Subanen and Moro peoples in Labangan town, Zamboanga del Sur called attention on the worsening impact of quarry operations along the Labangan River on their communities during a rally along the national highway in Tapodoc village on Wednesday morning. LEAH D. AGONOY
LABANGAN, ZAMBOANGA DEL SUR — Unable to bear its negative environmental impact, hundreds of residents of this farming-dependent town held a rally on Wednesday to demand a moratorium on quarry operations along the Labangan River.
The protesters, many of whom are Moro and indigenous Subanen people, occupied a portion of the Tapodoc bridge along the national highway, partly constricting the flow of vehicular traffic.
Labangan tribal chieftain Timuay Braulio Anlimon, who is also head claimant of a Subanen ancestral domain covering parts of Labangan town, said the protesters mainly come from the villages of Binayan, Langapod, Bagalupa, Noboran, and Cogonan, and some others came from outside the town to express solidarity with their fight to restore the ecological state of the river.
Anlimon told journalists that hundreds more people were not able to participate in the rally as their way from Noboran and Cogonan villages was blocked with gravel, apparently to prevent them from joining the rally.
The tribal leader noted that the river had been subjected to quarry operations in the last fifty years, becoming the main source of aggregates for the booming construction industry, especially in nearby Pagadian City.
Anlimon said they are urging authorities to impose a five-year rest on quarrying to give the river time to heal.
He lamented that due to the quarry’s mostly mechanized and large-scale sand and gravel extraction upstream, downstream communities are experiencing soil erosion.
He added that during heavy rains, the river usually overflows, and years back, the onrush of floodwaters destroyed a spillway in Barangay Langapod, cutting it and other hinterland villages of nearby Pagadian City off from the market centers.
The spillway used to ease the transport of agricultural produce from these communities.
The regular flooding also destroys the ricefields downstream, Anlimon said.
Roads were also heavily damaged by the regular passage of large hauling trucks and excavation equipment.
RESULT OF QUARRY. The silted Labangan River cuts through a farming community in Labangan town, Zamboanga del Sur. Residents blamed the river’s bad ecological state to the quarry operations upstream. LEAH D. AGONOY
The Labangan river basin comprises some 446 square kilometers with a floodplain area of 151 square kilometers. From its source, the river mainly snakes through Labangan town, bringing irrigation water to its vast rice-producing valley.
Anlimon called on the local officials, especially Labangan Mayor Eduardo Relacion and Zamboanga del Sur Governor Victor Yu, whom he said “also had their own quarrying operation, among many others, to stop the activity and help in the call for the river’s restoration.”
Interviewed after the rally, Relacion vowed to stop the quarry operation run by his own family and to convene his legal team and the members of the Sangguniang Bayan to discuss what they can do to address the river’s current situation.
As the town’s leader, the mayor said he had to take the lead for the call.
Labangan Vice Mayor Azralf Manupac said they plan to have a dialogue with the Subanen leaders to check on the possible legal actions they could work on to address the concern.
Anlimon said that if the local officials fail to act on the people’s cry for the river’s restoration, they will further take action to raise the concern to the national government.
Yu has not responded to the Inquirer’s request for comment on the protesters’ demands.
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