By Cheryl A. Galili
THE RESIDENTS of barangay Tinitian in Roxas town want their barangay and municipal government officials to take back the endorsement they gave to Fujian Sino-Philippine Mining Corporation (FSPMC) claiming the mining company did not conduct thorough public consultation which is necessary under Philippine Mining Law.
In an assembly of Tinitian residents held on February 1, Gloria Solina said they were surprised that Fujian got an endorsement from their barangay and municipal government officials to operate because the public hearing it conducted was not attended by majority of the residents of her barangay.
She disclosed that only 15% of the total population of their barangay was present during the public hearing done by Fujian that’s why she can’t believe it was easily endorsed.
Former councilor Wilfredo Magdayao Sr. said, on the other hand, that there was no “division of the house and motion” when the endorsement was approved, a clear indication that Fujian shouldn’t have been approved.
Due to the wave of negative reactions, the residents themselves suggested to revoke the endorsement of Fujian given earlier for new consultations to be conducted to avoid long and heated discussions.
But even before the suggestion could take off, some officials of Roxas came to the assembly to lay down their proposed tourism plans. The residents asked that if it’s tourism that their municipal government is proposing, how come
Esther Baquiao, principal of Tinitian Elementary School, said they oppose large scale mining in their area because when it rains, the water rises and there are many instances that they experience flooding in their school.
She said flood waters can rise up to four feet and overwhelm their classrooms, eventually destroying books and other school materials. If Fujian’s mining operation pushes through, she lamented that they’ll suffer more since it will build a big tunnel that can be the cause of serious erosion due to strong flood.
“We don’t want the operation of the mining company because first, in ten years we won’t feel the effect of it, but 20 years after, we will already feel them when nature retaliates because we allowed it,” she said.
Bacquiao said too that the residents in their barangay still have no water system that’s why they only collect water from wells they dig near the river. Most of them also wash their clothes in the river; if it is destroyed and soil is eroded into the river, she said they’ll run out of water source.
The Palawan Times tried to get comments from the barangay officials of Tinitian but they refused. At one point during the assembly, councilor Eriña Camarote questioned the presence of the media by saying they did not invite any. She said it seems the media is meddling in their affairs.
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