In the Land of Mine(s): The Struggle to Protect Our Land Against Large-Scale Mining

I walked with other women in the frontline to resist mining explorations in the Mindoro.

In 2002, in the height of anti-mining campaign, I wrote a novelette “Rin-ay” which tackled the possibility of mining in Mindoro. It evolves around the story of Rin-ay, a Mangyan woman who became a mining engineer and pushed mining in Sablayan. Although militarization greatly takes tolls in many people’s organizations, the women and men of Mindoro are still very much active in defending our land against foreign intrusions… in the Land of Mine.

Mining applications in the Mindoro Island is like Damocles’ sword. Since the later part of the 1990’s when mining applications in Mindoro flooded at the MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau), the people resisted. This also led to massive militarization in Mindoro. Hence, undoubtedly, women and nature cannot be separated. There are many sentiments against mining written by men in Mindoro. Women’s voice is still left unheard. This paper is an attempt to narrate the possible impact of development projects such as mining to women as well as the views of women in the mining operations.

Mindoro Bio-geographic Zone

Oriental Mindoro covers a total land area of 436,472 hectares while Occidental Mindoro has 587,985 hectares. Forests cover in the Mindoro Biogeographic Zone includes mossy forests, pine forests, old growth forests, residual forests, extensive forests, and grasslands. There are also endemic plants and flowers in Mindoro which include Mindoro Jade vine. The 2002 Final Report on Philippine Biodiversity Conservation identified Mindoro, particularly the mining site, as extremely high conservation priority areas for plants and birds and terrestrial animals.

Agriculture is the primary source of income in Mindoro, followed by marine resources. Occidental Mindoro has about 28.7 million metric tons of mineral reserves. Mindoro has the third-largest nickel laterite deposit, according to reports. A community organizer of a mining firm mentioned that Saudi Arabia is nothing compared to the richness of Mindoro. There are already existing small scale mining of minerals in the area like the quarrying, marble and jade mining. The province of Oriental Mindoro has decided to place a 25-year moratorium on all major mining projects in the region. The people of Mindoro celebrated but not for long because on December 1, 2004, the Supreme Court declared that the Mining Act of 1995 is not unconstitutional. Hence, the government declared a war against the people.

The Mining Industry in the Philippines

By 2010, as projected by DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes could be a “mining country” because of the upward trend of country’s mineral production value since 2002. A country can be called a “mining country” according to the 2002 WB study if the industry contributes at least 6% to the total exports. Inspite of the grim realities in the industry and the continuing resistance of the people, the government still believes that the mining industry will be for the total development and industrialization of the nation.