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Lepanto blocks medical team

BAGUIO CITY (June 10) — The giant gold producer Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMCo) blocked the medical team that would render health services to the 1,687 striking workers and their families on Tuesday, June 7.

A Baguio-based non-government organization, CHESTCORE (Community Health Education Services and Training in the Cordillera Region) dispatched a medical mission after it learned that LCMCo ordered the closure of its hospital on June 2. The company reportedly ordered all its medical personnel to take a vacation leave at the height of the strike and advised patients to stay home.

As this developed, the Lepanto Employees Union (LEU) condemned the deployment of more military and police forces in the area as the DoLE issued a return-to-work order for the striking workers. The forces beefed up company security headed by former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Col. Wilhelm Doromal, NORDIS sources in the area revealed.

“This is not a war situation, the workers are unarmed, and yet Lepanto is denying medicines and personnel from getting through its gates,” says Dr. Ana Marie R. Leung, CHESTCORE executive director. CHESTCORE is involved in community health advocacy.

Leung added that the move is a violation of the rights of the workers and their families to health services as she asserts that medical practitioners should be allowed to render services in such situation.

“In fact, even in a war situation,” Leung said, “medical personnel are respected and allowed passage to deliver health services.”

A member of the team narrates that the security forces claimed that the order not to allow any services for its workers came from LCMCo officials. The team tried to coordinate with the municipal officials to get a permit to service striking workers but to no avail.

The team visited the hospital and did not find any personnel around. They learned that on June 3, LCMCo management allegedly ordered personnel of their hospital not to admit patients because workers are on strike. Hospital personnel reportedly include two nurses but there was no personnel on the next day, they added.

Workers, however, did remedies that enabled the medical team to conduct check up and distributed medicines. The team first diagnosed hundreds workers and families at the picketlines in Nayak, Buaki and Tubo.

The team found out that hypertension and respiratory infections prevailed among strikers, women and children. Diarrhea also prevailed. Chestcore added that another team of medical practitioners is in the area for the health services of the workers and their families.

Water supply cut off

Ninian Langagan, LEU president claimed that the company cut the water supply of most workers’ houses on June 6 and restored it only on June 10. He added that the electricity in the workers’ houses were allegedly also cut off at six o’clock in the morning and put it on at six o’clock in the evening. Regular electricity also resumed on June 10.

Leung said that cutting water supply aggravates the present health situations among the workers and their families.

“This is another violation of human rights as water is a basic need,” Leung said. “Many diseases are directly linked to lack of a safe drinking water,” she adds.

Lepanto denies allegations

Atty. Weldy Manlong, administrative services manager, claims that the LCMCo did not cut off the water supply. The pipes from the Mill Site were cut by unidentified persons while those at gate 5 were the making of the union, claimed Manlong.

He claims that the company practices the so-called power sharing where lights are off during daytime from 9 am to 3:30 pm. They need to extend it for 12 hours hence they implemented it from 6 am to 6 pm. He adds they made this to cut their expenses for electricity which is P 24 million per month as there is no production due to the strike.

But the union believes that is a company tactic to force them to go back to work. Since they cannot force them into the tactics and realizing these as a violation of the rights of the workers, they reconnected all these services in order to go away from any future cases that the union might push through, the union officials said.

“Lepanto goons”

Lepanto has an undetermined number of security forces who are allegedly former and discharged members of the AFP, claims a NORDIS source from Mankayan. The security force is headed by former AFP official Wilhelm Doromal, a member of the Rebolusyunaryong Alyansang Makabayan (RAM) with alleged past dismal record on human rights violations.

A resident of Mankayan, who requested not to be identified, claimed that Doromal and his group acted not just as security forces but more as private armies of the company.

Manlong admitted that Doromal is their Security Superintendent. He denied that all their security under Doromal are former AFP or discharged members. But these (former AFP) are hired due to their experience of securing their properties as a result of the gold robbery in that area, he added.

Doromal issued on order on June 8 to gate guards not to allow the LEU vehicles from entering and exiting gate three. This was criticized as LEU vehicles transport the food supplies of the workers and their families, a union members pointed out.

Militarization of the strike areas

The striking workers observed that even before they launched the strike on June 2, the 54th IB headed by Lt. Ben Anongos have been deployed in the areas of the striking workers. Anongos is a member of the para-military CPLA integrated into the AFP by virtue of an Administrative Order of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The return-to-work was issued on June 9 by DOLE Undersecretary Manuel Imson, who issued the Assumption of Jurisdiction against the LEU in 2003, as another legal move to deploy police in the area.

“That is a legal design under the guise of enforcing the order,” a miner claimed referring to the order, which LEU officials received on June 9.

NORDIS learned that the PNP based in Bugias town, Benguet headed by Colonel Ernesto Gaab is the head of the government troops that would enforce the order.

“We are anticipating dispersal move anytime by the PNP,” added LEU officers Ronald Maslian and Langagan, but both claimed that “the rank-and-file are united to continue the strike.”

Maslian revealed that the NCMB-CAR and members of the PNP headed by Gaab arrived at the strike area before 12 noon today, Friday, June 10. Maslian however said that no incidents however happened yet between Gaab’s group and the workers. # Arthur L. Allad-iw for NORDIS

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