It was exactly a year ago today, when local residents from Surigao del Sur vowed that they will never allow their exquisite hometowns to become another hapless victim of a crime against Mother Earth and nature. In celebration of the World Earth Day in 2009, more than a thousand folks from different sectors in the province joined a 3-kilometer march in the municipality of Cantilan to condemn mining operations in the area. These mining operations threaten the watersheds critical to the support of the province’s irrigation system, water supply and Cantilan’s proposed mini-hydro power project. Furthermore, the proposed mining sites infringe upon the indigenous peoples’ ancestral lands.

In an area that was declared as a Critical Watershed Forest Reserves by virtue of Presidential Proclamation 1747 signed by President Gloria Arroyo on March 23, 2009, it has been one long harrowing year, and there are very few reasons to celebrate Earth Day for 2010. From that simple people’s march, so much more struggles have been tendered and will continue to be offered.

Presidential Proclamation 1747, declared the portion of the public domain of Alamyo, Buyaan, Paniki Rivers and Sipangpang Falls situated in the Municipalities of Carascal, Cantilan and Madrid, Province of Surigao del Sur and in the Municipalities of Jabonga, Santiago and Cabadbaran, Province of Agusan del Norte as critical watershed forest reserves. At the same time, however, there are two approved Mineral Product Sharing Agreements (MPSAs)—Marcventures Mining and Development Corp. (MMDC) and Carac-an Development Corp. operating in the municipality of Cantilan and its neighbor towns, Madrid and Carrascal. Both MPSAs are located in the watersheds of the rivers that support their irrigation systems.

May 4, 2010

By Emma Hotchkiss, Carl Cesar Rebuta and Jaybee Garganera

read more here http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/sunday-times/15940-cantilan-people-on-the-march