One common message they have is for Sagittarius to now back off. Fr. Romeo Q. Catedral, social action director of the Diocese of Marbel, was appalled by what he found out after visiting Bong Mal last week. “What we saw and heard were just terrible. [We learned] that though they gave their consent before to SMI, they didn't know that the company will turn their area upside [down],” the priest said. “They never understood what large scale mining was all about and would have never allowed the mining company if they were told in the first place,” the priest noted. Grace A. Ganchero, Sagittarius manager for corporate community and sustainability department, admitted there’s a growing discontent among the tribesmen in Bong Mal regarding the company’s presence. But she played it down just as a “tribal leadership crisis.” Ganchero also denied the military is serving mainly the company. “Based on our business principle, we cannot do that -- threaten people and use the military to advance our interest,” she said in a recent meeting with religious leaders in Koronadal City. John B. Arnaldo, Sagittarius corporate communications manager, stressed in that meeting that “respect for human rights is very important to us.” Arnaldo gave assurances that if the tribe in Bong Mal says no to the company’s operation, “we’ll respect it.” Based on the latest study of Sagittarius, resource estimates is at least 2.4 billion tons at a grade of 0.6% copper and 0.2 grams per ton gold and contains 13.5 million tons of copper and 15.8 million ounces of gold, using a 0.3% copper cut-off grade. The new estimate is 8% higher than the 2007 estimate of 2.2 billion tons at 0.6% copper, using the same cut-off grade. This puts the Tampakan project as the one of the largest undeveloped copper deposits in Southeast Asia. (Bong S. Sarmiento / MindaNews) 
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