SURIGAO CITY -- Scarecrows stand in front of tattered tarpaulins that serve as protest messages to miners approaching Barangay Anislagan in the remote town of Placer in Surigao del Norte.

A stone’s throw away from the village’s boundary in Barangay Timamana in the municipality of Tubod, backhoes are working overtime, scarring the land for copper, nickel and gold.

"We have been holding protest actions against mining since 2002," said Mario E. Tejada, a member of the Barangay Anislagan council and head of the community paralegal team under the Anislagan Bantay Kalikasan Task Force (Abakataf).

Anislagan has a forested area described as a critical watershed that the locals have vowed to protect.

Early this year, representatives from Silangan Mindanao Mining Corp., Inc., a subsidiary of Philex Mining Corp. operating in Timamana, planned to construct a livelihood center inside Anislagan, a community that is against mining. As expected, the project was rejected by the residents.

Victor A. Francisco, Philex Mining Corp.’s vice-president for corporate environment and community relations, said the planned livelihood center would have been a demonstration farm for fast-growing falcata trees.

"We want them to see that agriculture and responsible mining can coexist harmoniously," he said.

"We understand very well their fear for mining companies but we are a different company," Mr. Francisco said.

"I believe they have been greatly misinformed about mining. I cannot speak for the other companies but we are the first to be ISO 14100-certified and we have a good track record of our environmental responsibility," he said.

ISO stands for International Standardization Organization, a global group that promotes high quality products and services.

Philex Mining has also tried to conduct a study on surface and underground water in the area but Abakataf also stopped the undertaking.

"The municipality could use this study," said Mr. Francisco. "The [residents] will benefit from it but still they were automatically against it. We respect their right to complain but we are operating legally."

The locals, however, expressed their suspicion over the motive behind the efforts.

"From what we have seen so far, [Philex Mining] stored falcata seedlings in the area," said Mr. Tejada. "But these projects they are starting will only be used to win over the residents. Before they could persuade the people, we are already stopping their entry."

The local anti-mining protest has been going for years now.

"Manila Mining [Corp.] was then very persistent in trying to gain entry into our lands," said Mr. Tejada of the community’s experience eight years ago.

In 2007, an exploration permit was issued to Kalayaan Copper-Gold Resources, Inc., a subsidiary of Manila Mining covering barangays Timamana and Anislagan that was good for two years.

"The problem was that the standing clause for the permit was not addressed," said Legal Rights Center (LRC)-Cagayan de Oro counsel Mae P. Garlong. "They were not able to resolve the social issue -- the apparent resistance of the community against their activities."

"When we would hear that Manila Mining is coming, we would ring the bell at the church," said Mr. Tejada. "This signals that the residents should gather and block the road, whichever route the company would be taking."

In 2004, Manila Mining brought in equipment and constructed a bunk house. But these were burned by the protesters. As a result, 23 lawsuits were filed against members of Abakataf. All suits, however, dismissed in 2009.

"These suits were intended to harass the residents, to force them to give up their resistance," said Carl Cesar C. Rebuta of LRC-Cagayan de Oro, which helped form Abakataf to assist the residents in their legal battles.

Mr. Rebuta said residents of Barangay Timamana, which hosts the Philex Mining project, also expressed strong opposition to mining.

"But that was until the mining company started livelihood projects, drainage improvements, sports activities -- these were done to get the sympathy of the people," he said.

Abakataf said the barangay council of neighboring Anislagan has standing resolutions against mining and any other activities related to mining as they consider the place a critical watershed area.

Presently, Abakataf, with the help of LRC, is taking legal actions to prevent the renewal of the exploration permit of Manila Mining as well as stop the operations of Silangan Mindanao Mining in Tubod. -- Louise G. Dumas

http://bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=11485