‘Diwalwal farmers left out in formula’

MONKAYO, Compostela Valley — Farmers have been apparently left out in the "formula" of outgoing Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Heherson Alvarez to achieve peace at Mt. Diwalwal.

Barangay leader Arthur Baltazar said farmers, who far outnumber miners in this town, continue to bear the brunt of mining pollution, bringing death, sickness and low productivity.

Baltazar is chairman of Babag, one of four barangays worst-hit by pollution caused by illegal mining at Mt. Diwalwal.

Their exclusion from Alvarez’s "formula," he said, is what rankles the farmers the most, amid reports that Alvarez has awarded service contracts to two supposedly newly organized cooperatives.

Baltazar, in a statement, said the real small-scale miners in the area were left out in the cold in the distribution of service contracts in the gold-rush area.

Instead of finally solving conflicts at Diwalwal, he said the outgoing Cabinet member could have worsened the situation and that the uneasy peace in the area could erupt into another war among miners’ groups.