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Anglo-American, Philex drilling disturbs Tuba residents

TUBA, Benguet (Dec. 7) — Around 2,000 residents in Sitio Camp 6 in Brgy. Camp 4 here fear that the diamond drilling operations at the Mount Pula here will cause their water sources to dwindle.

Small-scale miners in the Mexico area report that 24 hour operations by the joint venture Philex-Anglo American Exploration has started last month, sowing apprehension among local residents.

Council Member Angela Siriosa, who lives in Purok Millsite said, she did not believe there was an operation up in the hills because the residents rejected the drilling in a free prior informed consent (FPIC) process in February this year.

“Saan a mabalin ta saan nga inpalubos ti umili dayta nga operasyon,” (It is not possible because the people did not give their consent) she said.

According to Siriosa, it was only the Pucay clan in the Poblacion who reportedly consented to the operations in the mining area, which is a tri-boundary between the barangays Poblacion, Twin Peaks and Camp 4 to which Sitio Camp 6 belongs. She said that no FPIC was sought in Brgy. Poblacion, neither was there a community consultation. Other sources say that the Balajadia family of Baguio have “sold its claims to the mining joint venture.”

“Kasano kami ngay nga agus-usar ti danum?” (What about us who use the water) an elder who requested anonymity asked.

Another community leader overheard plans that their water source would be replaced with water supply from the Sto. Tomas rain basin which is being tapped at present by the Baguio Water District. He disclosed that even BWD was lobbying against the drilling operations since the water supply would be affected by the exploration activities.

Engr. Redempta Baluda, was also quoted by residents as saying that the exploration activities are necessary for the mining firms to determine the quantity of minerals in the locality. “We have to see if the quantity could warrant a 25-year mining operations, otherwise, we will not push through with it,” Baluda was quoted saying.

Earlier, the residents showed their opposition by voting against the exploration and drilling operations. Among their expressed fears are the adverse effects of drilling to the water sources, which the communities in Camp 6 have been using for free.

Residents are also anxious of disasters such as mudflows, siltation and massive land movements due to mining operations.

“We do not want to wait until loose earth would cover our houses,” Rose Doringo, a purok leader in Power Hilltop said. Camp 6 residents have witnessed displacements due to flashfloods in 1991 when raging floodwaters from the mountains rushed and destroyed several houses in Purok Riverside.

The sight of floods and the sound of machinery sent people into a nauseating grumble, Mrs. Elena Wangit, a miner’s widow said of the operations. Wangit came from Antamok and Philex before her husband worked in the defunct Benguet Exploration and Black Mountain Mines in Camp 6. She now tends a sari-sari store.

Weeks before the drilling, residents in Purok Laaw noticed two foreigners accompanied by two Filipinos gathering water samples along the Bued River. Seemingly harmless, the samplers were ignored by residents, who themselves eke out a living along the river for sand, gravel and rocks used for stone-walls.

These days, a foreigner and two Filipinos usually walk their way to the mountain mining site through the residential houses in Purok Power Hilltop. Miners attest to the drilling operations, which, they said, would surely hit the water table. # Lyn V. Ramo for NORDIS

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