Manicani Island after 21 years

Manicani Resists Mining

by Nelson C. Balgusa 

“Ano it mabubulig hit gobyerno ha amon nga taga Manicani kontra hit mina?” (What government agency can help us in Manicani against this mining firm?) This is a question asked by the people of Manicani Island in their desperate efforts to terminate the operations of the Hinatuan Mining Corporation (HMC) in their island.

Residents of Manicani signed petitions, position papers, and manifesto opposing the re-opening of the nickel mining operations of HMC. The harmful effects of large scale mining have been exposed in national and local radio, television and newspapers. However, all of these efforts were unheeded against the money and influence of the mining company.

Manicani Island is the second largest island in the town of Guiuan, Eastern Samar. It is next only to the historic Homonhon Island. It is lying south-easterly of Samar Island in the Visayas and is composed of four coastal barangays namely: Banaag, Buenavista, Hamorawon and San Jose. It is only thirty minutes away from the mainland by motorized boat.

The people of Manicani rely heavily on fishing and farming for their food –the land and the waters surrounding their island are their sources of subsistence. But the environmental destruction brought about by the mining operations greatly affected their lives -- siltation and soil erosion destroyed the marine resources like sea cucumber, sea shells and corals of the island. They have to go farther away from the island in order to catch fish. Dust from the mine site would reach as far as the town of Guiuan. The mining operations covered almost 1/5th of the total land area of Manicani. The people are afraid that a landslide similar to Ormoc might happen to their island if the mining operations will continue.

Even with the absence of the Interim Permit to Extract, the Hinatuan Mining Corporation started its operations in 1991, despite the opposition of some residents in the island. HMC filed its application on May 16, 1991 and it was approved to operate for an area of 1,165 hectares for nickel mining on August 10, 1992. Likewise, the Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA) was later approved by President Fidel V. Ramos on October 28, 1992. The company sold its nickel ore directly to Japan.

Hinatuan Mining temporary ceased its operation in 1993 when the price of nickel ore dropped in the world market and due to labor problems. In September 1994, the island of Manicani was included within the 60,448 hectare Guiuan Protected landscape/Seascape Project declared by President Ramos.

It was in 1997 that HMC signified its intention to resume mining operations but it failed to appear on several public hearings. Marciano Talavera of Borongan DENR-CENRO recommended that they should not be allowed to resume operations pending the social acceptability requirement. HMC was penalized for operating without an approved foreshore lease and for not complying with its Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) requirements.

On April of this year 2000, residents of Brgy. Buenavista documented an illegal hauling of nickel ore out of the island. To prevent the mining company from further loading and exporting nickel ore from the stockpile, the residents from the four villages set up a barricade blocking the road leading to the berthing area. As a result, a representative of the mining company filed an injunction case against 39 residents. The court issued a 20-day temporary restraining order (TRO) for the lifting of the barricade which expired last August 19, 2000. The affected residents have threatened that they will defend their island against the Hinatuan Mining Corporation with their lives.