CDCP, or construction development corporation of the philippines, was a government owned and controlled corporation established during the administration of the late president ferdinand marcos. it entered basay, negros oriental in the 70s and setup a huge mining operation consisting of 3 open pit mines to extract copper, molybdenum, gold, and silver, among others. it shutdown the mine sometime in the mid 80s, and most of its facilities and equipment (and mine waste) were abandoned and left to gather dust.
for pictures of our trip to the mill site, click here. for pictures from the open pit mines, click here.
after the 2 open pit mines, we headed on a bit further. this is what we saw.
this waste water is coming from either the 2nd open pit mine, or one of the small-scale mining operations.
according to our guide, this used to be the base of a really tall tower that was part of the mine's mechanism in transporting the extracted ore. it's pretty deep.
somebody died here, he said. there were some equipment, i think, that was left at the bottom of the pit, w/c had already been flooded at that point. somebody was sent to dive and retrieve the equipment. on the way down, his dive gear malfunctioned. he never came back up alive.
apparently, all these mining activities are poisoning the land.
i wonder if that flimsy gate can really block the flow of the waste water.
notice how the waste water has blackened the rocks it comes into contact with.
this water flows through this tunnel, then out to that orange river near the mill, then out to a much bigger river (the basay river, i think), then to the sea. i wondered aloud if this does not poison the basay river. pastor jonathan answered that the basay river was big enough to dilute the damage. mother nature is a forgiving lady, but only up to a point. when pushed too far, her vengeance can be awesome.
pastor jonathan surveying the polluted river
water from the first open pit mine
we came across a shack, with 3 men inside eating lunch. they were kabilya scavengers, i think. they knew our guide. they invited us to lunch, but we thanked them and refused, saying we just had ours.
there was makeshift bench outside shaded by trees, where we decided to take a break and chat with them. the chat though was mostly in a very musical ilonggo, and i only understood snatches of it. they talked about scavenging for scrap, a truck they noticed on the hiway that carried illegal logs, and of course, the old mine.
from the old man's recollection, the old mine was a huge operation, with towers as tall as the mountains, really deep and long tunnels to transport ore, and gigantic trucks that did the digging, some as tall as a 3 story building, with wheels about twice or thrice as tall as an ordinary human. now all of that is gone. and basay was no longer the same after the mine shutdown.
the town of basay rose and fell with the mine. basay is a primarily agricultural town, and it perked up after the entry of CDCP in the 70s. it used to be called little baguio. they said imelda marcos had once made a visit to basay in its heyday. it even had its own airport, which looked bigger than the one in dumaguete, but now abandoned. this all reminded me of a poem i read sometime back, degrees of gray in phillipsburg by richard hugo, which described the sadness of an old mining town. but life goes on.
walked back to the first mine pit.
a fossilized looking log near the water of the first mine pit
another view of the first open pit mine
a small waterfall of waste water
more waste water streaming down to the first open pit mine
sacks of pyrite extracted near the first mine pit
i almost fell here. i was standing at the edge of this cliff to enjoy the view, but i didn't have good footing because of the loose soil. a sudden gust came, and i almost lost my balance. good thing my companions were able to grab me in time.
and about the title, "don't drink the water". it is also the title of a song by the dave matthews band. the reason for the title is quite obvious, given the state of the water pictured here. but then i remembered that the song was actually about the persecution of the native americans by the conquering west. turns out that the song IS appropriate. the area of the CDCP mining site is considered part of the ancestral domain of the tribu bukidnon, an indigenous group recognized by the national commission on indigenous people (NCIP). and it is said that the operation of the CDCP mine had further exacerbated the marginalization of the bukidnon at that time.
the philippine version of the story of avatar, i guess... but without the happy ending...
next up, the 3rd open pit mine.
4 comments:
I enjoy reading your post. Maglinao is my birth place, my father once working in cdpc as mechanic. according to my father, during the full operation of the company, the place just like city. as estimated their are 50,ooo-60,000 people inside that place, (local dialect: sulod - means the mine site) they are mostly working in the mine. criminality is also rampant and prostitution. when the time it was being close, i'm already 6years old. people return to their place, they abandon the area. the only remained are only those in charge of security, people living in maglinao went bankrupt (maglinao - means people leaving near the mine, our house is near the elementary school). as we are part, we eat only once a day. no more job, people is leaving. it was also the time that communist is recruiting and the area will become one of the hot spot. i still remember that rebels knock the door in our house asking for something. they have long guns, then after 30mins before they leave another person knock the door and it was a military. they played basketball during sunday, but the military did not know that their opponents is a rebel. the situation is going worst when de color enter into the place. (they used by military to counter n.p.a., namely: pulahan, putian ug greenan, they have habak, they eat bullet. i remember that my neighbor accept being a putian, they wore in the head a white handkerchief. they have no guns but only bolo and sangot. i still remember that during encounter with n.p.a, he was hit in the back with rpg but he was still alive but his backbone was broken. but they have sumpa, the sumpa was a mumhu or just a piece of cook rice and put into the barrel, and then they will hit by a bullet. this is happen in one encounter. putian did not know the sumpa and during encounter, they retreat. i also still remember that one area (sitio sandig, 3km from maglinao), they declare it no mans land. people evacuate to the maglinao elementary school. helicopter bomb the area. it was also that time that i see my older sister (i think she was 13 years old at that time) is in tears when she see a disable person (no legs) asking for her mother to wait her. his mother (i think 60 years old na)walking going to the school and the disable person is doing kamang in the road just to enter the school gate and asking for her mother to wait her. i still remember what he said: ma, dili ko biyae maluoy ka nako.
I think my older sister was going to feel pity to that person.
until such time my father decided to leave, my father and mother is now leaving in sagay city, negros occidental, and now i'm in dumaguete working at orica.
Sometimes i said to my self: that's life. I'm so lucky even though life is hard but i still standing. life goes on.
I love reading your chronicle about the CDCP....i was there last Saturday. The place is so nice....because of curiosity, I decided to search for the history of CDCP. I like the history. Sad to know that the mine pollutes the water. Is it fatal?
I also read the first comment above from a reader. Good thing that you posted your experiences in Maglinao. I'm also coming to Dumaguete from time to time. Where is Orica in Dumaguete? I live in Dumaguete since 1998. But working in Basay since last year. Can we be friends in facebook? I'm interested about Maglinao. Thanks and God bless.
I'm so glad to read and see your post about Maglinao's area. Maglinao is the birth place of my second younger sister. I was about 7 to 8 years old when I was studying in grade one at the Maglinao Elementary School. During lunch break, we used to eat at the airport side. Security guard were "ugtas" to us, most especially when there is a private airplane were going to land. Sometimes, we use to eat at the house of my most missed best friend named: Babelou Campus. My uncle Tito Jonathan was married to the one of the daughter of the most rich family in Maglinao, the family named: Acabal. We live near at the BUNKER. I missed this place very much. I want to visit there, but they said it's "KUYAW" because rebel have occupied this place. As I remember one time when I and my uncle visited to my mother's ninang at the pasto, my tito have "sungog" me. He left me, and I cried because there's a lot of BAKA. Please post more picture of different areas of Maglinao.For me to view even only in the picture of the place that I have missed so much. Thank you so much.
Orica Nitrates Philippines Inc (www.orica.com) is the former Dyno Nobel Philippines, Inc. It is an ammonuim nitrate plant located at Bo. Buntis, Bacong, Negros Oriental.
As what I mention in my first comment. Maglinao before is just like a city. They have modern houses for their employee's and of course a biggest hospital and one of the doctor assign is Dra. Nenita Cabases, now a consultant at Holy Child Hospital. S.U have also a branch there which is my older sister studied.
Mrs Marcos also have a mansion their. Still remember the biggest truck called terreks and when you come to their motor pool you can see a lots of jeep that parks. And also a diesel generator. Then also a church.
After such time it was sold. They said the machinery and the metal left was sold to Taiwan. Who sold them? The local government of Basay.
But now, happy to inform that their is a mining company to have interest in the area. OED is now drilled in the area and I think 3 or 4 years from now the area will be rise again.
If you have other things about past of CDCP. just shoot me a text. 09154423266.
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