Government agencies took years before paying heed to community pleas. Residents believe the action taken might have been too late. The story of sand mining in Ilocos Sur serves some hard lessons for ongoing concessions and explorations.
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – During stormy high tides, splashing waves would reach a thick rusty steel bar, which protrudes on a large block of concrete firmly planted on a portion of the beach in Sitio Namnama in Tamorong, a coastal village in Sta. Catalina town, Ilocos Sur.
Along the beach bordering Sta. Catalina town and nearby San Vicente, kilometer-long erosions scar the coastline. They reach as high as 15 feet, exposing the soil beneath the sand. “If black sand mining was stopped from the instance it was noticed, it would not have resulted these irreversible changes,” said Rabe.Black sand or magnetite is also known as “black gold” because of its value. In fact, sand in general is one of the most exploited resources in the world after air and water.
Iron magnetite sand, which accounts for about 31% of non-metallic mineral reserves, can be found only in Ilocos Sur and the adjacent La Union province. Many like him were still afraid of complaining for fear of retaliation from foreign miners and local politicians. SIDELINE. On better days, fisherfolk would find a good number of oysters hanging on the Nylon lines held by bamboo stilts along the river delta. Photo by Karlston Lapniten
In San Pedro village, Narvacan town, some 20 kilometers from Paratong, sea waves have reached the village, splashing against houses during strong typhoons. Like parts of San Vicente and Sta. Catalina, coastal erosions have eaten portions of the beaches in San Pedro. The 20 areas were identified as black sand mining sites in Luzon, the largest Philippine island, based on ground and news sources. The study used radar signals from Earth-orbiting satellites to measure changes in land-surface altitude, despite the small spatial extent of the activities.
Residents then wrote a petition to the regional office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to stop the activities in the area. The DENR did not officially respond to the petition.LEFT BEHIND. Conveyor structures of a mineral processing plant are left behind at Barangay Tamorong in Caoayan, Ilocos Sur. Image courtesy of ISCAPE
Residents and advocacy groups, including members of the clergy, documented the hauling of sand in Caoayan, Ilocos Sur from the sea to processing plants on the shores, and its effects on the environment. Rabe, also a member of ISCAPE, said photos and videos of heavy equipment and stockpiles of black sand were sent to the DERN and MGB, as well as seacraft docking in the vicinity of Ilocos Sur for weeks.
Based on local government data, Wellresource was issued a Temporary Industrial Sand and Gravel Permit while Hong Ze held a Mineral Processing Permit. Both were issued by the MGB regional office. All four companies were no longer on the list of applicants and holders of mining concessions, according to MGB data as of March 2023.Finally in August 2013, after a series of dialogues, then-justice secretary Leila de Lima led a joint raid called"Operation Bagnet," which led to the dismantling of the illegal mining facilities.
News website Bulatlat reported that three truckloads of black sand were seized by law enforcers during a raid in October 2013. The evidence was then turned over to provincial police but eventually vanished under police custody. However, Aquino's successor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, lifted the moratorium in 2019, arguing that the mining industry could"usher significant economic benefits to the country" and support government projects and programs.
There were over 50 applications for the exploration of magnetite deposits along the coasts of Leyte, Negros Occidental, Pangasinan, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Cagayan, Agusan del Sur, Aurora, Bataan, and Zambales.by the EMB, only four magnetite extraction projects in the country were tagged by the bureau as environmental critical projects with approved environmental compliance certificates. Three were located in Cagayan while the other one was in Camarines Norte.
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