Flowers, chocolates and expensive jewelries, an offering to attain the objective. Fabulous dinner set ups, extravagant getaways and those gentlemanly acts, to sweep an individual off of her feet. These are things that men often do to become the right guy, or so you thought. The game that we often call courtship, may it be short or long in span, just gives a false impression. As what people say, first impressions always last. Place the best foot forward and hide the other, usually the one that reeks, away from view. That is, for the meantime. When all is said and done, and that so-called “yes” has been uttered her world would soon crumble. Reality sinks in and the real “him” starts to unravel to her dismay.
There are things in this world that are better cloaked than revealed. Intentions are one and other grotesque things follow suit. Preaching fabulous lines of wealth and advancement echoes through the walls and halls seeking to conceal the possible infractions. Today the whole material world is offered and soon it will crumble on top of you rampaging in the form of poisoned rivers, destroyed livelihood and displacement from your home.
The Tampakan Mining Project proposed by Xstrata/SMI, two mining conglomerates, sounds perfect. Promises of wealth and the uplifting of lives just sounds to good to be true. It may be authentic it may be sweet and it sounds just like that, to good to be true.
To quote the two British experts, Dr. Robert Goodland and Clive Montgomery Wicks, “the Tampakan Mine has a high potential for loss of life and it could also lead to high environmental damage”. According to the report that the latter filed, the proposed mining project lies in a “theoretically extinct Stratovolcano complex”. They added that “Stratovolcano’s are one of the most deadly as they are often filled with explosives and toxic gas capable of killing many people”.
It's also good to note that the Philippines lies on top of the infamous Pacific ring of fire. Fault lines are lying here and there and Tampakan is not excused from having a devastating quake. In fact it lies on top of a number of fault lines. Remember what happened in Christchurch a few months back? Buildings that were designed to withstand massive quakes were reduced to shambles. Now a quake of that magnitude would certainly puncture, or may even rupture the mine pit that holds those toxic substances. Willing to surf in a wave of harmful liquid? I don't think so.
The notorious Marinduque mine disaster in the 90's should serve as a reminder to what open pit mining can do to our environment. The result of that incident was the death of the Boac river, flash floods and the subsequent flooding of a number of barangays and the displacement of a number of individuals living within the vicinity. Let us note that their livelihood were and still are affected just because of that one swift act.
The Tampakan mine may provide livelihood to the residents of area. This is as far as there are still minerals to mine. The mine can only give us a good 20-30 years of produce. After those two big firms siphon out all they need from that site, where would the residents go? It is as if they would make millions mining in that area that they can use to provide for their families once the mining operation ceases.
In the event a disaster who will take responsibility and the blame? I bet these large firms will be gone by that time, off to the races and a cat and mouse game would soon ensue. Who wins? The roadrunner always wins against the ingenious coyote.
Gamblers win a pot then lose that same amount and much more. Venturing to this project places the two huge firms on the upper hand. At the end of the day and when all is said and done, when a disaster strikes those tears and howls of anger could not bring back the past. Only the memory of what was once a beautiful symphony would reverberate on the background.
Oh that wonderful serenade has struck its final note of devastation and plague.
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