No solution yet to mining dispute at Mt. Diwalwal

DAVAO CITY — Tension continues to grip the gold-rush site at Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo, Compostela Valley as rival groups still fail to reach a peaceful settlement to the two-decade-old conflict in the area that has already claimed hundreds of lives.

Chief Superintendent Eduar—do Matillano, Southern Minda—nao police director, said the small-scale miners in the mining site have resisted the cease-and-desist order issued last December by Monkayo Mayor Joel Brilliantes against the gold processing plants operating at Mt. Diwalwal.

"The tension is still there and authorities are trying to find a way to reach a peaceful settlement to the problem," Matillano said.

Matillano was supposed to meet with representatives of the various groups at Mt. Diwalwal in a dialogue at Camp Catitipan last week but he had to reset the meeting due to other pressing matters.

At least 80 people have reportedly been killed in sporadic clashes between rival groups at the gold-rush site in the past few months.

"The present focus of the tension among the miners is only one facet of the total picture of the conflict that has been raging at Mt. Diwalwal since mining operations started there in the early 1980s," an environmental official told The STAR.

The official cited the increasing pollution in the area due to mercury residues from ball mills operating there. Reports of mercury contamination of river systems prompted Brilliantes to issue the cease-and-desist order.

The Department of Health has recorded hundreds of cases of mercury poisoning among villagers residing near the gold processing plants.

However, the members of the Monkayo Integrated Small Scale Miners Association (MISSMA) have questioned Brilliantes’ order, alleging that the mayor himself is actually the owner of JB Management Mining Corp., which has a standing joint venture agreement with the Southeast Mindanao Gold Mining Corp. (SEM), with whom the miners have been locked in a long-running legal battle over land distribution.

The legal dispute stemmed from SEM’s claim over a 4,999-hectare area at Mt. Diwalwal. But the small-scale miners are claiming 729 hectares of the total area.

The Supreme Court still has to decide on the land dispute.