Responsible mining from the mouth of children

MANILA, Philippines - They all espouse responsible mining, saying this helps fund education, create employment, develop communities, and grow the economy.

“Responsible mining changes a simple community into a productive and progressive one,” says Melody Ayang, in an essay written during an on-the-spot writing contest at the Laurencio Fianza National High School (LFNHS)-Bantic Annex, on Sept. 11. “This agent of change will benefit everyone through unity and cooperation.”

Ayang, a senior at LFNHS-Bantic Annex, at Sitio Bantic, Barangay Dalupirip, in Benguet’s Itogon town, won first prize for her piece, Responsible Mining: An Agent of Change, beating more than 30 other classmates and schoolmates in the contest conducted by Philex Mining Corp. for the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

Judy Ann Fragata and Vergy Madas, also seniors at the same school, clinched the first prize for their combined entry to an on-the-spot poster-making competition, held parallel with the writing contest and having the same theme: “The Role of Responsible Mining in Community Development.”

“Holding contests such as these is our way of challenging the students to speak up for the mining industry — what the sector has done for economic progress and environmental protection,” Remy Ortega, community-affairs officer at MGB-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), said.

 Mila Molintas, coordinator of information and education campaign (IEC) at the Community Relations Department of Padcal, Philex Mining’s gold-and-copper producer in Benguet province, said the competitions were conducted in five high schools located in the host and neighboring barangays of Tuba and Itogon.

At the main campus of LFNHS in BarangayDalupirip-Proper, seniors Sheena Mae Tiago and Climpson Docto won first prizes for the writing and drawing contests respectively, held on Sept. 10.  Molintas said that over 300 students participated in the contests, which were also held at SLHS-Philex on Oct. 4, ANHS (Oct. 3), and TPNHS (Oct. 2).The other winners were:Jazlyn Villanueva, Brett Daps Maslang, and Trishia Paulyne Villanueva for the first, second, and third prizes for the essay writing and Kenneth Balbin, Kert Hedric Ventenilla, and Richard Levi Calica for the poster making at SLHS-P; Gemma Palina, Marissa Tambik, and Mary Rose Culimay (essay writing), and Austin Bitaga andRustom Tanacio (poster making) at ANHS; and Jordan Palista, Bilbey Clark Palicdon, and Ayra Briones (essay writing), and Angelica Mendoza, Danielle Cabesa, and Joriza Grett Gale (poster making) at TPNHS.

Molintas said the participants had exhibited varied portrayals of what responsible mining was all about, but they all had the same message: that responsible mining, such as not using chemicals more than the internationally acceptable amounts, planting more trees in mine sites and forests, helps develop the community.