Cave as the source of life

By: Leslie Hayzel Tagala

“We need the cave and the cave needs us.”

This is always the statement that echoes inside my mind, when I remember one tourist spot in Baguio, the Crystal Cave. I do not know what kind of relationship it explains. Is it mutual or parasitic?

Last September 23, I went to Crystal Cave. I did not only go there to have some adventure, but also to clarify some things. It took me ten minutes from the town to the cave. When I got there, I immediately went to the Crystal Cave Group Association (CCGA) office, a small white house with a large parking lot and a large white gate. I looked for “Manang”, my tour guide ever since, when I first went there.

“Maam bumalik kayo para bisitahin ang cave. Hindi po kayo naniwala sa mga taong nagsasabi na delikado ang sitwasyon sa cave. [Ma’am, you come back to visit the cave. You did not believe those people who are saying that the cave is at the high risk,]” she said.

I was happy because of the warm welcome of “Manang” gave me. “Manang”, whose real name is Erlinda Milo, 45 years old, said that nothing has changed in the Crystal Cave.

“Ma'am nililinis pa rin po namin ang cave at ginagamit namin iyong pera na ibinabayad ng mga turista na tulad nyo para mas gumanda pa ito. [ Maam we are still cleaning the cave and we use the money that tourists like you are paying to make the cave more beautiful],” she said.

“Papaano naman po iyong stalactites at stalagmites, nasa maayos pa ba silang porma? [How about the stalactites and stalagmites are they still in the good form?], I asked.

“Opo ma’am. Noong nandito po kayo dalawang buwan na ang nakakaraan , naaalala nyo pa po ba kung ilang kristal ang nakabalandra sa harap ng CCGA office? Dahil kung naaalala nyo pa po, mapapansin nyo ngayon na kaunti na lamang ito. [Yes, Ma’am. When you were here two months ago, do you still remember how many crystals were displayed in front the CCGA office? Because if you can still remember it, you will notice now that the crystals are now little in number]”, she said.

I asked her who commonly buys the crystals and she said foreigners, mostly Americans. I was surprised about what she said about the cleaning of the cave especially about the crystals that came and are formed from the stalagmites and stalactites.

I asked her where did they (CCGA) got the crystals they were selling. She said that it came from the second cave.

The second cave is 1,109.9 meters and considered to be the longest cave, Mining and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) CAR records showed. Manang Erlinda said there are three caves in Barangay Crystal Cave and only one cave is safe to enter. The second and third cave were blasted according to her without any reasons, but the second cave can be entered by anyone but with a high price.

“Php 150 ang babayaran sa pagpasok doon, pero ayaw ko pumunta roon kase maraming kwarto at matubig ang dadaanan [Php 150 is the entrance fee, but I do not want to go there because there are a lot of rooms ( tunnels) and water is on your path],” she said.

“Pupunta lang ako roon kung may “tour guide” na mga lalake [I will only go there if there are tour guide guys to be with],” she added.

I asked her if I can visit the two caves, but she told me that they are far away from the first cave. Because I have no chance to visit the two remaining caves, I asked about the price of the crystals.

She said the price of the crystals ranges from 20 to thousand pesos, and it depends on the size of the crystals.

When she said Php 20 was the lowest price, I told her that someone offered me a crystal that is only five pesos and someone even gave it to me for free when it was my first time to visit Crystal Cave.

“Iyon yung mga kristal na ninanakaw ng mga bata sa harapan ng CCGA office para makabili lang ng candy o kaya soft drinks.Pero kapag nakikita ko ang mga batang iyon na nagbebenta ng mga kristal sa maling halaga, sinasabi ko naman kung ano ang tamang presyo [Those crystals are stolen by some children in front of the CCGA office just to have some money to buy some candies or soft drinks. But when I saw those children selling crystals at the wrong price, I told them what the real price was],” she said.

She said that the money came from selling the crystals are not for the CCGA fund but for the people living near the cave, because the CCGA fund is only for the cleaning and rehabilitation of the cave. They do not get any salary for being a tour guide of the cave so selling crystals is where they get some money.

She said that the crystals they are selling are also bought from people who are getting and selling the crystals from the second cave.

I asked her who were those people and what they look like. She answered that she even does not know who they are.

“May mga lalake na pumupunta rito at nagsasabi sa amin na bumili ng mga kristal. Binebenta nila ang mga kristal sa malaking halaga halimbawa limang daan. Siyempre hindi namin kaya iyon, kaya binababaan namin iyong presyo ng dalawandaan singkwenta o kaya dalawandaan halimbawa [They are guys going here and telling us to buy crystals. They are selling crystals in a high price for example Php 500. Of course we can not afford it, so we lowered the price like 250 or 200 for example],” she said.

Furthermore, Manang Erlinda said that the highest price of crystal that can be found there was Php 5,000. I was shocked about what I learned and I told her to tour me to that cave. Before we arrived at the end of the cave, Manang showed me the Php 5,000 crystal. It was huge, and it is like 4 ½ feet and its wide is like a wine barrel.

I asked Manang before I left what will they do if, there is a law saying that removing and holding the stalagmites and stalactites are prohibited. She only repeated the her answer two months ago:

“Ito ang buhay namin. Kailangan kami ng cave para malinisan ito.Kailangan namin ang kagandahan ng cave at ang kanyang mga yaman para kami ay mabuhay. Tanging ang cave lamang ang nag-aaruga sa amin [This is our life. The cave needs us to clean it. We need the cave’s beauty and resources so that we can survive. Only the cave cares for us],” she said.

A true blue Baguio baby's dilemmas

By: Pam Gutierrez

I submitted this for my Journalism 108 Class. A feature story involving the link of poverty and the environment. And since our blog tackles environmental issues here in the Cordillera Administrative Region, I thought of posting it here as well...:)

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Baguio folk say that if you were a ‘true blue’ Baguio baby, you would hate what has become of the City right now.

For the past years, besides being the Summer Capital of the Philippines, Baguio’s source of pride has been its reputation as a two-time winner in the National Competition for the cleanest and greenest city in the country.

However, through the years, problems of urbanization, environmental degradation and poverty has confronted the city.

Around the city, especially in the Central Business District, buildings have been allowed to be erected. The city has changed a lot due to these infrastructure projects which affect our environment.

Outside the Central Business District, there are many urban poor or “squatter” communities like the Irisan Dumpsite and Sto. Domingo Barangay along Marcos Highway among others.

Manang Cel, Celia Capucao in real life is a resident of Bakakeng, Baguio City. She has been our plantsadora for almost ten years now. She has not finished her education that is why she has resorted to becoming a labandera, plantsadora, and a vegetable seller to be able to support her family.

Admittedly, she has ventured into several more jobs aside from the above-mentioned and she relates that the money she earns was never enough for daily expenses.

Last Saturday, she reported for duty at our home and she was wearing a white t-shirt and blue jeans- her typical attire. I had the chance to talk to her that morning while she was starting to iron our clothes and I was drinking my coffee.

It was a random conversation; we had a casual exchange of thoughts. Suddenly, she said jokingly, “Pam, pag-graduate mo tapos nakapagpatayo ka na ng bahay, ampunin mo naman kami.” (Pam, when you graduate and finally have a house of your own, please adopt our family.)

I let her share her sentiments and then later on I knew what was her dilemma all about.

She said, “Nakakatakot na kasi yung lugar na kinatitirikan ng bahay namin. Kung baga, yung lupa, malambot na. Eh baka isang malakas na bagyo lang, madisgrasya na kami.” (The location of our home is vulnerable to disasters that is why we could not help but feel scared at times.)

As our talk went further, she added that houses gradually piled up along their area. “Mahirap na rin kasi makipagsiksikan doon, parang hindi ka na makahinga, kaya gusto na rin naming makaalis.” (The area is over populated and it seems like you could not breathe anymore that is why we want to leave that place.)

Money constraints are the reason why this plan of Manang Cel and her family are hindered. She could not help but compare their life back then and their life as of the moment. She relates that life was difficult before, but comparing it to now, the situation is worse.

For Celia Capucao, a ‘true blue’ Baguio baby, it is a burden for her to find money that will be able to sustain the livelihood of their family and at the same time worry about their family’s safety.

For her, that is just how life goes and what is important is how to survive what tomorrow has to bring.

Mining in the Cordilleras: A Case Study

By: Angelica De Vera

Indulgence in mining activities in Benguet was and is inevitable as it has become part of the life and ways of the people. Some may say that, especially those who are contained in these corporations, lucky are those who lived within the range of these mining lands for they benefited from the “extra” municipal services such as electricity, communication systems, roads, recreation facilities, schools, hospitals and chapels. These may be of great benefit to them, but only for now. And if people will just quantify the extracted resources and equate it to these services- we can really say that they are just plain pakunswelo de bobo and are really of no value.

Mining laws are constitutionalized to protect the indigenous people and the state against exploitation. The “Philippine Mining Act of 1995” otherwise known as Republic Act 7942 emphasized the “rational exploration, development, utilization and conservation of mineral resources. Payment of royalty fees and mandatory consent of affected indigenous communities was also emphasized.

This is supported by “Indigenous People’s Rights Act of 1997” (IPRA) otherwise known as Republic Act 8371 which emphasized on the need for “free and prior informed consent” prior to entry of programs and projects into indigenous communities as well as “just and fair compensation” for any damages which they may sustain as a result of a project. These salient provisions of the law mandate prior consent of indigenous cultural communities concerned preceding the opening of any ancestral lands for mining operations.

Yet ironically, President Macapagal-Arroyo’s SONA involved a 10-Point Legacy names including 23 priority mineral resource development projects and 37 priority mining exploration projects for investment by foreign transnational corporations (TNCs). And of the 23 priority development projects, five are in the Cordillera Region which covered the Pacdal Expansion Project of Philex Mining Corporation and Anglo-American Mining Company in Tuba, Benguet; Teresa Gold Project of the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. in Mankayan, Benguet; Far Southeast Gold Project of Lepanto in Mankayan, Benguet; Itogon Gold Project of Itogon Suyoc Mines in Itogon, Benguet; and the Batong Buhay Gold Project of the government in Pasil, Kalinga.

This implied that though indigenous peoples- as per experience- consider mining as tantamount to forcible and oftentimes bloody displacements, killings and the eventual loss of ancestral lands and its resources the government still manage to not only promote ore/mineral extraction but tolerate threats to the people, especially to the indigenous peoples and the environment.

And despite the aggravated amount of benefits from Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation (1996-2000) amounting to P 21 768 00.00 for health, arts, recreation etc., and government tax that equates to P 551 047 651.31, exclusive of those from Philex Mining Corporation and Benguet Corporation. Still, there is the need to utilize and conserve the country’s minerals as wisely and judiciously as possible for the good of the greatest number, including generations yet unborn.

Mining Situation in Benguet

By: Rona Dale Ortiz

Balitok Mines in Itogon Benguet---- the depth of travel for almost an hour and a half molded my fear of being trapped within the barren mountain ranges. How could have man trimmed down the mountains that have helped him survive and has provided him a shelter that is almost equal to paradise?

Crossing the Other Side

Benguet Corporation is already at its 100 years of mining operations. On the 26^th of July, I have witnessed the state of environment in terms of mountain range area, the devastation of the Pine forests of Benguet and the threat to the lives of the people in the hosting community of mining.

I have interviewed Mr. Ernesto Manipon, the head mining engineer about the pros and cons of mining. For several years I have always heard militant sectors that were battling against mining act, particularly the mining act of 1995. There are also a lot of issues about mining that has even made me more scared about the condition of the mountain ranges. So I’ve asked Mr. Manipon about his opinions on environmental issues that are directed to the mining mechanics, inclined on destroying and burying to the under of specific location. Mr. Manipon said that the small scale mining project that is not under the Benguet Corporation doesn’t have a proper guideline on the so called mining operations. He further approved that the company has earned proper papers and permits in order to conduct the operations. The company believes in the process of responsible mining. He also said that the company recycles a portion of the mining site when it is not already potent on further quarrying in order to produce gold.

When Reality Bites

The actual picture was like; the community is at risk because the land condition is really ‘barren’ that when it will rain erosion can occur. Even if we say that there are permits earned in order to continue the operations, in my eye the threat is everlasting, when the rains continue to pour I fear that one day a number of lives may deteriorate due to over quarrying caused by mining operations. The quality of the soil also decreases itself to potency in terms of agricultural production, since there are already chemicals that are borne while the quarrying process takes place.

General option: Should we continue the operations?

We cannot blame the militants who care for the current situation in mining, its adverse and long term effects in the environment. Mining when it is drafted uses certain chemicals that is harmful to the water systems, if chemicals like mercury are borne within the process the lives in the underwater ecosystem shall deteriorate, how could people get water reservoir if the body of water is already polluted say for example the rivers.

The indigenous sector opposes the said operations because of the fact that some mining companies don’t consult them, in their ancestral lands. The company has military options to arrange everything, to exploit the rights of the indigenous people thru grabbing their lands and transforming it to a mining site.

Developmental projects worsens the state of Cordillera communities

By: Pam Gutierrez

For our Journalism 108 [Environmental Journalism], our professor asked as to do an article involving risk.

So, Leslie [my friend] and I went to the office of the Cordillera People's Alliance (CPA), a non-government organization located at Aurora Hill, Baguio City.

We had the privilege of talking to Santos Mero, Deputy Secretary General of CPA and he explained that mining, logging, and construction of dams extract the region's resources and has brought about massive environmental destruction.

For further reference, Mero gave us a powerpoint presentation that documented the effects of these activities and we want to share it with all. It can be found HERE.

Baguio Citizens Action: Urbanization Has Its Risks

By: Ariane Amparo

Baguio City Citizens Action (BCA), a non-governmental organization that offers assistance to the City fears that as the city gets more urbanized, the more environmental risks are created.

Virginia de Guia, a BCA officer, enumerated several environmental risks that the City faces at the course of urbanization in terms of the construction of new and bigger buildings and infrastructures. She said that such construction poses a problem that might be only realized in the next two to three years.

The first risk according to de Guia is the shortage of trees.

It is already a common knowledge that trees help reduce the effects of typhoons by sucking a fair amount of water enough for their growth. The city, according to her is not exempted from the effects of global warming so the city still needs trees despite of its natural cool climate.

She added that the more number of trees cut to give way to the construction of buildings; more animals such as the birds are deprived of their natural habitat.

The second risk is the shortage of residential lots.

Baguio City, at present , is an overpopulated locale. It is exceeding almost a hundred percent of the supposed population of 25,000 people only. A research from the Ecological Research and Development Foundation Inc., (ERDFI) reveals that by 2010, a majority of Baguio’s total land area are no longer residential but commercial.

While taking into consideration that Baguio City is the education center of the North, de Guia said that students who plan to pursue their college education in the city are the victims. This is so because of the demand for boarding houses and any shortage of residential land will impede these students from studying in the city.

When more business establishments are put up according to de Guia, job opportunities likewise increase but this has also negative effects to the environment of Baguio City. Hired employees who come from neighboring towns, cities and provinces do not only add up to the city’s population but as well as to the practices that Baguio residents are doing consciously or unconsciously in destroying its environment.

The last environmental risk according to de Guia is the softening of the lands in the city. She fears that when the time comes that the lands where buildings and infrastructures (The Baguio flyover in particular) stand, loosen up because it can no longer hold such buildings, it creates a more serious problem.

De Guia admits that urbanization is good but if it gets too much, a chain reaction on the environmental risks might come into place.

BCA, at present is carrying a tedious process of informing Baguio residents about their own doings that have an impact on the city’s environment. They are now in the final planning stage of launching an information campaign on the environmental risks of urbanization.

Tree Planting Program: Towards the Betterment of Baguio’s Environment

BY: Pamela Marie Gutierrez

BAGUIO CITY- More than 20,000 seedlings have been planted by participating government and non-government units here after the implementation of the Tree Planting Ordinance.

The ordinance declared the months of June, July, August, and September of each year as “tree planting months” with the month of June as the beginning for tree planting. It was introduced by Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia, which he co-authored with Councilor Leandro Yangot last year.

It aims to instill awareness among the people about the present state of the environment and promote the best practices on environmental protection.

“Last year we were able to plant 20,000 pine tree seedlings and 4,000 fruit-bearing seedlings and for this year, I am optimistic that we will reach the target of planting more than 30,000 seedlings,” Councilor Balajadia said.

He is continuing to encourage the residents of Baguio to contribute to the City government’s tree planting program. “Just imagine if we are able to plant 30,000 trees per year, then in ten years, we would have 300,000 trees planted. In that way, Baguio would have better air quality and water supply so I am hopeful that people will help plant trees because this is for their own sake, “he said.

Meanwhile, the City Environment and Parks Management Office (CEPMO), together with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources- Cordillera Administrative Region (DENR-CAR), Baguio Regreening Program, and Regional Multi-Sectoral Forest Protection Committee are the lead partner agencies of the City Government for its tree-planting program.

The tree-planting program of Baguio City has a budget of P250, 000 yearly.

The Boom of Environmental Ordinances in Baguio City

By: Leslie Hayzel Tagala

Baguio City- Records from the Sangguniang Panlungsod Research Division show that the year 2006 has the most number of environmental ordinances for the past 17 years.

From 1990 to 2006, the city council has passed six ordinances which are more than the ordinances that were passed before 2006.

Six ordinances about tree planting and solid waste management were passed.

Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia, Head of the Environmental Committee said that the boom of this ordinances will mark the regreening of Baguio again.

Before 2006, environmental ordinances were poorly established.

For example, during the years 2004 to 2005, only one environmental ordinance was passed.

During these years, ordinances were only focused on public works and public utilities (the highest number of ordinances passed during 2004), transportation and traffic legislation (with 25 ordinances which was the highest number of ordinances during 2005).

On August 13 this year, the city council discussed 52 orders of businesses in their regular sessions, and seven of them were proposed ordinances for environmental protection.

The seven proposed environmental ordinances according to councilor Balajadia are projects
of the city council to save Baguio’s environmental condition. Examples of which include waste segregation, imposing penalties for smoke belchers, and the comprehensive anti-smoking ordinance.

An ordinance is a decree of authoritative order, of a council or municipal government.