SIBUYAN ISLAND, ROMBLON -- The people here are protective of their island, and it’s easy to see why. Most of them live right in the middle of nature -- at the foot of lush mountain forests, on green farms, by the sea or near clear streams.
They are so jealously protective of the island, they have filed out of their homes and massed up in the streets a number of times since 1996 to protest incursions into Sibuyan, known as the “Galapagos” of the Philippines.
During the last Ice Age some 10,000 years ago, Sibuyan was already separated from other land masses, allowing plant and animal life on the island to evolve independently.
After decades of quiet, the residents and the clergy are seething over the inroads made by companies to mine resources on the island, no thanks to the provincial government.
Now, they are seething more over Wednesday’s killing of an environmentalist, Councilor Armin Marin, by a guard of Sibuyan Nickel Properties Development Corp. (SNPDC) in San Fernando town during a picket by residents.
The mining consortium, which has a nickel exploration project in San Fernando, said its personnel, including guard Mario Kingo, were mobbed by Marin and the picketers before the shooting.
“Let’s not allow another Armin to sacrifice his life for Romblon,” Noli Zuela, a Sibuyanon and member of the Sibuyanons Against Mining Movement (SAM), said on Friday.
“It’s quiet here, but the people are seething inside,” said a 38-year-old resident of Barangay España, San Fernando, who asked not to be named for security reasons. “The people have been emboldened by his death. They vowed to continue his fight.”
Spark
The death of Marin, 42, could spark stepped-up protest actions against mining on the island.
“Sibuyanons will not give up. Somebody has already shed his blood. We must not fail Armin. He is a martyr and a hero,” the SAM said in a statement condemning his killing.
If you look at the map, Sibuyan lies at the heart of the Philippines.
One of the country’s densest forests, including Mt. Guiting-Guiting, a natural park, and perhaps the country’s cleanest river (Cantingas River) can be found on the island.
It is home to six mammals found nowhere else, 700 vascular plant species (54 of which are endemic), and more than 131 bird species, according to the World Wild Fund for Nature.
Primary forests cover 140 square kilometers, or a third of the 445-square-kilometer island. The forests remain intact, although the lower altitude forest has been logged.
The island was proclaimed by then President Ferdinand Marcos a mangrove reserve, according to the SAM.
Mining applications
There are 13 mining areas plotted and open for application across the island, which comprises San Fernando, Magdiwang and Cajidiocan towns, the group said.
The provincial government has granted SNPDC two small-scale permits to mine nickel in España and Barangay Taclobo, and JKL Brothers Mineral Ore Quarrying Enterprises one small-scale permit to mine ore in Barangay Mabini.
The three exploratory projects are in San Fernando.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau rejected the Sibuyanon and anti-mining groups’ calls for the pullout of mining firms and cancellation of mining permits on the island following Marin’s death.
“The areas covered by the permits lie outside of the protected area,” MGB Director Horace Ramos said, reacting to the calls. “If Secretary (Lito) Atienza declares those areas closed to mining, that’s a different policy.”
So far, there’s no permit for large-scale mining on Sibuyan pending with the MGB.
“They’re still in the exploration stage. They’re not mining the area yet; they’re still waiting for the exploration approval,” Roland de Jesus, the bureau’s regional director, said in an interview, referring to SNPDC.
Social acceptance
But De Jesus admitted that the killing could affect the “social acceptability” of a future large-scale mining project in the area.
“That (killing) would somehow affect the progress of its application. Because we will always consider the social acceptance of the project,” De Jesus said.
SNPDC is affiliated with Australian firms Pelican Resources Ltd. and BHP Billiton, according to environmentalists.
Until Marin’s killing, what had been causing unrest in San Fernando were the explorations by JKL Brothers in Mabini, which lies on the fringe of the island off the coast of Sibuyan Sea.
The Inquirer travelled to the island with anti-mining activists and Sibuyanons in early July and was present when San Fernando Mayor Nanette Tansingco conducted a surprise inspection of the project atop a forest on July 3.
Felled trees
In the inspection, Tansingco saw something startling that seemed to confirm the residents’ worst fears: The company workers had felled trees and cut a swath of a zigzagging dirt road through the once lush slope.
Residents feared that torrents of rain could trigger landslide from the site, and bury the village below.
The next day, Tansingco issued an order stopping further construction of the dirt road leading to the site because the firm failed to get an environmental compliance certificate.
“Pity the island; they have altered its terrain,” Tansingco, a doctor by profession, said in an interview on July 3. “The mining firms should go elsewhere.”
At the site, trees, mostly coconut, had been felled, and the company’s equipment and hired hands had begun digging up rocks, breaking up these rocks and stacking them together in the shape of a cube, she said.
“It may take years before we feel the after-effects of the destruction. When that time comes, they may not be around anymore. So where are we going to look for them?” Mabini resident Renato Rocero said then, referring to the mining firms.
“We’ve been getting by without that damned project. We’ll manage to live without it,” said the sari-sari store owner.
But local officials, including Tansingco, seemed to have turned around, and softened their stance against mining on the island, according to Rodne Galicha, a Sibuyanon and SAM coordinator.
This leaves the residents, and the clergy to fend for themselves.
“We have a legal action,” Galicha said. “We will hold barricades, vigils. Anyway, the Church is with us.”
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