5 MIN READ

By GWEN GAONGEN
www.nordis.net

Whenever I travel the Halsema highway the sight of the Chico river and the mountains of the Cordillera range, every time wakes up mixed emotions, and always evokes so much pride in my home. “Aye datako ay Igorot ay mangdedeppas luta ya daya” (“Aye, we truly are Igorots touching the earth and the sky”), I say to myself. With bare brawn and raw knowledge of nature our ancestors terraced the foothills and nurtured it to sustain food production for generations and create a picturesque view not only for tourists but also for full-blood Igorots to enjoy and be grateful for.

The Chico has witnessed the people’s struggle and victory over the Marcos sponsored dams of the 1970s. It flows to also give joy to picnickers, white water rafters, women washing laundry, men fishing, children laughing; cash for the “darat boys” and of course their wealthier counterparts.

It gives life to Montanyosa and also to Kalinga and lowland neighbours in the Cagayan valley strip as a major source of irrigation. President Benigno Aquiono III (PNoy) through RA 10561 has also declared the Chico river a major tourism development area. “Kanak isnan nemnem ko, menbenepisyo tako tet-ew ay e-Montanyosa tay ado nan linmako is daga na isnan kapatagan di Tabuk ya Isabela.” (“I thought to myself, people of Mountain Province has gained much benefit (from this river) as they have had enought to buy land in the plains of Tabuk and Isabela”). Such is the Cordillera mountain range, the watershed cradle of Northern Luzon.

But the grand view also draws sadness. Vegetable gardens have replaced forests. Underneath these farms, a labyrinth of caverns are being dug out by the likes of Lepanto mining company to extract riches of the earth. To get gold, copper, etc. mountains are being flattened by backhoes and bulldozers.

The once clear waters of the Chico below is now murky with silt from a mountain literally washed off from the Mainit open pit area or bulldozed below at Napua into the river. The waters now carries toxins used to capture the precious minerals from the mountain soil. The river of life is now quickly turning into a vehicle of destruction.

With a smile, I wonder why Kalinga did not include toxicity when they filed for a Writ of kalikasan against Mountain Province. Could it be because small scale mining areas in Kalinga contribute to the Chico’s toxicity too, no matter how trivial it may be compared to the volume of poisons from large scale mining company operations.

A concrete wall is being built across the Chico River to impound its waters and divert it through a two-kilometer tunnel towards a contraption that produces electricity. The sight also evokes anger and anxiety. It is a project of Hedcor at Sabangan. And they intend to build more dams at Tococan, Bontoc and at Betwagan, Sadanga and many others at the Kalinga side. There are six such structures too, proposed at the Layugan to Balas-iyan River in Besao. Many others in the great rivers of Barlig, Natonin, Tadian and Bauko.

Indeed many large scale mining applications overlap over these mountains. Free, prior, informed consent (FPIC) activities for numerous wind, hydro and geothermal power projects keep the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) busy, and hassle the people. I hear and have seen petitions and resolutions signed by the people in opposition to these projects. But most are ignored by the companies and the NCIP or are simply junked due to technicalities.

Along with the entry of these large projects, traditional livelihoods are threatened, as well as: environmental destruction, broken promises, unfair profit sharing – 99% for the company and a mere 1% for national and local government to divide; what goes directly to the people? The villages are referred to as “host communities” to these development projects that was not even asked for by these communities. Many issues and questions are raised yet remain unanswered.

Then it strikes me, “why do we pay huge electric bills when the water that flows in our rivers, the steam under and great winds above the mountains are free?” Capitalism sees electricity primarily for business and business is for profit.

Some locals call these projects “pagteggedan” (job opportunities) but it is only for those who are qualified among them to receive minimum wages for a few months of their lifetime. The engineers call the digging up of minerals from the earth as mining; block caving, open pit mining and, even responsible mining.

They also call these dams and other power projects renewable energy. The capitalists call them investments that will provide them vast profits for at least two-and-a-half decades. Local government units look at them as “isukapay” or additional revenue, including the teeny-weeny itsy-bitsy Internal Revenue Allotments (IRA) allocated to the “il-ili” (barangays). But all of them agree that this is “development”.

I simply refer to these as destruction. Not only of environment and ecosystems but painfully a destruction of a people whose survival (economically, politically, socially and culturally) rests on the land. For are we not Igorots whose identity as a people is the land? Our territory?

But we are Filipinos too and aware that the Cordillera – our territory – brings life to our lowland neighbours and in fact supports life for many more. If only the extraction and use of our resources are planned for the benefit of the many and not to feed the greed of only a few.

“Baken es-esa nan agew. Ayewan nan wada tas kumasin wada usaren di sumaruno ay kaputotan”. A tenet passed on to us by our ancestors: we are stewards of the land and it nurtures us not only today but also for the continuity of life of future generations.

We see, smell, feel the consequences of the fast, massive ground moving development does to our territory. The gravity of the situation is there and swiftly moving towards greater destruction. Even the people who champion this so called development projects are aware of the damages that are irreversible. Instead of being loyal to their people, and support conserving or preserving the land much of their effort is used to attack those who stand in defense of the Igorot land, resources and rights, and taunting them to be anti-development and narrow minded Igorots.

Through various strokes of a pen, our rights as Igorots to our territories have been legislated from us. What is PD 705? Or the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 or the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991 or the Renewable Energy Act of 2008? And there is the Regalian doctrine enshrined in the constitution.

They coax us, saying we do our country a great service by our sacrifice. I recall an FPIC assembly in Bangaan, Sagada for a wind mill project. The president of Philcarbon said something like “you should not only think of what you may gain from the project but should broaden your minds and see the benefit for the country”. Then a persaon seated beside me reacted, “Ni apay, ngan di kina is-ispisyal nan wada id Manila ta isakripisyok nan kakaisyuna ay um-ak id Langsayan para kendaida?” (“What makes Manila people so special that I need to sacrifice my only farm at Langsayan for their benefit?”).

I feel anger as I think of the suffering our people and loved ones get from the iron hand of the state. We, Igorots, have lost great sons and daughters. For these few who champion this so-called development use the military and structures of government in their attacks to take over the land and resources.

But I smile again as I think of an old mans’ words from Mainit, “dakayo ay mangkayat isnan proyekto, kapunen yu am-in nan an-ak yu ay lallaki ta maid iputot da is esa menrigrigat gapu isnan takder yu idwani ay mangpalubos is geothermal” (those who favour the geothermal power project, be the first to castrate your sons so they will not sire children who will suffer from your present stand to allow entry of the geothermal… project.).

For as long as the Chico River flows and the mountains are majestic, there are those who stand firm in the defense our territories and resources against the plunder of a few big capitalists. Not only for the patrimony of Igorots but for the majority of exploited and oppressed Filipino peoples who continue to aspire to build a just society and lasting peace. # nordis.net