PUERTO PRINCESA CITY, Palawan -- About 300 residents led by Brooke’s Point Mayor Mary Jean Feliciano demolished building structures in the mining site of the Ipilan Nickel Corp. (INC) in southern Palawan Wednesday.
“(Ipilan was) ordered to rehabilitate, but what they did instead was to construct six-lane roads, and they continued cutting down trees in the mountain where we source our water. They carved the mountains, they exposed the land. What is going to happen there if the rain comes is a landslide,” said Feliciano.
The demolition in Sitio New Panay, Barangay Maasin, which began at 10 a.m. and ended early in the evening, was carried out by the residents on order of the mayor.
Feliciano said she commanded the action because Ipilan has no business permit from her office, and still operates despite a cease and desist order issued against it last year by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) upon the discovery of its illegal tree-cutting activities.
She added that from what they saw, Ipilan is already getting ready to extract nickel ore.
“I want to cry because of the destruction I saw in the mountain that we love, because this is the source of our water. This is our watershed, and if you can see, this is where our natural forest is. I cannot avoid being emotional about this. Look at how disrespectful, how bad this Ipilan Nickel Corp. is for cutting down old growth trees,” the mayor said.
Destroyed within the mine site were two guardhouses, Ipilan’s staff house, the administration office, and the operation building, said 1Lt. Miguel Sabando of the 44th Marine Company, Marine Battalion Landing Team-4.
“Generally, it was a peaceful demolition because no one among the blue guards dared to stop the demolition team and Mayor Feliciano, and no one among the residents hurt anyone in the mine site,” Sabando told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Marines were in the area to ensure no one gets hurt from both sides.
Farmer Rudy Cataloña, who participated in the demolition, said the operation of Ipilan had already caused serious effects to his farming livelihood.
"Malaking perwisyo itong pagmimina sa amin. Kung dati umaani kami ng 120 to150 cavan, ngayon ay 50 na lang simula ng magkaroon ng illegal na operasyon sa pagmimina. Kaya sobrang saya namin na ma-demolish ang minahan dito (This mining is a big nuisance to us. If before we are harvesting 120 to 150 cavans, now we’re down to only 50 since illegal mining operations began. We are overjoyed that they had been demolished),” he said.
Aribungos Barangay Councilor Rowena Dalabajan said Feliciano’s advocacy is what kept her hopes alive that one day, the mining company would stop its operations.
"Napabilib kami sa advocacy ni Mayor Jean, matagal na namin itong ipinaglalaban, subalit ngayon nga ay isang katuparan na ng lahat ng pinaghirapan namin sa pagpigil sa mina (We admire Mayor Feliciano’s advocacy. We’ve been fighting for this for a long time. But now, all our hard work to oppose the mine has paid off),” said Dalabajan.
Expectacion Sabuya, a farmer, said she was happy to join the demolition as she does not want to get blamed by her family’s next generation in case all becomes lost in mining.
Feliciano has appealed to Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to have the mining company completely stop its activities in Brooke’s Point to prevent the further destruction of its natural forest.
She said she is ready to face any case that would be filed by Ipilan against her.
“I’ve already prepared myself for this. If this is the only way to expose their evil deeds here to President Rodrigo Duterte – that there is a mining company here who disregard the law blatantly, then I am ready. We appeal to President Duterte to cancel the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement of Ipilan,” she said.
Local environment chief Felizardo Cayatoc, on the other hand, said Ipilan should not have gone cutting down trees because they have a cease and desist order.
“Ipilan should have followed our order. We’re still talking about that in the Committee on Environment in Congress, and what it should have done was to stop all mining activities in the area until such time a decision is given. They are still facing violations,” Cayatoc said. (PNA)
Photos by Marialen Galicia
