THE LAW, EXTREMISTS AND REALITY

I met a local legend when I was at lunch with my friend Jane, who owns my favorite pizza place – named after her daughter: “Neva’s Place.”  I was devouring a special pizza and salad Jane had prepared for me, when Jacquie wandered in.  I’d  heard of Jacquie, a Belgian veterinarian – reputedly eccentric - and had imagined her very differently…she didn’t seem all that odd to me when she said that she preferred animals to humans and believes that they have souls.  She has caused quite a stir here – she nabs stray animals and spays/neuters them and treats them for diseases - all on her own tab…40-50 animals a month she told me.  She feels that she is upholding the law in the Philippines when she gathers up wayward animals (pests to the natives), spays them and releases them, but others here would eat them and don't appreciate her efforts.  She eats no eggs or dairy products like milk or yogurt because to do so is to encourage the industrialized, inhumane caging of animals for human benefit.  I always thought yogurt was a good thing, and had to pause and reflect.   I’ve never been that much of an extremist and wonder if I have never believed in anything that devoutly, or am just lazy.

 

Laws, extremists and law-breakers are talked about often here, as well as freely observed.  I’ve mentioned before that the written laws here in the Philippines are the best I’ve ever seen – on child labor, corporate governance,  special education and mining for example.  There is a joke here that the first people to break new laws are the very people who write the laws - and thereafter the laws are just pieces of paper to collect dust. I’ve noticed that laws are often used by people in power to exploit others, by either enforcing them rigidly, or ignoring them altogether.

"Mining on Palawan"  encompasses a situation rife with extremists.  Because we are the “last frontier” and have pristine ecology (fast dwindling), mining has accrued a vast number of enemies.  I, too, have signed petitions against mining and will continue to do so - at least against the small independent miners who rape the land and leave scars and wastelands.  However, Jane has long told me about the difference that a few mining companies make here – and the conditions under which they operate.  It is easy to blame the big corporations, but here, almost everyone has a hand in raping the land – from the slash-and-burn agricultural techniques of natives; to common tourism practices of throwing boat anchors directly onto coral;  to polluting the land with trash and human waste (we have no sewage system here in Puerto - designated a "highly urbanized city" of the Philippines with about 200,000 residents in the "city")…no one is lily white.

After I wrote this piece, I was talking with my boss about the irony of being an environmental province - when you couldn't even find a trash can to deposit trash in - and that I'd seen a dead dog putrifying in the water at the Baybay tourist walk on the bay.  She told me that the reason there are few trash receptacles anywhere is the terrorism scares of about 10 years ago.  Bombs could be easily planted in trash bins - and they did away with them.  So, what to do?  As is so often the case here - a solution to one problem simply creates another problem - and often one with even greater negative impact.  sigh..   as I've often said - the older I get, the less there is a right/wrong; good/bad; black/white - living here has muddied my values and made me look at things very differently.

So - a couple weeks ago, I had the chance to muddy my values even more.  I was lucky to join Jane and three others (Carlos, Bituin and Roy) for a 6 hour ride over really bumpy “roads” (as in carsickville) to actually see how the best mining companies operate.  We journeyed to tour a mining company in the town of Rio Tuba in southern Palawan – the company for which Jane works as community outreach coordinator. 

I’d long wanted to do this trip, but timing never seemed to work out, and it was "bawal" (forbidden), by the Peace Corps due to tensions about mining.   Another friend had warned me – after I questioned her about her lack of enthusiasm on my going – that although the residents inside the corporate town did well, those outside its boundaries fared poorly.  Since I respect both of my friends greatly, I was really interested to check things out. 

We were to start driving at 8am, but one of the participants had stomach problems (boy can I empathize!) and we finally got moving around noon (he was left behind to "rest" - and I know what "rest" really means in amoebaville...poor man).     Typically Pilipino – we stopped for lunch as we headed out of town – about 5 minutes down the road from me!  This was my first trip farther south than Narra, which is about 3 hours from Puerto and only half way to our Rio Tuba destination. 

Jane

Perhaps 30 minutes south of Narra, the terrain changed; forests opened up to larger grasslands, and different types of trees prevailed – some really odd-looking, tall trees that I’ve never encountered, with huge, though sparse, flat leaves and big pods. 

We stopped for coffee and a snack about an hour from our destination and finally arrived around 7pm into the heavily guarded compound

(I found out the next day that the company employs 500 guards on their 5,000 hectares). 

Jane was well-known here, so we weren’t hassled, and drove up to the Guest Facilities, where we received keys to our individual rooms where a towel, toothbrush and paste and shampoo waited on our clean and comfy beds.  Each bathroom was spacious with hot and cold water – a rarity for me – and aircon which is a blessing here.   We freshened up and headed to the dining room where a fabulously delicious dinner was served:  chicken and lechon baboy (roasted pig) and lapu-lapu (a fish named after the Chieftain who killed Magellan…strange), along with pakbit (ampalaya, squash and string beans).  And, cold fresh watermelon for dessert.  I'd forgotten what working for a money-making corporation could be like!   It was obvious that they wanted to educate people on what responsible mining is – there were AFS students from 6 countries; businessmen from China, schoolteachers from Manila, and two very tall league basketball players - all stayed overnight at the guest house to be educated on personalized tours.

Two mining companies (Rio Tuba Nickel and Coral Bay) are located in Rio Tuba, where they mine nickel and cobalt –Until RTN (Nickel Asia) began producing here, the Philippines didn't rank on any list of metal producers.  Now, Nickel Asia ranks 7th in the world, with virtually all nickel being used for stainless steel (for which there is no replacement metal).  RTN is the larger and was established here about 30 years ago, on about 5,000 hectares of land – only 200 of which has been mined due to the concentration of the metal in those hectares. They estimate another 30 years of productivity in Rio Tuba - and are already planning their exit strategy - which is what I wanted to investigate. 



Early to bed; early to rise: we awoke, had breakfast and set out for the tour around 7:30am. Our itinerary included the hospital; indigenous peoples' council; the school (1,300 students K-12); the alternative school for indigenous peoples, the previously mined areas in differing stages of rehabilitation;  the plant nursery and the research farm.

 THE COMPANY TOWN

As we traveled in our air conditioned van through the areas, I was reminded of the Northern California town of Scotia – where I’d taken my daughters nearly two decades ago, to see the processing facility where enormous lumber was milled from even more enormous redwood trees – fascinating.  Scotia was a beautiful little town near the coast just past Ferndale and before Eureka - founded in 1863 by the Pacific Lumber Company, who built all sorts of amenities for its employees – including a fancy movie theatre – which was the height of luxury in those days.  However, today Scotia is a relic – a ghost town; known as “the last company town in America”.   

Wide roads, drainage, tidy electrical lines - all told that we
were somewhere near Oz.
 

Rio Tuba looked much as I imagined Scotia did in its heyday, with a "3rd world" flavor.  Roads were about 5 times normal width and neatly laid out; electrical lines did not overlap; everything was clean and tidy - no trash thrown at the side of the road, and even a drainage system. 

It looks like Palm Springs, California in the 1960's!

Each staff employee has a house, water, electricity, etc…..all free from the company. I asked what happened if something broke– the company pays for the repair!  The downside is obviously the reason for the company town and benefits:  employees reside in the middle of nowhere and there's not a lot to do out here, except work for the company.

THE HOSPITAL 

Carlos, Bituin and Doc on our tour of the hospital

RTN built, and recently expanded a hospital facility to 40 rooms – all medications and treatments are free to employees and the indigenous peoples who live on the land being mined. 



 

The impressive clinical laboratory

Clean, shiny corridors

The doctor-director said that there were only 12 deaths from malaria last year; that tuberculosis cases had been dramatically reduced (although mortality rates are high because people delay coming to the hospital until it is too late), and that there were fewer cholera outbreaks due to his intensive education programs. 

 Dengue of course has no vaccine, and he deals with outbreaks as they occur.  We did discuss that none of these results would have been possible without the total underwriting of whatever he needs, by the company.  On the other hand - what a rewarding life he has - such an impact he is making!



The pharmacy - where all meds are free

 

You can see from the pictures that this is a pretty impressive facility.  And it was packed (we visited on a Monday) with indigenous people, waiting for treatment.



One of the nurses' stations



  

 





 

 

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

The Alternative School for Indigenous Peoples who work
on their property and come here for computer classes

We then proceeded to the Indigenous Peoples Council and spoke to the Chieftain,  hired to oversee distribution of royalties to the 13 tribes in the 11 barangays.  The Mining Law in the Philippines requires several different types of support and remediation for the people whose lands are being mined.  Unfortunately, the law's intent might be laudable, but  the effects tend to increase the dependency of indigenous peoples  rather than empower them and it often feels like bribery rather than fee payment.  

The Chieftain is Cuyonon, from the distant island of Cuyo in north Palawan, and coordinates the Council, addressing the desires of each of the 13 tribes.  They meet to discuss projects that determine how the 83 million pesos are to be spent.  So, as my friend had noted - the law creates relatively enormous wealth for those under the royalty law...but those living outside of the physical and legal boundaries maintain the highest poverty levels on the island.  Again, the law needs to be revised to attain the intent - not to dole out millions of pesos to people who still have their hands out.

Onward to the community school - a treat – just a regular school – 1,350 children from K-12 in the middle of nowhere. All in uniform and well-behaved. The school is staffed by faculty and staff from La Salle University and was one of the nicest schools I've visited hereon Palawan, complete with playing fields and a staffed library. 

Large class sizes and no teacher aides here -
but well-behaved students nonetheless

About 1/4 of the Library





 

OUTSIDE THE RESIDENTIAL AREA

The part of 'mining' that everyone knows about

On our way to the reforested areas, we passed the corporate air strip and drove through the part of the land that looked familiar to all the No to Mining posters - the land that was actually being mined for nickel and its cobalt by-product.  And, yes, it was ugly - but to me, no uglier than the sights I see daily around the city - trash and contaminants and unclean water.  And, at least there was some good coming out of this unsightliness.

 

This was an Education for me - Wow.

 

Studies on reforestation and crop raising

  The difference between the bad actors and the ones who work sustainably lies in the efforts to repair the land close to its original state.  I was impressed with the dedication of this company to refurbishing the land to a usable, productive state - reforesting and amending soil for agriculture.

  




The man in charge - master forester

  

Rice fields

                Their work addresses speeding up the reclamation process by using endemic species of plants that thrive here, in addition to populating the area with endemic insects to reclaim the ecology of the forest.



seedlings at the ready

Engineers are the mainstay of the chemical and mining business - known for detailed task orientation rather than community sustainability.  But, top management intends to leave behind a functioning community rather than a ghost town and are working hard to do so - but the transitioning from a community dependent upon a benefactor to a self-reliant body of decision makers...is a daunting proposition - no matter the altruistic intent.  They have their work cut out for them - for the next 30 years.


THE RESEARCH FARM

 Our last stop, as we headed out of Rio Tuba, was at the Research Farm which attempts to optimize crops and train the indigenous peoples to tend those crops and do research on soils and crop optimization.  Although there were many workers on the farm, one man headed up everything.  We walked around a bit of the very rustic farm, looking at the pineapples, dwarf cocohut tress and papays that touched the ground, then returned  and ate senorita bananas till we were stuffed, chatting amiably (in Tagalog - so I didn't catch all of the converation - let alone the jokes and innuendos).  The farm is on hard times - the best I could tell was that much of it was due to apathy.  Paul, the manager, has been there for over 20 years and raised his family there - yet none of his children have an interest in working on the farm.  He has no apprentice who is interested in managing the farm and there does not seems to be a lot of involvement from the community.  We discussed starting a soils analysis lab there, and will be pursuing that, but, the energy level definitely needs to rise.

Delicious berries that Jane says are made into wine

At the farm

 



Our chariot

We took home all of these bananas!

As we rode back (taking 8 hours because our gas filter had collected water.  Our driver Ronald had to stop and dismantle it, shake all the water out and dry it out.  Fascinating that this seemed to be a common occurrence, since everyone simply disembarked and stood for maybe an hour on the side of the road and chatted – then somehow knew, without any questions, when to re-embark and we resumed our trip),  we talked about how to use what we saw.  Our meeting was fortuitous – we will work together to enhance the rehabilitation process by introducing endemic insect and butterfly species; propose establishing a soils analysis lab at Rio Tuba which will be available for foresters and farmers throughout the province to use; and design research demonstration farms on the land of indigenous peoples to augment their education and training according to the company’s intent to leave a benefit behind when they leave the processing site.  This is why I live here now – as Dr. Seuss said – “Oh the things you can do, the things you can see!”

In the days following the trip, I’ve ruminated on what I saw and what it means.  I finally decided that it’s back to the law and extremists.  The law, enacted in 2005, requires social action on the part of mining companies to prevent simply raping the land for profit.  It demands that mining companies rehabilitate the land, and also provide education and training for the people of that land.  The problem seems to be that the law restricts benefactors of the profits to those inhabiting the land.  Thus, whilst the indigenous peoples on company property  (eleven barangays) benefit greatly – P 83million a month royalties, plus additional money for education, medical, etc. etc.   while people outside of this boundary receive nothing. 

To the point of absurdity – an artificial man-made wall erected between the “haves” and the “have-nots”.  It is the man-made laws and implementation of the laws of this land that need to be looked at.  And only extremists will do the looking.  So, while I will never be an extremist, I do value those extremists making me examine the intent of the law and see if it really is doing what it set out to do. 

I also value the extremists' microscope on mining techniques.  I would prefer not to mine – but nickel especially is used in everyday possessions that I doubt even extremists would avoid – things like hot water tanks, surgical instruments and food processing.  I now understand why Jacquie does not eat eggs – she creates a market for abuse of animals if she does.  She does eat the eggs from her own chickens, the uncaged free roaming ones…but not those from animals abused in industrialized settings.  I get it.   But I don't know many people who would give up their conveniences like she does.

I agree with the heavy restrictions on mining companies to preserve the environment, and am still doing my own research to understand if even “responsible” mining can work long term – even though that's what I saw at this 30 year old mine.   And, from what I saw in Rio Tuba, this may be as good as it gets until people stop buying things made with stainless steel.

The Rio Tuba research team - thank you!