| By Melvin Gascon BAYOMBONG, NUEVA VIZCAYA—For the second time in six weeks, villagers in upland Kasibu town succeeded on Friday in repulsing a foreign mining firm which was trying to enter the area and conduct exploration activities. About 1,000 villagers forced a company truck to back off, stopping this from moving forward as it reached the barricade site in Paquet village, according to Benito Cudiam, a tribal leader. “It was a hair-raising experience. The people sat in the middle of the road, just waiting for the truck to reach them. They showed the company how determined they were in preventing its entry,” Cudiam said. At about midnight Friday, workers of Oxiana Philippines Inc., (OPI) an Australian firm, decided to turn back instead, when Kasibu Mayor Romeo Tayaban intervened. A rented bulldozer that company workers placed on standby and was supposed to be used for the opening of a new road leading to the exploration site, was never used, the villagers said. As the day’s events unfolded, representatives from Church groups and nongovernment organizations held vigil at the site. “For hours, tension was high in the area. We were so worried about what would happen after negotiations failed,” said Sister Maria Eden Orlino, directress of the Diocesan Social Action Commission. The Inquirer on Saturday sought Joey Nelson Ayson, OPI country director, and Jerrysal Mangaoang, director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Cagayan Valley, but they declined to give any comment. Members of Bugkalot, Ifugao and Kalanguya tribes from Pao, Paquet, Dine, Kakidugen and Cataraoan villages have been preventing the entry of OPI equipment to show their opposition to the company’s planned mining exploration. |
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