Story and photo by Leonardo Perante II
THE first Financial Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) signed by former President Fidel V. Ramos issued all the preconditions and terms governing large-scale mining operations in the country.
It allowed Australian mining company OceanaGold (Philippines) Inc. (OGPI) to explore in the mining village of Didipio in Nueva Vizcaya. The Partial Declaration of Mining Feasibility area of 975 hectares has been classified as mineral land. Residents of impacted areas were compensated under the Surface Rights Acquisition Scheme.
The old road to the mining village was merely an abandoned logging trail. It is of this reason the company prioritized a road network and bridges connected to nearby villages approximately a total 107 kilometers, including a well-paved 22-kilometer mining-access highway as part of its Social Development Program, dubbed We Care. Hillside farmers at the mining village are now into large-scale vegetable farming. What used to be idle mountainside contours have been converted into productive vegetable gardens planted with organically grown vegetables. With rolling terrain, the contour-farming villages of Tucod and Dingasan in Quirno, are also known for bananas, cassava, citrus and corn crops in enormous volumes.
Many see the substantial daily food requirements of Didipio operations a potential prospect that encouraged a number of local farmers to shift from traditional-rice farming to organic vegetable production.
Mang Cornelio, who cultivates plots of high-value vegetables in Barangay Tucod, claims the favorable climate and paved road network provided by the mining company also serve a steady market for his crops.
“With all of these promising potentials, farmers like us could also grow ‘edible gold’ in our farms,” the enterprising farmer said.
Dr. Pio Javier, an entomologist from the University of the Philippines, was commissioned by the Australian mining firm to conduct on-site investigative study to come up with real score what caused the devastation and, finally, answer problems now confronting the citrus industry in town. Decline in citrus production was documented since the 1970s, even before Didipio Mine started operations.
“It is exactly of the same reason we initiated citrus forum among our local farmers to educate them further on proper production and postharvest management. Citrus is a nutritious, high-value fruit, which is incidentally grown in many upland villages, a hand-reach away to our dining tables, where we feed more than 1,800 mining employees three times a day,” OGPI SVP for Communications and External Affairs Chito Gozar said.
OceanaGold Sustainable Agroforestry Inc. (OGSAI), an affiliate of OGPI, runs a 100-hectare commercial-tree plantation at Dibibi Village in Cabarroguis, Quirino.
In a technical services agreement with OGPI as a service provider, OGSAI shall manage and operate a central nursery for the production of various agro-forest tree seedlings needed in the commercial-tree plantation and implement reforestation projects of the Australian mining firm. The tree-seedling production has reached 1 million in the past three years.
As part of its advocacy, organic agriculture is highly encouraged, as demonstrated at the OGSAI farm for pesticide-free and safe-to-eat veggies.