Development Aggression for Second Quarter, 2011, Part II: More Tampakan, Aboitiz in Davao del Sur and TVI in Siocon

In Part I for the Second Quarter I devoted my entry to the recent violence and mishaps with the Tampakan Project centered in South Cotabato Province.I say"centered"because the endeavor aims to create an Open Pit gold,silver and copper mine spanning 4 provinces:

1) South Cotabato

2) Davao del Sur

3) Sarangani

4) Sultan Kudarat

In that entry I very briefly touched upon the mudslides that took place within that mining tenement but didn't offer much information.

On Saturday,April 2nd,2011 after 2 days of torrential downpour a Banlas (large scale sluice operation in local dialect) Operation was subsumed in a massive mudslide.Five B'laan Tribesmen were working inside a tunnel with an entry underneath the Banlas.Only 1 of the 5 managed to run before 2 hectares of denuded mountainside came crashing down.Of the 4 remaining miners,1 was buried up to his waist and despite internal bleeding has survived.The remaining 3 weren't nearly as fortunate.Only 2 of the men have been positively identified:

1) Ramram Payuri,of Tampakan

2) Remy Malaya,also from Tampakan

The 3rd man is still unidentified but is said to be from the town of Tupi,also in South Cotabato Province.

The landslide came only days after another deadly mudslide in the municipality of T'boli in that same province. On Wednesday March 30 in that town's Barangay Kematu another Banlas Operation came crashing down hill and covered yet another Tunnel Operation.Just as in the latter incident there were 5 men,all T'boli Tribesmen.Two were critically injured,three died but T'boli officials aren't releasing the names.Ironically it was in the municipality of T'boli that Banlas Mining first took hold in Central Mindanao.Just as the new century began small scale miners from Luzon imported the devastating method.Denuding surrounding forests to build giant sluices they set up next to rivers and directly pump enormous volumes of water over the denuded mountain slope,forcing the mud into the sluice and then into huge piles of tailings.The runoff,often containing fun stuff like mercury and cyanide,not to mention enormous amounts of sediment then flow directly into the rivers which not only irrigate the entire region but provide its drinking water as well.This isn't even touching upon the estuaries,mangroves and coral reefs which are absolutely devastated.

The deaths in Barangay Kematu were the first for the year there but death is not unusual.The last fatal incident took place in late 2010 when 2 brothers,both T'boli Tribesmen,were working a Tunnel Mine and lost their oxygen supply due to a generator cut off.Both suffocated.

With the Tampakan mudslide an aggravated provincial government,already very much anti-mining turned up the heat. South Cotabato's PEMO (Provincial Environmental Management Office) promptly recommended that Governor Arthur Pingoy Jr. issue an Emeregency Stop Work Order for at least the Tampakan tenement to try and address the proliferation of illegal small scale mining on the tract.Ideally the tenement holder,in this case SMI (Sagittarius Mines Inc.) Would ensure that its tenement remained free of such dangerous activities.Of course in this case SMI is happy to let the Governor deal with the headache since the province has banned Open Pit Mining,an issue I addressed in that previous entry,"Second Quarter 2011,Part II."

Governor Pingoy very quickly signed the order,and had the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and PNP (Philippine National Police) deploy 2 composite detachments to ensure that the Tampakam tenement stays closed for the interm. The government aims to undertake surveys via 2 agencies.The agencies,PMRB. (Provincial Mining Regulatory Board) and MGB's (Mining and Geosciences Bureau) Regional Office will inspect the tenement,then create and implement safety mechanism and regulations before the governor finally rescinds his order.Naturally this doesn't make local miners too happy.They are well aware that should the Tampakan Project eventually circumvent the Open Pit Mining Ban their operations will be promptly shut down.Every day that they aren't operating is another day in which they stand to lose their entire investment.

Complicating things are the paramilitaries that always accompany the proliferation of illegal mining on Mindanao. That particular site has 2 separate B'laan Tribal Paramilitaries operating.In fact,they are the impetus behind Governor Pingoy's decison yesterday,April 18th,to undertake an aerial survey instead of entering the tenement on the ground.Unfortunately for the governor,the skies were much too cloudy and so the 2 seater prop lent out by Japanese-owned Sumifro,a commercial banana operation in that province,touched down not long after takeoff.Nothing was accomplished.

A bit to the south,in Davao City,in neighboring Davao del Sur Province the Aboitiz Project moves even closer to realisation.For those unfamiliar with the issue,Aboitiz Power Corporation ("ABC") is aiming to build a 350 megawatt Coal Fired Power Plant in that city's outlying Toril District.To be built in Barangay Binugao,on the border of the adjoining municipality of Santa Cruz (actually partially in that municipality),in Barangay Inawayan. Despite the island being desperate to diversify its power production due to an over-reliance on hydro-power that left the island-literally-high and dry this past summer,coal fired energy naturally has more than a modicum of opposition.

The project was initially opposed by local warlord,Vice Mayor Rodrigo"Roddy"Duterte has had smoothe sailing since buying him off,ooops,silly me,I meant to say,"since convincing him with intellectualy stimulating ideation."Duterte claims his turn around came about after visiting the Aboitiz-Steag joint venture Coal Fired plant in Misamis Occidental Province in late 2010.That would be the very same plant that 2 different groups of Davao City Councillors visited after New Years.That junket has stirred up a bit of controversy in the city when it was revealed that aside from airline tickets,hotel rooms and a healthy per diem all paid for by Aboitiz,the councillors ALSO received several thousand pesos each to "buy souveiners." I mean, doesn't that make perfect sense to you? It's completely natural to visit a coal belching behemoth that blights an entire region,causing asthma and possibly even emphysema and the first thing on everybody's mind will naturally be...a souvneneir.

In any event,April 2nd saw ABC making a big deal out of its self-contrived media event,the doling out of Royalty Checks to local government officials in the town of Santa Cruz in Davao del Sur Province.Its subsidiary,Hedcor Sibulan Inc.,operates a 42.5 megawatt Hydro-Electric Power Plant in that town's Barangays of Sibulan and Darong. The Department of Energy mandates a royalty of 1 centavo per kilowatt/hour sold.ABC entered into a voluntary arrangement above and beyond this mandate with both the municipality AND those 2 barangays.Barangay Sibulan received a cheque for P1,107,552.57 (roughly 25,000 US).Barangay Darong received P563,761.28 (roughly 12,000 US).The town received P1,582,567.20 (roughly 34,000 US).

Because the tract sits within the Ancestral Domain (akin to the American Reservation allocation for Native Americans though with substantial differences) of a Lumad Tribe ("Lumad"being the local term for the non-Negrito Animist Hill Tribes).On April 2nd the Tagabawa Bagobo Tribe was given their payout in a separate ceremony.The cheque was for exactly P1 Million (roughly 22,000 US).On April 11th,Davao del Sur Province will get its share to the tune of P1.6 Million (roughly 33,000 US).

The company is also going to award a full university scholarship to 5 students from Barangay Sibulan and 1 from Barangay Darong.The students will be given full tuition,room,board and a stipend with the choice of 2 institutions, University of Mindanao at Digos City,located in that same province of Davao del Sur or CorJesu College, a local Catholic private college.

On April 5th the town of Siocon in Zamboanga del Norte Province was gifted a new 1.4km Farm to Market Road for its Barangay Siay.Siay,sitting at the foot of Mount Canatuan had been having trouble with its dirt road for years with the Monsoon making it impassable,hampering the barangay's rice farmers in trying to move their harvests into towns. Who was this generous benefactor?Why am I listing this positive accomplishment under"Development Aggression"?

The road was constructed and paid for by TVIRDP.TVIRDP is the Makati-based subsidiary of TVI's Hong Kong subsidiary. TVI, or"Toronto Ventures Inc."is a Canadian-based multi-national mining corporation that happens to hold the most land of any single mining company in the Philippines.Most of their well over 1 million hectares of land is concentrated on the very narrow Zamboanga Peninsula where virtually every community has heavily opposed the company. Mount Canatuan is home to TVIRP's flagship mine,the Canatuan Gold,Silver and Copper Mine.A 51 hectare Open-Pit operation the mine has seen much bloodshed with the last incident taking place in March when an SCAA (Special Civilian Active Auxiliries,a Force Multiplication entity funded by private businesses but armed,trained and loosely supervised by the AFP) shot a protestor to death at the entrance to the mine.I will be discussing that particular incident and the mine in depth in an entry I am simultaneously working on.

Barangay Captain/Chairman Hamulod Lambana of Barangay Siay approached TVIRDP on getting that new farm to market road in early December of 2010.Badly needing some good PR the company passed the request on to its CREDO (Community Relations and Development Office) whose superintendent Joel Alasco immediately implemented the project via TVIRDP's Social Development and Management Programme.It took the company less than 12 days to fill and grade the road using materiel not as susceptible to the heavy rains that accompany Monsoon.A big advantage is that an additional 800 hectares of rice paddy can now be mechanically harvested now that the machinery won't be bogged down on the road. Of course almost all that riceland is owned by ...Barangay Captain/Chairman Hamulod Lambana but I won't tell if you won't...

Development Aggression,First Quarter of 2011,Part I:Geothermal Energy on Mt.Apo

Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco of Kidapawan City in South Cotabato Province has reversed his earlier decision and has decided to grant EDC (Energy Development Corporation) permission to construct a new 50 megawatt powerplant on Mt.Apo. Not only has he changed his mind, be is expediting the process after he and EDC came to an "understanding." EDC already operates 2 geothermal plants on the slopes of Mt.Apo. Located in the municipality's Barangay Ilomavis within the PAMB (Protected Area Management Bureau) enclosure. Most of Mt. Apo, the nation's highest peak, is included in the PAMB.

EDC ran afoul of Mayor Ganutuamgco and virtually the entire LGU when it was granted a full exemption on real property taxes. Taxes generated by the 2 existing plants had been used to pay the salaries of 189 public school teachers via the city's SEF (Special Education Fund) and the sudden issuance of the exemption created bedlam. The Mayor and EDC came to a compromise where the corporation will pay 48 Million Pesos (close to 1 Million US), the amount that had been lost to the city since the exemption was granted. Of this amount roughly 1.9 Million Pesos (36,000 US Dollars) will be paid directly into the SEF, ergo pay the salaries of those 189 teachers. EDC has guaranteed the city those salaries for 36 months.

Throwing a potential wrench into the arrangement is the Mayor's arch nemesis, Vice Mayor Joseph Evangelista says that the Mayor's "deal" is far from a sure thing and is examining the issue extremely closely. Furthermore he says, he's talking with COTELLO (Cotabato Electric Corporation) about feeding off the proposed plant IF it ends up being built. EDC is eyeing December, 2014 as the timeframe for going on line.

Speaking of new power plants, on March 01, 2011 the Davao City Council passed the Resolution endorsing Aboitz Power Corporation's proposed 300 megawatt coal fired power plant slated for Barangay Binugan in Toril District despite vehement opposition from the local population and much of that barangay's government. The Council's endorsement is crucial though its passing was a sure thing ever since Vice Mayor Rodrigo"Roddy"Duterte reversed his early opposition to the plant after taking part in an Aboitz junket to a coal fed plant in Misamis Oriental. The 232 megawatt coal fired plant owned by Steag State Power Inc.in Villanueva impressed Duterte, supposedly, with its low noise and emissions.

The plant has a projected cost of 25 Billion Pesos and will represent the biggest single investment ever made in the Davao Region. This factor certainly makes it an attractive proposition to many in the LGU (Local Govt. Unit aka barangay, town, city and provincial governments) but few seem capable, or perhaps willing to listen and understanding that this investment will not trickle down. It only benefits Aboitz share holders. Now that it rolled through the City Council it gets passed onto the Council's Committee on Energy, Transport and Communications chaired by Councillor Pilar C. Braga. Assuming the Committee passes it, and of course it will, it gets tossed back to the City Council for a 2nd Reading.

Aboitz President and CEO Erramon I. Aboitz says that if he gets his paperwork finished on time that he expects the plant to be online by the middle of 2014. Currently Aboitz subsidiary Therma South Inc, the entity actually handling this project os keeping itself busy trying to pull the wool over peoples' eyes, I mean "handling public relations." I mean, everyoneknows giant smokestacks emitting coal emissions don't harm the environment, and people? Naaaaaah.


In other news:


Sun Cellular has vowed to put up an additional 500 cellular sites on mainland Mindanao and Sulu. At a Zamboamga City press conference on March 11 it unveiled its "Sun Magic Zone Mindanao," a discount for customers only in Mindanao. The 500 new sites will double the islands sites to 1,000.

A local journalist has been slapped with a Libel charge over a piece in which he discussed problems in the issuance of 10 timber permits, within a particular official's AOR (Area of Responsibility). The reporter, Edgardo Maliza of the "Gold Star" based in Cagayan del Oro City in Misamis Oriental Province was arrested earler this month on charges fired by a former DENR (Department of Energy and Natural Resources) Regional Director Ernesto Adobo Jr. The article merely discussed 10 very problematic permits issued under Adobo's watch. Sadly integrity isn't a big thing in the Philippines. Passing the buck is a well enshrined way of life and with officials like Adobo such a horrid system is assured of a long life. Luckily for the people and resource of Northern Mindanao Adobo is now out to pasture. Maliza on the other hand had to be bailed out of jail on a 10,000 Peso Bond (230 US). Though foreigners may find that a trivial amount is the MONTHLY salary of a middle class white collar worker in the Philippines.

This arrest comes as Maliza's colleague, fellow Gold Star scribe Edwin Iyo began getting death threats. Iyo had been investigating extortion and bribery in the Gingoog City CENRO branch (Community Energy and Natural Resources Office). Logging is big business here, especially the illegal side and people are killed over it ever few weeks.