by ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW and HARLEY PALANGCHAO

This report was written by Baguio City-based reporters Arthur L. Allad-iw and Harley Palangchao, who received a writing fellowship from the PCIJ after participating in our seminar-workshop on investigative reporting.

BOKOD, BENGUET — As Lakay Felipe Leano recalls it, newly planted rice seedlings in his village in Bobok-Bisal, Bokod had shriveled and died soon after a major Philippine mining firm began exploring for gold and other metals in the area.

	YOUNG and old hikers enjoy great moments at the summit of Mount Pulag, the highest peak in Luzon at 2,922 meters above sea level. Many residents from the towns of Bokod and Kabayan, Benguet, which play host to the protected mountain, expressed opposed to any mining activity within the coverage of Mount Pulag National Park. [photo by Harley Palangchao]

The company denied having caused the drying up of a local creek that had helped irrigate Bokod rice fields. But petitions from the likes of Leano, an Otbong village elder, eventually led the local government to stop the firm’s exploration activities.

That was way back in the mid-1970s. When then President Corazon Aquino declared Mount Pulag, which rises above Bokod, a national park in 1987, Leano and company probably thought they had heard the last of mining companies.

They may have been pleased all the more in 1992, when the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act was implemented. After all, the new law mandated that no type of “economic activities” was to be allowed in places covered by NIPAS; included in the system were not only Mount Pulag, but also the Ambuklao-Binga and the Upper Agno areas.

Recently though, residents of Bokod — a bruising three-hour car ride away from Baguio City — have realized that for the spirit of these laws to be respected, public vigilance, as well as keen community interest, are crucial.

	Location map of Bokod, Benguet courtesy of Wikipedia

Those in Sitio Bobok have already unconditionally rejected one proposal to have mining exploration done there, while residents of neighboring Bolo have made it known to a national government agency that they are against a deal struck between some barangay officials and a mining firm for a similar exploration.

Yet Bokod residents say they are still on the watch. In fact, those in Bobok and Bolo are urging nearby communities not to let down their guard if Mount Pulag and the rest of Bokod are to remain as free as possible from activities that may harm the area’s ecological balance.

Many Bokod folk apparently consider large-scale mining as one of those ventures. It’s a notion mining companies would obviously contest, but even environment experts tend to agree with Bokod residents.

THREATS TO ECOLOGY
University of the Philippines-Baguio associate professor Celia M. Austria, for one, sees both underground and open pit mining in Bokod as ecological threats. Austria, a biologist who has done research on Mount Pulag, says these could only lead to “the deterioration of the environment (and the) loss of the rich biodiversity in the area, including the medicinal plants utilized by the folk.”

Residents of other towns, meanwhile, say that they, too, would rather have Bokod mine-free. In fact, they want a say in the matter. Explains Norma Mooy, vice president of the Shantahnay People’s Organization of Dalupirip, which is said to be the only barangay in Itogon not adversely affected by mining: “Our (farms) are dependent on the water coming from Bokod and other upper areas.”

Indeed, Mount Pulag and Bokod are major water sources even for lowland areas — just like the rest of the Cordillera region, which serves as watershed cradle of 13 major rivers that flow down to Ilocos, Cagayan, and some parts of Central Luzon. This is largely why colonial and post-colonial governments alike issued policies declaring most of the forest areas in the region as watershed or forest reserve. (see table)

Proclamations Protecting Mount Pulag and Surrounding Areas Source: DENR-CAR (2008)
PROCLAMATIONS	DATE OF ISSUANCE	COVERAGE (HECTARES)	AREAS COVERED
Proclamation No. 217 (Central Cordillera Forests Reservation) by Gov. Gen. Henry Stimson of the U.S. colonial government (as amended by Proc. 1758)	February 16, 1929	74,631	Various areas of the region, including Mount Pulag and upstream Agno
Proclamation 120 (Upper Agno Watershed Reservation) by Pres. Marcos	November 25, 1966	9,700	Atok and Bokod, Benguet
Proclamation No. 548 (Ambuklao-Binga Watershed Forest Reserve) by Pres. Marcos	April 19, 1969	6,365	Atok and Bokod, Benguet
Proclamation No. 75 (Mount Pulag National Park) by Pres. Aquino	February 20, 1987	11,550	Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, and Ifugao

Mount Pulag is the water source and watershed as well of the dams in Magat in Ifugao, Ambuklao and Binga in Benguet, and San Roque in Pangasinan.

In 1987, the Mount Pulag National Park was created, covering about 11,500 hectares of public domain that lies on the north and south spine of the Grand Cordillera Central Mountain Ranges. The park straddles parts of Benguet, Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya provinces.