By Denver Del Rosario and Beatriz Zamora
Parched, cracked and plague-ridden, land hardly yielded anything in a small barangay within the vast plains of Central Luzon.
It no longer obeyed the wishes of the hard-toiled hands which have tilled it.
Francisco Delfin had high hopes for the life which waited for him in the province. Five years past, he quit his job in the Manila Electric Company, dreaming of the peace and quiet he would get in Brgy. Canaynayan, a nondescript part of the small coastal town of Santa Cruz, Zambales.
He had land, he had livelihood, he was assured.
Three years into his life of farming, however, tragedy struck.
Stories of resistance and resilience in
Santa Cruz, Zambales
The continuous inactivity of the local government urged him to mobilize. Together with his wife, Josefina, he joined the ranks of Move Now! Zambales, an alliance geared towards the campaign to end the plunder of national resources and environmental degradation on a local and national scale.
Even with the fire of the fight in his heart, however, Delfin still suffers from the harsh reality of recuperation.
“Mahirap makarecover po...hindi basta-basta,” he admitted.
Still, in his struggle, he is no longer alone.
Unyielding soil. Delfin's soil refuses to let rice grow since nickel-infused water penetrated it.
Typhoon Lando unleashed its wrath on the province in 2015, and interlaced with the swift current of its floodwaters were mud and nickel--a contagion brought forth by the mining operations on mountains nearby.
The flood, rust-red and lethal, reduced most of Delfin’s farmland into soil rendered useless. From three hectares of land, only less than half could be tapped.
Aside from the rice plantation overlooking his own home, he also tended to a small number of fruit trees in his yard. However, even these were not spared from the deluge.
“Hindi po siya namumunga ng maayos tulad yung mga mangga...tapos yung mga saging namamatay,” he said,
adding that his kaymito and dalandan trees bore no fruit.
Back then, Delfin harvested 200 sacks of rice from the entirety of his field per harvest season. At present, this has been slashed to more than half, with 70 sacks as the maximum number that the land could yield.
“Naging dagdag sa gastos po namin katulad yung pagdadagdag ng abono, tapos yung pagsespray sa mga insekto,” he shared.
Despite being laden with the difficulties of bouncing back from the damage that was inflicted upon him and his family, Delfin recounted no government efforts which tried to aid them with the burden--not even the promise of recovery.
WATCH: With the threat of mining to their natural resources, residents of Santa Cruz have taken up the struggle in their own hands
Plagued waters
Santa Cruz is a first class municipality in Zambales with a population of 59,000. With mineral-rich mountains, it has been a hotspot for mining firms. Four mining companies operate in the area--LNL Archipelago Minerals Inc. (LNL), Eramen Minerals Inc. (EMI), Benguet Corp. Nickel Mines Inc. (BNMI) and Zambales Diversified Metals Corporation Inc. (ZDMCI)--under the cloak of economic growth and development.
However, promised progress turned out to be an utter inconvenience.
In Barangay Tubotubo South lies a two decade-old dam, a vital primary source of water in the area. The dam, whose water comes from the mountains and flows out to the sea, supplies the
irrigation systems of farmlands and a river system which travels to different barangays.
Before the emergence of mining operations, the people of Santa Cruz benefited much from it. Livelihood was glowing in the city--the dam’s generous supply of water gave abundant crop yields to farmers, and families harvested seafood from the river both for profit and for personal consumption. Residents bathed and washed their clothes in the river, establishing its importance in the community.
Soon after mining companies took over, the dam transformed into a massive nuisance for the community.
Mass extraction of nickel infected the once pristine river of Santa Cruz. It no longer provides clean, safe water for the people who once depended on it. Water level has gone extremely low, to the point where once submerged earth has exposed itself to the naked eye. Grey stones became tainted with a rusty, brown color due to the extracted mineral.
Rust-red and lethal. The Tubotubo South Dam's waters seem to be festering as it takes the brunt of the nickel mining operations on the mountains beyond. This is the primary source of water of the barangay within which it is situated
Despite all these, the affected communities were left with no choice but to continue relying on nickel-contaminated waters. Mining operations drastically changed the entire system of Santa Cruz, and residents paid for the consequences.
Exploited, enraged, empowered
For Teri Espinosa of the Center for Environmental Concerns (CEC) chapter in Zambales, the Philippines has been “too welcoming” to exploitation.
According to think tank IBON Foundation, the Philippines is one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world. It ranks third in gold, fourth in copper, fifth in nickel, and sixth in chromite.
However, majority of the country’s minerals are exported for the benefit of foreign corporations. IBON found that 97% of mineral production in the Philippines goes to foreign industries, proving the export-oriented nature of Philippine mining.
Espinosa cited the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 as one of the main reasons. “Yun kasi yung nagpapasok sa mga dayuhang kapitalista,” she said. “Halos binubuyangyang na natin ang lupa natin sa mga dayuhan.”
Signed into law by former President Fidel Ramos, the act paved the way for 100% foreign-owned corporations to operate in the Philippines, despite the Constitution’s 60-40 rule on Filipino ownership and control of the country’s natural resources.
The Mining Act, in its conception, was poised to boost national economic growth and bring progress and development especially in mineral-rich areas. In reality, however, the mining industry is among the least contributors to the country’s wealth, contrary to the government’s claim of bringing about prosperity to the country.
According to data by the Philippine Chamber of Mines, mining only registered 0.9 percent in the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015, while its contribution to employment was only at 0.6 percent, an average of 235,000 out of almost 39 million jobs created that year.
Additionally, the government gives mining corporations permission to use natural resources covered by the owned land. It also grants easement rights, effectively giving firms the power to displace farmers, fishers, and indigenous communities who are “in the way” of their operations.
LOOK: A breakdown of the labor sector in 2015. Job opportunities are usually used as justification for mining sites to continue. However, the mining comprises only 0.6 percent of the labor force.
LOOK: Contributions to the 2015 Philippine Gross Domestic Product. Despite the assumption that mining is a large contributor to the national industry, only less than one percent of production is attributed to the industry.
Farmers and fishermen in Santa Cruz continue to suffer from the effects of mining operations in their community. The large-scale extraction of nickel in the mountains contaminated the water which irrigates the farmlands. As a result, fields are dried up, leaving no profit for the farmers.
With the problem at hand, farmers struggle to make money. Some buy sacks of organic fertilizer, hoping that their fields will soften and be productive again, which in turn reduces their income. Other farmers farm in fields they don’t own.
“Yung ibang magsasaka, dahil sa nawalan ng lupa, pupunta ng lungsod, dito sila sisiksik, magtatrabaho,” Espinosa added.
Fisherfolk near the poblacion area of Santa Cruz also face the consequences of the same problem.
Instead of the everyday view of the sea, the looming sight of ships docked nearby greeted them in the morning. These wait for stockpile from the mines of the land beyond, gradually infusing the water beneath with nickel from their cargo.
Before the cargo ships came, life was a series of waking up at sunrise, going out to sea and returning home before the sun sets.
Now, with the danger the ships posed, fresh catch became more difficult to acquire as they have receded into more treacherous depths. Fishermen would race to the sea before dawn’s first light, and would only return long after the sun has gone down.
“Kung saan saan na sila tumatakbo. Siyempre yung manlalaot, imbis na konti lang ang konsumo nila, napapalaki,” recounted Rosalyn Alibong, who sells marine produce to help her fisherman husband make a living.
A life of juggling fishing with other jobs was once the norm for many of Santa Cruz’s fisherfolk but with the receding number of catch, Alibong’s 30 years of living by the wharf had turned into a matter of surviving one day after the next.
“Wala na, puro tabla-tabla na lang para mabuhay,” she said.
Alibong also shared that 200 pesos was the average profit they make from a whole day of going out into the sea, matching the minimum cost of crude oil it would take for one small boat to make it to where the fishing ground is nowadays.
In addition to this problem, she recounted that her employer would sometimes refuse to believe their claims that the fish have retreated farther into the reef. They would face accusations implying that she and the other fishermen have taken most of the catch for their own consumption.
For Alibong, her husband and the rest of the community, there was no one else they could rely on to bring them out of their dismal situation save from themselves.
Hungry for change and justice, the fisherfolk have organized themselves into a collective against the mining operations which have destroyed their source of living. However, with their current situation far from improving, mobilizing the community becomes an even harder task to undertake.
families. The red flood destroyed their farmlands, her family’s main source of income.
Together with other residents, Nanay Teta launched Move Now! in Santa Cruz and called for the closure of the mining companies operating in their municipality. They blamed the unforgiving nickel mining operations in their area for the disaster.
Recently, anti-mining advocate Concerned Citizens of Santa Cruz (CCOS) led residents of Santa Cruz and neighboring towns of Candelaria and Infanta, Pangasinan to file a petition before the Supreme Court (SC) against the mining firms operating in their municipality, accusing them of destroying the ecosystem, aggravating flood problems during typhoon season, and affecting the livelihood of the people, among others.
On June 21, 2016, the SC issued a writ of kalikasan against five mining firms in Zambales, which includes the four which operate in Santa Cruz. The writ of kalikasan is a legal remedy that provides protection of one's Constitutional right to a healthy environment.
Despite Zambales governor Amor Deloso's executive order to stop the operations, mining companies continued to run after the temporary halt. At times, even the local government was their partner in crime. The residents’ initial victory at the legal courts was taken away from them.
On Valentine’s Day this year, the people of Santa Cruz saw another glimpse of hope when Deparment of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Gina Lopez ordered the cancellation of 75 mining contracts, including those within the municipality.
For the residents of Santa Cruz, it meant an end to all their suffering.
It was not.
“Yang mga dayuhang kapitalista na yan, lagi’t lagi silang may paraan para magpatuloy mag-operate, dahil milyon ang kinikita nila sa kalupaan natin na hindi natin napapakinabangan,” Espinosa said.
According to Ka Moises Sison, captain of a small barrio in Santa Cruz called Pamunuran, many local government officials, including Governor Amor Deloso, were pro-mining. Only he and two other barangay captains opposed mining operations in their area.
According to Alibong, registration was the only obstacle to the formal launching of their organization—but even getting recognition from the local government is something they have to work harder for.
“Nagiipon pa kami ng pera. Tulong-tulong kaming nagbibigay kasi minsan yung iba hindi makabigay kasi siyempre walang kita e,” she recounted.
She added, “Mapipilit mo ba yung tao? Siyempre hindi. Unahin mo nalang yung bigas.”
Even despite the bleak circumstances, Alibong is grateful that her home and loved ones remained intact after the plague.
“Yun lang talaga yung dasal namin, na iyong nangyari doon sa Bayto, wag sanang mangyari dito. Wag sanang mangyari sa amin,” she prayed.
A rush of revolt
The surge of red hailed by the rainstorm of two years ago brought more than pestilence to the local folk of Zambales. It replenished them with renewed strength and vigor to
take their fight both to the streets and on legal ground.
“Nandoon kami sa bahay namin. Araw yun, di pa kami naglu-lunch nung umulan, pero di naman ganung kalakasan. Pero noong tanghali na, pumapasok na ang tubig, baha na,” recalled Movement for the Protection of the Environment (Move Now!) leader Cristeta Sison. .
They were forced to evacuate and sought shelter in the house of one of their neighbors. When they left their home, the flood only reached their knees. Moments later, half of their bodies were submerged.
After the storm, they were unable to recover, just like the other
For better, for worse. Married for years and counting, Cristeta and Anghel Sison have led the local movement against large-scale mining themselves.
Beyond hope. Brgy. Pamunuran captain Moises Sison explains how many other local government officials support the mining operations which exploit Sta Cruz' natural resources
“Magsasagawa siya (Deloso) ng consultation pero in the end, maliwanag na maliwanag na pro-mining siya. Wala namang makakatutok diyan e, kahit makagawa kami ng mga kaukulang hakbang,” he said.
According to Espinosa, many local government officials accept bribes from these mining firms in exchange of their approval of the mining operations.
“Kinakausap nila yung mga barangay captain na parang--’Uy ano bigyan kita, payagan mo lang akong pumunta yung mga truck ko dito’--kasi binababa nila yung stockpile na ibig sabihin ay yung lupa, yun yung nickel,” she said.
Sison also recalled a barangay captain who expressed his support for the mining operations, as it meant more money, apart from the share they get from mining taxes.
“Sabi ng isang kapitan, kung nandiyan ang mina, makikihati ako sa kikitain,” he said. “Pero ako, ayoko talaga ng mina.”
Under the Local Government Code, local government units (LGU) shall have an “equitable share in the proceeds derived from the utilization and development of the national wealth within their respective areas”.
Apart from this, LGUs shall receive a 40% share of the gross collection derived by the national government from the preceding fiscal year, which includes mining taxes, royalties, and fees. In that share, 45% goes to the municipality involved, 35% to the barangay, and 20% to the province.
According to IBON, government shares from mining in taxes, royalties and fees in 2015 amounted to 22.83 billion pesos or 1.33% of total tax revenues.
While these were obvious benefits to those in positions of power, communities continue to face dangers from impending natural disasters as a result of these activities. Typhoons, for instance, were more deadly due to nickel contamination.
“[Ang] problema ay di matibay. Pag nawasak, yung tubig na naipon, babagsak sa ibaba. Dahil wala na ring punong sasala, tuloy-tuloy ang agos. Kakalat na yun sa mga ilog, sa lupa,” Espinosa said, citing the danger of open-pit mining activities.
Anti-mining advocates in Santa Cruz, regardless of affiliation, help each other to gather data on mining operations in their community for a clearer, more scientific understanding of their plight. Official mining records, however, are protected by the local government.
“Kung anti-mining ka at pro-mining sila, ‘di nila sasabihin sa’yo. Kumikita sila diyan e,” Nanay Teta warned.
Bricks of bodies
Even the seemingly promising idea of more jobs given the presence of mines in the province proved to be illusory.
Ruel Ebelane has worked under the road maintenance arm of BNMI for four years, earning 364 pesos for eight hours of road construction a day. When he was supposed to report back to his job after the Christmas holidays , he was greeted by the absence of a notice calling him to return to work.
Together with his colleagues, this pushed Ebelane into forming a human barricade, blocking trucks carrying stockpile from reaching the ships which awaited them at the docks. They demanded for their jobs back, and they were assured of it.
Weeks passed, there remained nothing but silence from his employer.
On January 20, when their husbands were handling business at the National Power Corporation in Masinloc, the neighboring town, four women stood against the rush of oncoming trucks loaded with rocks from the mines. One of them was Ebelane’s wife, Zaida.
For six hours, they refused to give way to the cargo trucks lest the company would hand back their only source of living.
Their headstrong resistance was met by the security of BNMI, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and weight cars. When Zaida and the three other women refused to surrender, the officials proceeded to cuff them and hold them in custody.
Ebelane had no knowledge of the turn of events until he and his co-workers returned to their homes.
“Noong sinabi ko pong asawa ko po iyon, itinaas ko po iyong kamay ko,” he recounted. Afterwards, he was thrown against one of the weight cars, while a police official demanded to know why he ‘let’ his wife learn the nature of the situation.
Ebelane had no knowledge of the turn of events until he and his co-workers returned to their homes.
“Noong sinabi ko pong asawa ko po iyon, itinaas ko po iyong kamay ko,” he recounted. Afterwards, he was thrown against one of the weight cars, while a police official demanded to know why he ‘let’ his wife learn the nature of the situation.
This eventually resulted in Ebelan and ten of his other colleagues getting their jobs back.
“Kung hindi pa kami ang gumawa ng paraan, di sila mapasok,” Zaida said.
While forming human barricades may seem like extreme lengths to demanding their rights, these are common occur-
rences in Zambales given the state of mining in the area.
Last year, people from the village of Bayto in Santa Cruz gathered along the highway to call for the end of large-scale mining operations. In February of this year, Nanay Teta told of another human barricade which was formed to stop the stockpile from going down the mountains.
Aside from these, citizens have joined the mobilizations advocating pro-people’s mining last month.
After Lopez declared the closing down of mining contracts, they traveled to Manila to support her decision. Their activities included holding picket protests at BNMI and demonstrations at the Senate to call for a pro-people’s mining bill.
House Bill 171, or the People’s Mining Act, was refiled last year by Bayan Muna partylist Rep. Carlos Zarate, one of its co-authors and also the chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources. The proposed law aims for the “appropriate utilization” of the country’s natural resources for national industrialization.
Moreover, under the leadership of CEC, a solidarity program was held in the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) together with communities affected by mining from other provinces such as Nueva Vizcaya and Mindoro.
At hope's altar
In face of havoc, Santa Cruz stands unfazed.
Until a mining act in favor of the people is passed, until the farmlands and the seas fully recover, until the mountains relish peace without the intervention of mankind, the struggle continues.
Nanay Teta longs for the day where everything goes back to the way it was before--farmers and fishermen enjoying bountiful harvest and citizens living in harmony with the environment.
“Madami na ang namatay, hihintayin pa ba natin na magkaroon pa?” she said. “Tama na, tigil na.”
For now, they will keep fighting.
After all, battles are built on the altar of hope--and for the people of Santa Cruz, hope prevails stronger than ever.
In the line of fire. Holding her children close, Zaida Ebelane recounts the story of how she and three other women rushed to block trucks carrying stockpile with nothing but their own bodies.
LOOK: Summaries of the four mining companies in Santa Cruz.
