Fishers and gold panners become ‘bakal boys' after Philex mine spill

Part 1 of a 3-part special report on the Philex mine spill They used to catch fish or earn a living from gold panning. Now, they search for metal scrap to survive. From June to October, the people of Barangay Dalupirip used to rely on fishing in the Balog Creek as their main source of livelihood. During the rest of the year, gold panning in the creek bed sustains their families. After the tailings dam of Philex Mining Corporation’s Padcal mine sprung a leak last August, however, sediments poured into Balog Creek and the villagers lost their principal source of income and sustenance. “Magmula noon, wala na makuhang tilapia at igat dito sa Pangbasan,” said Greg Pitas, member of the Pangbasan Goldpanners and Fisherfolks Livelihood Association. “Wala na kaming pagtatrabahunan kasi yung tailings, tinakpan yung pinag-gold panningan namin,” he added. With gold panning and fishing gone, the 45 households of Sitio Pangbasan as well as four other neighborhoods in the barangay have turned to scavenging for scrap metal that were washed into the creek after the mine spill. The pieces of metal, which the residents claim can weigh up to a ton, came from the attempts of Philex to plug the breached portion of its 80-hectare tailings dam in Itogon, Benguet in September. Eduardo Aratas, spokesperson of the Philex mine in Padcal, said the company had dumped junk material that included scrap metals to seal the hole in the tailings pond and was aware that some of it had been washed out along with the mine waste. “Kunin na nila,” he told GMA News Online. “Livelihood na rin nila. Anybody can get it,” he said. That's exactly what the fishers turned ‘bakal boys’ – or metal scrap scavengers – have been doing since the spill. Without any protective gear, they plow through the mine waste stacked along Balog Creek and sell what they can find for P13.75 per kilo. But although they can gather plenty of metals, their income from the trade falls far short of what they used to earn. They also complained that they could not transport metal scrap to buyers downstream on a daily basis using their flimsy bangka. Residents interviewed during a field visit last October said that in the past, they could get more from their seasonal fish catch that averaged about 10 to 15 kilos of tilapia and eel per day. During the off-season for fishing, each household could gather at least one gram of gold per day from panning, and sell it for about P1,500 per gram. Two months after the tailings leakage, however, fishers said they still had zero catch from their usual fishing grounds, and they had to head for the upstream portion of the Agno River or go downstream to the San Roque Dam to catch fish. Their village sits beside the convergence point of Balog Creek and Agno River. Treated water from the tailings pond used to drain into the creek, and on to the river before ending up at the San Roque Dam in Pangasinan. View Philex Mining Corp.' Padcal Mine in a larger map However, Padcal's Aratas disputed the fishermen’s claim, saying that fishing and gold panning activities in the village were “back to normal.” In an interview last October, Aratas said: “Okay na sila ngayon doon. They’re back to fishing. In fact, when we went there two weeks ago, we were able to get eels. We ate it. Masarap na masarap siya.” Asked if the community was back to gold panning, he answered: “In fact, they're doing that already.” But the field visit to Sitio Pangbasan belied the contention of Aratas. The fishermen said their bangkas were only used for transportation, and they could not fish in the murky waters of the creek. On the riverbank, the tailings had piled up and some men were resting after a day’s work salvaging metal scraps. Once, they found a bulldozer blade in the creek, which was carried by about 10 people, Pitas recalled. An enterprising resident bought an acetylene torch so they could cut the chunks of metal into smaller pieces that they could transport using their bangka. In a more recent interview, villager Melanie Madas asserted that four months after the mine spill, the community still relies on selling scrap metals for a living. However, they now have to work harder as the metal is buried under the tailings packed into the 2.5-kilometer Balog Creek, unlike previous months when the metal scraps were just on the surface. Short-lived assistance After the tailings mine spill, the 57-year-old gold and copper mine provided short-term alternative livelihood for some residents as laborers for a clearance operation that lasted eight days. They were also hired to build a footbridge in Pangbasan. “Hindi naman nila kami pinababayaan. Tumutulong naman sila,” said Wilma Capion, one of the residents. She added that the company also provided one-time food assistance and conducted a medical mission. However, Pitas noted that the efforts of Philex were short-lived. “Ang problema namin dito, yung hanapbuhay namin talagang wala. Ang sabi nila may ibibigay silang livelihood pero hanggang ngayon wala. Minsan lang ‘yan,” he said. Philex also stationed community relations officers to assess the situation of the affected communities after the spill, but some residents have questioned their presence and look at them as intruders. They have not received any assistance from the local or national government either, although officials attended a Pulong Bayan in the community after the mine spill. Director Leo Jasareno of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) said affected residents can file settlement claims from the P1-billion penalty that the government has imposed on Philex, which the company contested and has remained pending for several months now. So far, none of the residents in sitio Pangbasan, the hardest-hit among the communities surrounding the mine, have expressed any intention of filing any charges despite the loss of their livelihood. – YA, GMA News Next: Part 2 - Tailings dam leakage casts doubt on Philex claim as "responsible miner" The author was a recipient of a grant from the International Women's Media Foundation, which covered part of the cost of producing this report.