MARINDUQUE: REVIEW OF FAVORITE DESTINATIONS

I LOVE MARINDUQUE, THE LAND OF BIRTH, THE HOME OF MY PEOPLE.
IT WAS ONCE THE MOST TALKED-ABOUT, MOST COVETED SMALL ISLAND IN THE WORLD.

SOME OF THE BIGGEST TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS SEE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THEIR EYES WHEN THEY HEAR HER MAGICAL NAME WHISPERED.
LARGE-SCALE MINING OVER MANY DECADES DESTROYED HER FOREST RESERVES. HER LARGEST RIVER CHANNELS AND HER SEAS SERVED AS DUMPING SITES FOR TOXIC MINE WASTE ALL THROUGHOUT.

AMID THREATS OF ACID MINE DRAINAGE AND HEAVY METAL DREAD, MARINDUQUENOS HAVE BEGUN TO HATE THE MINING CORPORATIONS. FOR THE RAPE AND PLUNDER THEY'VE DONE TO THE ENVIRONMENT.

HER PEOPLE WITH REAL PER CAPITA INCOME OF PHP 13,545.00 HAVE REMAINED POORER. AND SO TO SAVE THEMSELVES FROM THEIR TAPIAN PIT (PUN INTENDED), BEHOLD! THE TOURISM INDUSTRY! MAYBE.
SO WHERE DO WE START? WHERE DO WE BEGIN?

BOAC BEACHES: "ideal for swimming and picnics... 15 kilometers of the west coast from Maligaya to Cawit..."

BUT! Further north from Balanacan (Mogpog), down south to Cawit could be found 'neath the waters, the world-renowned mine tailings from Marcopper mines. Tailings that escaped from Tapian pit drainage tunnel and traveled the 27 km. humdrum course of the Boac River, all the way down to Tablas Straight that embraces these beaches. The sea endlessly caress the relaxing, tantalizing beaches of the towns of Mogpog and Boac.

At one time the mines announced unabashedly that the tailings could actually "nourish" the beaches and introduced the concept of "beach nourishment". The people were perplexed with the new idea. Or gobbledygook.

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is a direct rsult of oxidation. AMD contains acids aand heavy metals. Acids may result in skin infection, whereas, absorption in the body of heavy metals may result in different types of cancer, leukemia and other diseases crated by toxic poisoning.
Many of the dreadful diseases have afflicted some residents in the areas surrounding Calancan Bay, north of Marinduque, former mine waste dumpsite. No, you probably won't get sick in one dip or two, but really, no one could say as some still think of the dollars in the event the mines are reopened.

Most seagrass beds and coral reefs along these beaches have been destroyed by the tailings. Snorkeling is no more fun like it used to be. Tailings in some areas could stick to the soles of your feet as you wade through. Could be yakky sometimes!

PAADJAO FALLS: "series of gently cascading falls (100 ft) that settles into a 15-foot fall. Hunt for nature-formed bathtubs downstream and enjoy jacuzzi-like effects."

BUT! Before flowing down as gentle cascades, water runs through silted ricefields upstream where carabaos refresh themselves in great abandon. Upstream dwellers raise poultry and swine along the water periphery.

When checking out, one should be very careful in getting down the 15-foot fall because you couldn't wait to tell your company unsuspectingly having fun down there and enjoying the nature's jacuzzi below. You just might fall off the cliff.

Water flowing through Bocboc Falls (that's the original name before it was re-invented and renamed Paadjao Falls), one of the few tributaries in Mogpog comes from the municipality's main watershed area. That's in the periphery of the same earth dam that eventually polluted the Mogpog River. Iin some parts down Mogpog River you could see water afflicting the river ranging from peach to brown to gruesome red and toxic green, to gory violet prompting some to ask, "kung hindi ito polluted, ipainom kaya natin sa kanila?"

TRES REYES ISLAND OF GASPAR: "white-sand beach on eastern side of the islet nearest mainland."

BUT! 'White sand'? They're crushed corals! Tons and tons of crushed corals, a wonder by itself, you'd even wish to bring some home soon for your aquarium. The old Elephant Fantasy Club owners were enthralled and succeeded, in fact, in transporting huge bulks to their tiny island to create a small strip of a beach to complete their fantasy.

Familiar sights and smell when you walk along the boulder-strewn Gaspar beach. No deep wells in any of these islands. Resident children and young adults just hide behind your shoulders and back of the boulders to, you know...

BATHALA CAVES: "complex network of seven caves', one is 'favorite residence of pythons'.

BUT! The former sea disposal system used by the mines involved a series of pipes and tunnels from the minesite to Calancan Bay. Between the minesite and Calancan Bay (you have a map?), we find the 'complex network of caves' located in Barangay Ipil. Some of the rusting pipes left behind by the vandals after selling them as scrap are still found here, there and everywhere.
In 1997, the areas of Botilao, Ipil and Kamandugan, three adjoining villages, were subject of a 'Declaration of a State of Calamity for Health Reasons', issued by Pres. Fidel V. Ramos. Random testing showed that 59 out of 59 children had high level of lead in their young blood. Fifteen of them were sent to Manila for detoxification in 1999 and media had a field day.

Testing conducted by the UP-National Poison Control and Information Services (UP-NPCIS) in March 2000 showed "elevated lead and cadmium level found in soil and sediment samples from Calancan Causeway" in the vicinity.

What about the air they breathe there? The following environmental assessment done on the same date by the same team tells it all:
"Ambiant air for lead taken in 2 sites in Botilao were above the EPA standard of 1.5 ug/m3 with level of 2.47 ug/m3 near the school house and 1.3 ug/m3 near the coastline".
Visitors to the caves could already see the environmental degradation of the wise expanse from Barangay Baliis all the way to the Calancan coastline. They shoud be ready for the shock and depression that could set in after seeing and believing.

MALBOG SULPHUR SPRINGS: "...its lukewarm, sulphuric water bubbles, out from the deep bowels of Mt. Malindig. Peculiar smell due to sulphur."

BUT! Peculiar smell due to sulphur, and mammals that look like goats and cows grazing just a meter away from the pool and allowed to do all their thing up to no more than ten meters away. Smell also includes stronger emanations from the waterless comfort rooms nearby, you instantly know they're not from the bowels of Malindig.

MT. MALINDIG: "Marinduque's highest peak at 1,157 meters."

BUT! The first 952 meters have been cleared of endemic plants and trees by original settlers and now planted to crops. Wild boar, monkeys and deer have been driven away. Only the final 200 meter ascent is where biodiversity still thrives but is seriously threatened.

If by chance you make it there, be still and know that you have not come to destroy or take away anything. That's Marinduque's last bastion of former life and hope, therefore sacred. Pray. Take nothing and leave only your footprints as true nature-lovers often say.

THEN, THINK AGAIN. IF YOU HAVE COME TO SEE UNSPOILED WONDERS YOU WON'T FIND THEM HERE.

BUT IF YOU HAVE COME TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PEOPLE, THEIR HISTORY AND CULTURE, READY TO GET ENMESHED IN THEIR FOLK BELIEFS, METHODS, ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS AND WITCHCRAFT, THEN YOU HAVE COME FOR THE RIGHT REASONS.

CERTAINLY, YOU'LL FIND OUT WHY THIS 959 SQ.KM. OF AN ISLAND COULD STILL BE CALLED A PARADISE IN THAT RESPECT.

IN THE END, YOUR MARINDUQUE EXPERIENCE, COULD STILL BE A GOOD THING THAT WILL MATTER IN YOUR LIFE FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.

HAVE FUN!!