Somber December for Lafayette victims

Three days to before Christmas and I can hardly feel any holiday cheer (nor chill) in the air.

This December, however, is far more somber for the residents of Rapu-Rapu island in Albay, where the controversial Lafayette mine project continues to operate. Like many of their fellow Bicolanos, Rapu-Rapu folks were beset by landslides during the height of typhoon Reming month, untimely departures, and more.

The Rapu-Rapu island landslides, however, were diffferent from those which devastated the regions surrounding Mayon Volcano in Albay. Instead of mudflows and lahar and water composites, Rapu-Rapu was hit by dozens of small landslides composed of broken rocks, organic wastes, and debris. At least eleven people died in the wake of the debris that hit Barangay Malobago, the community nearest to the Lafayette open-pit mine site. Many of the fatalities came from one household which was literally crushed by a curtain of rocks cascading down the mountain slope. Despite the government and Lafayette's press releases, Fr. Ino Bugauisan and other local leaders report that no relief operations have reached the island as of last week.

The folks from CEC-Phils suspect that the landslides are closely associated with Lafayette's massive blasting operations during the past months. It is reported that Lafayette has dug hundreds of meter-deep holes in the earth filled with bags of combustible materials, and is underway on blasting through to the very heart of the mountainous terrain. Many of the community folks compare the jolts in the aftermath of the explosions to little 'earthquakes'. They say that blasting operations, held twice daily, have grown progressively stronger before Reming hit and forced Lafayette to again halt its operations.

Neither has Rapu-Rapu reaped the so-called economic benefits of foreign TNC mining at the close of 2006. Only 30% of Lafayette's laborers are locals of Rapu-Rapu; the rest are itinerant workers sourced from elsewhere in the Visayas. Almost 100% of all fisherfolk in the island (practically its entire population perhaps) have virtually lost their livelihoods as the catch continues to dwindle inexplicably.

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Lafayette victims have also lost two defenders this month: human rights lawyer Gil Gojol and environmental chemist Dr. Aloysius Baes.

Dr. Baes, 58 years old, was a member of the Rapu-Rapu Fact Finding Commission (RRFC) which declared the Lafayette mine tailings spills as a case of irresponsible mining and recommended the termination of its contract with the government, He passed away last December 22 at the National Kidney Transplant Institute after a sudden illness.

Atty. Gojol, 46 years old, is a Bicol-based human rights lawyer who represented over a hundred Sorsogon-based fisherfolk in a class suit against Lafayette early this year. He and his driver were accosted and shot to death last December 12 by motorcycle-riding assassins in Sorsogon, near a military detachment.

I got to meet Dr. Baes, or Ochie as he was fondly called, during my first week at Kalikasan last October. He was a kind man with sharp, inquisitive eyes and a precise, patient way of explaining things. Even though he was often in pain from gout and had difficulty breathing, Ochie managed to speak at a forum on mining liberalization at IBON. He also gave the KPNE and CEC staff an afternoon-long lecture on toxic heavy metals in the oil and mining industries, scheduling a follow-up workshop to demonstrate a test kit he devised. That workshop never pushed through.

I only got to know more about Ochie from my colleagues' and husband's anecdotes about him: how he was as a scientist who sought to change social reality, how the biochemist was also a composer, how he envisioned environmental advocacy as an extension of the people's struggle for liberation. A short tribute written by Gani for AGHAM best articulates how we feel at his early departure.

Similarly, I hardly knew Atty. Gojol when we visited his wake last Tuesday. But upon hearing the testimonies of his clients (most of whom are from the poor and from progressive organizations) and his colleagues, it struck me how profound a loss he was to the people. LIke Ochie, Atty. Gojol has unwittingly erected a monument in our hearts.