Showing posts with label natural resources. Show all posts

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Mga Berdugo ng Sangkatauhan at Kalikasan

Posted on Tuesday, 21 February 2017

Mga Berdugo ng Sangkatauhan at Kalikasan
Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Isang uri ng dugo ang nananalaytay sa ugat ng mga berdugo ng sangkatauhan at kalikasan – kulay itim na dugo ng kasakiman. Sila ang mga kurakot sa gobyerno, mga drug lords na pasimuno sa illegal na droga, mga illegal loggers at kapitalista ng minahan…mga ganid sa yaman na wala na yatang kasiyahan sukdulan mang masagasaan nila ang karapatan ng ibang tao at masira ang kalikasan.

Dahil kahit papaano ay may konsiyensiya din kuno, nagtatago sila sa likod ng maskara na abot-tenga ang ngiti para masabing may busilak silang puso. Upang makapagkunwaring sila ay maka-Diyos, may mga iskolar kuno na pinapaaral, yon pala ay kinakalabaw sa pagtrabaho sa kanilang kumpanya bilang kontraktwal na mga empleyado. Nagpapatayo din sila ng mga simbahan at namimigay ng mga donasyon tuwing may kalamidad, yon nga lang karamihan ay expired o pa-expire na kaya kailangang makain agad at kung hindi ay ibabaon ng DSW na naman sa lupa tulad ng ginawa nila sa Tacloban. Sila yong may mga “Foundation” na itinayo upang magamit lang palang pang-discount sa buwis na dapat nilang bayaran!...mga wise talaga!

Mas masahol pa sa on-the-spot na kamatayan ang dulot ng mga berdugong ito dahil unti-unti nilang pinapahirapan ang mga biktima hanggang sa hindi na makagulapay at bumigay….kung hindi dahil sa pagka-adik sa droga ay natokhang nang maging drug runner dahil ang lupang sinasaka sa probinsiyang iniwan ay kinamkam ng mga banyaga upang mapagminahan ng ginto at iba pang likas na yaman.

Sila yong nagkakalbo ng dating luntiang kagubatan, ang naghuhukay ng mga lupang nilason ng kemikal na ginamit nila sa pagmimina, na ang tagas ay dumaloy sa mga ilog hanggang sa mga baybaying dagat at pumatay sa mga isda at iba pang yamang-dagat. Sila rin yong nagko-convert ng mga dating sakahan o taniman ng palay at mais upang maging mga subdivision kaya ang bansa na dati ay isa sa mga exporter ng bigas, ngayon ay importer na lang, kaya ang halaga ay halos hindi na kayang abutin ng malaking bahagi ng populasyon ng Pilipinas.

Ang mga berdugong ito ay maaaring kapwa Pilipino o mga banyagang dumayo sa ating bansa, nagpundar pero ang kinita ay pinapadala naman sa pinagmulang bansa.



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On the Exploitation of the Weak

On the Exploitation of the Weak
 By Apolinario Villalobos

Natural resources are gifts and blessings from the Creator of the universe and as such should be properly and justly exploited as a show of respect to the Giver. However, the problem in this world is that, practically, the strong overruns the weak in their greedy effort to control anything that got to do with survival. Looking back, history is a mute witness to this desire of powerful nations such as Portugal, Spain, Holland, England, and later, America, Russia, Germany, China, and Japan. Earlier in the history of nations, Portugal and Spain, practically divided the world into two hemispheres for appropriation between the two of them. Later, war was used as an instrument for the appropriation of the weak nations among the strong ones.

Much later, with the blazed marine trails that lead to practically all continents, strong nations overran all of them, with America and her “Manifest Destiny” ideals, leading the pack. Her obsessive drive was masked with a supposedly noble intention to save the “barbarian” and “pagan” inhabitants of forcefully occupied lands from their misery of ignorance, although, beneath it, was the desire to bleed the lands of their natural resources, and the Philippines was among those that suffered this harrowing fate. It should be noted that long before the Spaniards colonized the Philippines, the early inhabitants had a healthy commercial intercourse with other nations, aside from having their own spiritual leaning which was Mohammedan or Islamic. The Americans did not “convert” the Filipinos into Christianity, as when they came, the Spanish colonizers already did it….all they did was turn the face of the Catholic inhabitants towards Protestantism.

If our forefathers fought for the preservation of our nation’s patrimonial rights, today, the Philippine government practically offers it to the highest bidders- whoever they are, if foreigner, the better because of their dollar. The Philippine Constitution meanwhile haplessly and practically turned into a doormat, as provisions after provisions are changed to fit the desires of foreign investors. The apex of irresponsibility was the passing of a law authored by Gloria Arroyo when she was yet a senator, allowing foreigners to own the 100% rights over claimed land intended for mining…this is the root cause of the scandalous mining incidents in the country that to date, have even claimed lives.

The Philippine Mining Law passed in 1995 is a glaring example of how lawmakers can be so naïve to the far-reaching effects of nature-related ventures in the country. They do not seem to understand what displacement, pollution, cultural debacle, immorality, and corruption mean. All that they perceive are the dollar and peso, as well as, the glitter of gold…gains that find their way to the pocket of the corrupt government officials instead of the inhabitants of the affected lands. From a national point of view, practically, no significant benefit has ever been “felt”, “observed”, or “enjoyed”, by the citizens, in case the gains have reached the national coffer. Tangible projects on which these gains are spent, are hideously pockmarked with commissions at different levels of transaction….so, what benefit are the greedy talking about?

Soil erosion and flood are the effect of the careless exploitation of natural resources while on the part of the inhabitants, forced displacements that lead to their migration to slums of urban areas where they eventually succumb to the pummeling of poverty, are the dismal disheartening results, made more grievous by the wearing down of their cultural values. Many girls and boys turn to prostitution to help eke out a living for their starving families. Families live on sidewalks and “mobile homes” – the pushcart which is the most practical way to carry around collected junks from garbage dumps. Fathers who turned “barkers” in jeepney terminals are lured into easy money by big time drug pushers, dangled temptation that they bit, for which they paid with their life.

Catholic bishops and human rights advocates kuno wonder how and why the above-mentioned Filipinos became bad, to the extent of being killed due to their involvement in drug trafficking. These hypocrites are obviously short-sighted because what they see are just the slums where the unfortunate victims live. They fail or refuse to look beyond the slums, so that they will be able to perceive where they came from….and, what made them endure the hellish life in the city!



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On the Abusive Exploitation of Natural Resources and the Philippines

Posted on Sunday, 19 February 2017

ON THE ABUSIVE EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
AND THE PHILIPPINES
By Apolinario Villalobos


THE UTTER EXPLOITATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES THAT EVEN GOES BEYOND THE BORDER OF ABUSE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS AMONG THE CAUSES OF POVERTY, FLOOD, AND MOST OF ALL CORRUPTION. IN THE PHILIPPINES, THE GOOD INTENT OF THE SECRETARY OF DENR, GINA LOPEZ IN THIS REGARD, IS UNFORTUNATELY, BEING THWARTED BY SECTORS THAT, OBVIOUSLY, HAVE STAKES IN THIS INDUSTRY. IT IS SO SAD TO NOTE THAT SOME OF THEM ARE NOW PART OF THE DUTERTE ADMINISTRATION.

MINING HAS DISPLACED FARMERS, POLLUTED WATER RESOURCES AND BAYS, AND DENUDED FORESTS RESULTING TO FLOODING…AND THESE HAVE BEEN HAPPENING FOR DECADES. THE SITUATION HAS BEEN WORSENED BY THE LAW AUTHORED BY GLORIA ARROYO IN 1995 WHEN SHE WAS YET A SENATOR, ALLOWING FOREIGNERS 100% OWNERSHIP OF LAND THAT THEY CLAIM FOR MINING. THE SITUATION GOT WORST DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF BENIGNO AQUINO III THAT SAW THE SEEMINGLY UNCONTROLLED ISSUANCE OF PERMITS THAT ENRICHED EVEN LOCAL OFFICIALS.

IF THE BISHOPS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES KUNO ARE REALLY INTERESTED TO HELP THE FILIPINOS, THIS IS THE AREA THAT THEY SHOULD STEP INTO. UNCHECKED ABUSIVE EXPLOITATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY HAVE A FAR- REACHING MAGNITUDE THAT COULD BE GREATER THAN DRUGS THAT AFFECTS HUMAN LIFE ONLY.

MINING NOT ONLY RESULTS TO THE SLOW DETERIORATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES, POVERTY AND CRUMBLING OF CULTURAL VALUES BUT ALSO, THE WEATHER SYSTEM THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE WHOLE EARTH!



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The Tampakan Open-pit Mining in South Cotabato (Mindanao)...a virtual hell if pushed through

THE TAMPAKAN OPEN-PIT MINING IN SOUTH COTABATO (MINDANAO)
…a virtual hell if pushed through
By Apolinario Villalobos

Tampakan is located in South Cotabato and has been in the midst of controversy since many years back because of the interest of Saggitarius Mining, Inc. (SMI) to mine its mineral deposits. At a glance, the following are what the issue is all about:
  • It could be the biggest mining project in the country with a pegged financing of USD5.9billion.
  • It is believed to be the world’s largest gold prospect to date.
  • Tampakan site is believed to contain 2.94 billion tons of minerals that include copper at 15million tons of copper and 18 million ounces of gold.
  • The value of production for twenty (20) years is USD37billion.
  • The site covers an aggregate area of about 10,000 hectares that include (Tampakan) South Cotabato, (Columbio) Sultan Kudarat, (Kiblawan) Davao del Sur, and Malungon (Sarangani).
  • Henry Sy of the SM Group is interested in investing in the project.
  • SMI is being controlled by the Alcantara family (“Sagittarius Mines Inc., the owner of the Tampakan project, used to be 62.5-percent owned by Glencore while the remaining 37.5 percent was owned by Indophil Resources NL, which is, in turn, controlled by the Alcantara group through Alsons Prime Investments Corp. (Apic). Glencore’s exit allowed the Alcantara group to consolidate its control of the Tampakan project by exercising its right of first refusal.”)
  • The Tampakan mining site is located only 50 kilometers from General Santos, the hub of commerce in South Cotabato, with its international-standard port and airport; Koronadal and Tacurong City are near Columbio and between them flows the Buluan River which is the outlet of the Rio Grande de Mindanao which partially flows to Ligwasan Marsh.
  • The project is expected to realize Php1trillion.

The open-pit mining at Tampakan shall virtually turn the covered areas into hell, what with the displacement of farmers, pollution of all the rivers, streams that eventually towards the bays, and the open pit itself which according to Secretary Gina Lopez herself, is equivalent to 700 football fields, and much much much worst, shall not be covered after the operations!

In view of the above, Minadanaoans who live around the area should unite to block the project and provide DENR Secretary Lopez with a “noisy support”. The mining operation if pushed through shall spell the damnation of practically the whole of southern Mindanao because of the harm from its pollutants – chemicals and exhaust fumes. We do not need this kind of investment!




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On the Abusive Exploitation of the Natural Resources and the Philippines

ON THE ABUSIVE EXPLOITATION OF NATURAL RESOURCES
AND THE PHILIPPINES
By Apolinario Villalobos


THE UTTER EXPLOITATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES THAT EVEN GOES BEYOND THE BORDER OF ABUSE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS AMONG THE CAUSES OF POVERTY, FLOOD, AND MOST OF ALL CORRUPTION. IN THE PHILIPPINES, THE GOOD INTENT OF THE SECRETARY OF DENR, GINA LOPEZ IN THIS REGARD, IS UNFORTUNATELY, BEING THWARTED BY SECTORS THAT, OBVIOUSLY, HAVE STAKES IN THIS INDUSTRY. IT IS SO SAD TO NOTE THAT SOME OF THEM ARE NOW PART OF THE DUTERTE ADMINISTRATION.

MINING HAS DISPLACED FARMERS, POLLUTED WATER RESOURCES AND BAYS, AND DENUDED FORESTS RESULTING TO FLOODING…AND THESE HAVE BEEN HAPPENING FOR DECADES. THE SITUATION HAS BEEN WORSENED BY THE LAW AUTHORED BY GLORIA ARROYO IN 1995 WHEN SHE WAS YET A SENATOR, ALLOWING FOREIGNERS 100% OWNERSHIP OF LAND THAT THEY CLAIM FOR MINING. THE SITUATION GOT WORST DURING THE ADMINISTRATION OF BENIGNO AQUINO III THAT SAW THE SEEMINGLY UNCONTROLLED ISSUANCE OF PERMITS THAT ENRICHED EVEN LOCAL OFFICIALS.

IF THE BISHOPS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ADVOCATES KUNO ARE REALLY INTERESTED TO HELP THE FILIPINOS, THIS IS THE AREA THAT THEY SHOULD STEP INTO. UNCHECKED ABUSIVE EXPLOITATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE COUNTRY HAVE A FAR- REACHING MAGNITUDE THAT COULD BE GREATER THAN DRUGS THAT AFFECTS HUMAN LIFE ONLY.


MINING NOT ONLY RESULTS TO THE SLOW DETERIORATION OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES, POVERTY AND CRUMBLING OF CULTURAL VALUES BUT ALSO, THE WEATHER SYSTEM THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE WHOLE EARTH! 

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The Vicious Cycle of Progress and Poverty

Posted on Friday, 8 January 2016

The Vicious Cycle of Progress and Poverty
By Apolinario Villalobos

Poverty is a mean excuse to do things for easy money by the weak in spirit. But the strong are ready to go hungry in the name of ideals and principles. The exploiters use poverty in blackmailing the unfortunates, one result of which is the dirty election due to rampant vote buying.

Exploitation of the illiterates and impoverished also result to virtual land grabbing because they are made to “sell” their ancestral domains to rich real estate developers at below  the decent value level. As subdivisions, golf courses and resorts sprout, the displaced former landowners and the fortune-seekers from other parts of the country huddle in not so far depressed areas with many of them working as low-waged employees of the mentioned business institutions that sprouted.

Poverty is the corner where the impoverished are pushed to make a choice between death and survival. Also, when the government alleges progress, poverty trails a few steps behind. Along this line, poverty breeds animosity in a community, especially, on matters of politics. In this regard, while some members of the community are ready to sell their soul for a few pesos in exchange for their vote, others are steadfast in protecting theirs which has always been viewed as a “sacred” right. Even some of the clerics of the Catholic Church have joined the confusion by counseling their members to accept the bribe but vote according to their conscience.

As soon as the corrupt candidates are finally put in place, thanks to the rampant vote-buying, in no time at all, they start to engage in schemes designed to insure the “return of their investment”. Projects that involve infrastructures are conceived, supposedly to carry on the “progress”…the bigger project, the better, as assurance for fat commissions. The worst scheme is connivance with non-governmental organizations for ghost projects. While all these things are going on, the suffering constituents see around them towering manifestations of progress in the shadow of which, they cringe in poverty.


Progress and poverty are the two forces that push each other to create the never ending loop that goes round and round…a never-ending cycle that plagues the people of the third-world countries such as the Philippines, and the culprit are the “investors” – exploiting nations that promise comfort in exchange for “developments”. Yet, despite the prevailing realities of the time, the rest of third-world nations still bite the bait.

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The Agony of Mother Nature

Posted on Thursday, 7 January 2016

The Agony of Mother Nature
By Apolinario Villalobos

Her womb brought forth life of many sorts
On top of the list is man – wise, clever, shrewd
A creature so sharp, with ego that knows no bound
He, whose selfishness, lifted him up from the ground.

At the start, his simple desire brought him food
Also, skins and leaves to cover his bare fragile frame
Then, his carnal yearnings brought him abundant broods
Who later inhabited vast lands – plains, valleys and woods.

Man’s desire has no end, never satisfied, not a bit
He not only breached, what to others are sacred realms
Unmindful and blind to whatever will be the consequence -
He even dares to break Mother Nature’s idyllic, blissful silence.

Greed drove man to scalp mountains of their trapping –
Verdant and lush forests he fell by indiscriminate burning
Reverberating scream of his chainsaw fill nooks and crevices
That drowns panicky calls of birds and their desperate screeches.

Immaculate white and sandy beaches strewn with shells
Though, still practically fringing undiscovered islands and coves
They may no longer be what they are now, as found by those lucky
For their days are numbered just like the rest, now drowned in misery.

Islands pockmarked with diggings for much-coveted minerals
Pitifully belch residues to rivers, lakes, coves even gurgling springs
While man grins his widest for the cash, illicitly and cruelly-gained
Mother Nature just cringes in agony, abused, that for long she’ll pain.

The air that man breaths for whiffs of comfort, relief and dear life -
Now has become a mist of poison, the scourge of his irresponsibility
For bringing forth metallic contraptions belching toxin just everywhere
And even break auditory succor, shaking the world with so much clatter.

With Mother Nature in agony -
man is left…alone,

to determine his destiny!

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Mineral Resources of the Philippines

Posted on Friday, 9 October 2015

Mineral Resources of the Philippines
by Apolinario Villalobos

During the pre-colonial days of the Philippines, only gold was mined by the natives. The precious metal was among the reasons why the archipelago was coveted by colonizers. Different mineral deposits are practically distributed among the islands and islets that compose the archipelago.

Gold can be found in the Mountain Province, Ilocos Norte, Abra, Camarines  Norte, Camarines Sur, and Mindanao; chromite in Zambales, Batangas, Mindoro, Masbate, Palawan, Surigao, Agusan, Davao, Misamis Oriental, Zamboanga del Sur, and Mountain Province; copper in Ilocos Norte, Tarlac, Zambales, Batangas, Catanduanes, Antique, Capiz, Negros Occidental, Cebu and Tawi-tawi; iron in Ilocos Norte, Mountain Province, Cagayan, Bulacan, Bataan, Camarines Norte, Marinduque, Surigao,Davao and Palawan; natural asphalt in Leyte. Nonoc island is known for its nickel.

Manganese can be found in  Ilocos Norte, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Coron Island in the Calamian group, Siquijor, Bohol, Bukidnon, and Leyte; coal in Polilio island, Laguna, Quezon, Mindoro, Capiz, Negros, Cebu, Samar, Davao, Cotabato, and Zamboanga del Sur; oil in Cebu, Cotabato, and Quezon; gypsum in Batangas; sulfur in  Camiguin Island; pyrite in Camarines Sur, Palawan and Surigao; soda feldspar in Cebu, Biiran Island, and Sarangani; phosphate in Pangasinan, Camarines Sur, Albay, Catanduanes, Palawan, Iloilo, Samar and Bohol; quartz sand in Ilocos Norte; magnesite in Davao; granulite and quicksilver in Palawan. Today, the coastline of Ilocos Norte is gashed with non-stop mining of quartz sand by shiploads.

Romblon is known for its world-class marble which can also be mined in the Mountain Province, Guimaras Island, and Bulacan; guano deposit abounds in Pangasinan, Zambales, Camarines Sur, Capiz, Iloilo and Palawan; silica sand can be found in Lubang Island near Palawan, Dinagat island near Surigao, and in Palawan;  limestone abounds in Cagayan, Isabela, Bulacan, Quezon, Samar, Panay island, Cotabato provinces, Cebu, and Palawan.

It is no wonder that “modern colonizers” salivate at the prospect of economically enslaving the Philippines, on account of her abundant mineral deposits which could be considered as “collaterals” for never-ending renewal of debts. This is also the reason why, the Americans immediately demanded the inclusion of the “Parity Rights” in the Philippine Constitution before total self-governance was finally granted.

The West Philippine Sea being disputed with China and other neighboring SEAsian countries, and the Ligwasan Marsh in Cotabato are reputed to be rich in natural gas and deuterium. With the predicted exhaustion of oil deposit in the Middle East, industrialized countries are looking for alternative sources of fuel, and the Philippines is among them.


How can the Filipino, then, not fight for his rights, and protect what are his, such as those that have been mentioned?

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Ang Paghihirap ni Inang Kalikasan

Posted on Sunday, 29 June 2014



Ang Paghihirap ni Inang Kalikasan
Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Sa kanyang sinapupunanun ang pintig ng buhay ay nalinang,
Nagkaroon ng iba’t ibang anyo – hugis, kulay at mga katangian,
Na nagdulot ng paghihirap niya sa halip na maging kayamanan.

Dumami ang tao,   isang anyo ng buhay
May malawak na pag-iisip, siya’y matalino
Ang masaklap nga lang, siya’y naging gahaman
Pagkagahamang  nagpahamak  sa buongsangkatauhan!

Dahil sa pagnanais niyang lahat na lang ay kanyang  makamtan
Hindi alintana kung sino at ano ang mapapahamak, masagasaan
Kaya’t  walang  patid kung siya ay humataw ng mga pagkamkam!

Biyayang likas ay hindi niya inalagaan
Nasalaula’t nasira dahil sa kanyang kaburaraan
Di man lang niya naisip na itong pagkakamali
Ay di maiwawasto, tumiwarik man siya sa pagsisisi!

Mga kagubatang nakalbo na, mga palanas na wala man lan gpuno,
Mga dalampasigan na dati’y kay igayang  lakaran, ngayo’y itim na,
At  ang inuugoy ng matamlay na alon- mga umaalingasaw na basura!

Hanging  kaysarap langhapin, naging lason
Ulan na inaasam-asam, ngayon ay hindi na mainom
Mga bukal na bumulwak ng tubig, malamig at matamis
Wala na sila, natuyo pati na ang mga dinadaluyang batis.

Hanggang kaylan matututo ang tao, isip ay mabuksan upang magbago?
Hanggang kaylan tatagal, paghihingalo’t paghihirap ng Inang Kalikasan?
Makakaya pa kaya ng tao na ito ay tuluyang mapigil o di kaya’y maibsan?