83 farmers and fishermen from various people’s organizations from Bitaugan, Inapulangan, and Habag of Homonhon Island in Guiuan, Eastern Samar participated in the MASIPAG Orientation on Sustainable Agriculture (MOSA) last June 20 to21, 2022. These are the three of the island’s eight barangays that are still unaffected by mining activities. The attendees expressed interest and resolve in the practice of sustainable farming to overcome the threat and impact of large-scale mining and promote their right to food and livelihood, among other environmental and socio-economic issues in their community.
As Eastern Visayas struggles to recover from the destructive legacy of mining in Homonhon, mining operations on the island started in 1983 and have left a trail of environmental damage that has stirred the residents to fiercely oppose its expansion of it. Homonhon Island is rich in mineral deposits like nickel and chromite, enticing miners to operate on the island. While there are no active mining operations on the island, several mining companies have set up offices on Homonhon Island. Among them were Techiron Resources, who aimed to remove the island’s stockpile of chromite last April 2020 which sparked protest from the villagers.
Similarly in South Cotabato, organic farmers continue to battle alongside other sectoral organizations against mining firms in the area that have caused ecological degradation for decades. If will push through, mining operations in South Cotabato and other neighboring provinces, such as the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project of SMI, will devastate the mountains until mineral deposits are depleted, resulting in widespread destruction of wildlife areas, biodiversity, and watersheds, particularly in the Altayan–Taplan River System in the Quezon Mountain Range and the Daguma Mountain Range, where four coal mining projects are also located. These places support a rich range of flora and wildlife, as well as upland agriculture and a source of clean water for irrigation and residential usage.
MASIPAG and its initiatives seek to conserve our environment and the country’s rich bio and agro diversity as mining has a significant impact not only in the ecosystem but also in the health and livelihood of the island’s resource-poor farmers. MASIPAG is certain that large-scale mining and agriculture will never coexist. Responsible mining is nothing more than a delusion and a deception of the country’s large-scale mining business sector. Sustainable agriculture, based on the notion of self-sufficiency, continues to be a dependable option and a road to long-term and meaningful growth for all.
References: