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First Posted on Inside Mindanao: September 30, 2007

Iron Mountain moving to their village
By Sister Lydia Lascano, ICM
and Carl Cesar Rebuta

CARRASCAL, SURIGAO DEL SUR—Seven hundred residents gathered on September 28, this year in the poblacion in this town to show protest to the mining operation in their villages.

Carrascal is a small town in the province of Surigao del Sur, a region northeast of the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. This provincial town is surrounded by an alluring coastline and lush towering green mountains. Carrascal houses the huge Iron Mountain, so called for its immense iron reserves. You could not reached Carrascal without passing Novienta or the most mysterious, exciting and scary KM 90. Rich with iron and other minerals, during day time the mountain becomes amber red. Like zigzag road in Baguio, passing the narrow and curvaceous road of Novienta is quite an adventure for the motorist.

The people of Carrascal are self-supported by fishing and farming with a population of approximately 13,000 people distributed in 16 villages.

Today, residents are alarmed of the entry of large-scale mining in their villages operated by CTP (Clarence T. Pimentel) Construction and Mining Corporation which started its exploration in the village of Adlay in 2^nd quarter 2007. Three months after, the mining company expanded its exploration to five more villages of Bon-ot, Gango, Gamuton, Paniki-an, Babuyan, and Pantukan.

Medio Suhian, president of Carrascalanon Hiniusang Aksyon Alang sa Yutang Gilauman (CAHAYAG), lamented, “They started to appease the peoples‘ resistance with promise of development like community livelihood. They started to build center for operations and wharf for the loading of minerals to the ship. Employment was promised to all, yet until now only half have been employed for construction, and at this time they have mostly been laid off. All these were also the promises made by the mining companies which ultimately were proven to mean economic and physical dislocation of the people.”

Bashing Aclan, a resident and a woman leader of Nasipit, Adlay, Carrascal narrated, “I was offered an amount of Php50, 000 per one hectare of land. But we earned more than enough from our farm lots annually.”

Carrascal is the host of the largest mangrove forest in the province or if not, in the entire Philippines. “This mangrove forest serves as the cradle of marine life and sanctuary to various species of fish, one of nature's most interesting habitat. Carrascal bay is threatened by sedimentation from the on-going mining operation which also translate to a threat to our livelihood in the coastal areas as well as the food survival of the community,” Ramon Ellorico, a fisherman, said.

The Red Mountain or iron mountain reminds the people of its majestic height and abundance which serves as the backdrop of every farm lots and fishing grounds in the community. When it rains, the red mountain cries its red tears down to the slope passing through the villages and ended to the Carrascal bay.

Sister Lydia Lascano, ICM, is the directress of the Social Action Center of the Diocese of Tandag; while Carl Cesar Rebuta is the team leader of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center, Inc. (Cagayan de Oro Office)

END