Miners turn forest protectors
By Chris V. Panganiban
All their lives, they were small-scale miners until last year, when they were turned into forest guards of the Mt. Magdiwata watershed in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.
All their lives, they were small-scale miners until last year, when they were turned into forest guards of the Mt. Magdiwata watershed in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur.
By his mother’s account, Alfred Cobol was a stubborn man.
Filipino miners still work under conditions that are a throwback to the previous century, according to report by local and international labor groups.
Some highland miners have shifted their search for gold from the mountains to the lowlands, discovering pawnshops as a rich source of precious metals and stones. Instead of breaking windows or crawling on ceilings, they tunnel their way quietly into their targets, often at night, police say. More than that, they would send out scouts [...]
