E. Samar folk urged: Promote tourism, not mining

Guian, Eastern Samar—A community here can benefit from its rich biodiversity by promoting ecotourism and opposing mining, which will destroy its natural resources.

Environment advocate Gina Lopez, managing director of ABS-CBN Foundation, made the observation when she addressed last Saturday evening the 23rd Diocesan Pentecost Vigil here which had for its theme, “What is Happening to our Beautiful Land?”

Lopez said she was “saddened” by what was happening on Manicani Island in Guiuan, which she visited that afternoon.

In the rain, Lopez and her group climbed the mountain to reach a mined-out area. She saw the destruction wrought on the island by mining and how it affected the flow of the water from the mountain which caused siltation in the sea.

“The water was already reddish,” she said.

Manicani Island, which can be reached by a 40-minute boat ride from Guiuan, has a total area of 1,165 hectares. It has four barangays—Buenavista, Bana-ag, San Jose and Hamorawon—and a population of about 2,000.

In 1945, the US Navy established a major ship repair base on Manicani. Today, open-pit mining has left an ugly gap in the middle of the island.

Speaking to an audience that included priests, nuns, lay leaders and local officials, Lopez said Eastern Samar was a very beautiful place that should be preserved.

Lopez warned that allowing mining would destroy these riches, which could never be recovered.

She urged Samareños to resist efforts to destroy the environment, adding that she could help them promote the province as a tourist destination.

“You may not have a lot of cash, but actually you are very rich [in biodiversity],” she said.

Nancy Badillo, of Barangay Buenavista, said she had been fighting mining on the island, which has been going on for more than 20 years.

She said mining not only destroyed the island but deprived its inhabitants of their livelihood of fishing and farming.

“Siltation has killed and driven the fish farther away from our island, and our farm has been replaced by a big hole,” she said.

Manicani Island was first mined in 1989 by Hinatuan Mining Corp. (HMC) even before it got the mining rights in 1991, according to Badillo, a member of the Save Manicani Movement (Samamo).

Nickel is extracted from the island, which is used in electroplating, coinage and in the manufacture of stainless steel.

On May 1, 2001, the Mining and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) suspended HMC’s operation after islanders protested.

Badillo said another company, Nickel Asia Corp. also wants to extract nickel from the island.

“The problem with mining firms is that they are taking advantage of our poverty. Then they leave our destroyed island,” she said.

MGB Director Leo L. Jasareno said in a phone interview that HMC’s operations remained suspended since 2002, when the bureau issued the stop order under then Environment Secretary Heherson Alvarez.

HMC is a subsidiary of publicly listed miner Nickel Asia Corp. Jasareno said that to date HMC has not applied for a resumption of operations.

Meanwhile, Nickel Asia Corp. president and CEO Gerard H. Brimo is out of the country and was unavailable to comment. With a report from Riza T. Olchondra