Buguey

BY ANABELLE E. PLANTILLA

The environmental and human rights group, Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM), denounces the death on May 13 of anti-mining activist Conrado Buenaflor from Buguey, Cagayan. ATM recently received a report that an unidentified armed man shot Conrado Buenaflor in front of his own residence in Barangay Leron on May 9. Buenaflor was rushed to the Lyceum Hope Hospital in Aparri and was later transferred to Cagayan Valley Medical Center in Tuguegarao. There after days of struggle for his life, Buenaflor was pronounced dead around 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 13.

Buenaflor was a member of the Citizen Action Unit (CAU) and was the head of Task Force Lapu-Lapu, which monitors shoreline mining and illegal fishing activities under the leadership of staunch anti-mining Buguey Mayor Ignacio Taruc who recently ran against the son of Senator Juan Ponce Enrile and another contender for the House of Representative seat in Cagayan’s first district.

Buenaflor’s death comes after the brutal killing last March in Buguey of another anti-mining leader, Gensun Agustin, who happened to be one of Taruc’s aides. ATM has issued a statement asking government to diligently take extra precautions in keeping peace and order in areas with mining controversies. 

Buenaflor was also a close comrade to slain anti-mining activist and Task Force Lapu-lapu member Pedrito Tabaco who was gunned down by unidentified men together with his brother-in-law Alfredo Rabit while riding a motorcycle on their way home in Barangay Leron, Buguey, on November 30 last year.

What is in Buguey? Allegedly, illegal mining of the mineral magnetite found in its beaches has been reported. Magnetite is black iron oxide mineral that is often mined as an ore of iron and commonly used as an additive for high-strength concrete such as for building foundations. Its perfect crystals are also famous among mineral collectors. 

This mineral is of scientific interest because of its special magnetic properties. Photos of hundreds of sacks of beach sand have been posted on the ATM website.  

Earlier newspaper reports say that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau issued a permit for Colossal Mining Corp. to conduct exploration activities for magnetite sand in offshore areas of Sanchez Mira, Pamplona, Abulug, Ballesteros, Aparri, Buguey and Gonzaga towns, with a total area of 13,483.8 hectares. The question is why do we allow our beaches to be mined when they are an essential part of the tourist industry, they protect coastal lands from wave action, especially during typhoons, they provide fish landing sites and areas for beaches boats, and they are an esthetically pleasing part of the environment.  

Mining out the sand of our beaches endangers local livelihoods and poses risk to humans.  

Aside from this mineral find, an important ecosystem, the Buguey Wetlands, can also be found there specifically east of the mouth of the Cagayan River. The Buguey Wetlands cover approximately 80 percent of the municipality of Buguey. They are a complex of coastal lagoons, freshwater marshes, brackish and saline marshes, mangrove swamps and intertidal mudflats with some fishponds and shrimp ponds and a very large area of rice paddies. 

The wetland is an important area for rice and fisheries production. The Buguey Wetlands are important staging and wintering area for migratory waterfowl, notably ducks and shorebirds. Some 3,000 to 5,000 ducks have been recorded in November mostly Tree Ducks (Dendrocygna sp) and the threatened Philippine Duck (Anas luzonica).  Up to 3,000 other waterfowl have been observed and more than 1,000 shorebirds are regularly recorded there during the Asian Wetland Census counts.  

Congregatory bird species such as Little Egret (Egretta garzetta), Intermediate egret (Mesophoyx intermedia), Great Egret (Casmerodius albus), Yellow Bittern (Ixobrychus sinensis) and the Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) can be sighted. These wetlands are threatened by further conversion of mangroves and marsh to other uses.  The extent of the mangroves has been greatly reduced by the creation of shrimp and fishponds and this destruction continues. Waterfowl hunting, although illegal, is widespread and there is extensive use of pesticides by rice farmers. Ducks and egrets frequently feed in the rice paddies and there have been incidents of birds dying from poisoning. (Haribon/BirdLife 2001).  

ATM is an advocacy group and a people’s movement composed of more than 80 organizations from mining-affected communities and civil society organizations nationwide convened by Haribon-BirdLife International, Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC/FOEI) and Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas (PhilDHRRA).

orgsus@haribon.org.ph

 Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/opinion/17890-buguey