Sunday, July 24, 2005
Laughter, inspiration in mining convention
THE multisecontal audience of mining industry players broke out in surprised smiles and appreciative laughter when a B'laan leader began his speech in his native tongue, then in crisp Cebuano, then in tentative Tagalog, and finally in halting English.
Fammie Malayon, president of Tribal Foundation-Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) School Association, spoke in the different dialects and languages to demonstrate his own evolution from illiteracy to basic education.
The slow shift away from backwardness was made possible by SMI when it began to enhance social equity and development in Tampakan, South Cotabato, home to Malayon and his fellow B'laans.
Malayon's multilingual talk drew remarks of inspiration from the audience, many of whom said that development can indeed be possible when various stakeholders agree to work together.
Malayon came with five other tribal chieftains to a regional stakeholders' forum dubbed "Responsible Mining for Sustainable Development," to exchange views with some 300 other players in private business, government, and civil society.
He said he decided to craft his speech like so, even if he was not conversant at all with Tagalog or English, because he wanted to stress that in Tampakan, education is a central concern of the community.
Some 1,500 B'laan scholars are being supported by SMI, he reported. Some of these students have already graduated and now work with the company.
In 2004, SMI assumed management of the Tampakan project of Indophil Resources, which has an interest in Sagittarius Mines.
The project is considered world-class in the international mining comunity and contains a global resource of 12mt of copper and 16m oz of gold. It is said to be the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in South East Asia.
The entry of SMI was made possible when on August 30, 2002, the BIR issued its official clearance for the sale of shares in WMC Philippines, Inc. (WMCP) and Hillcrest Inc from WMC Resources International to Sagittarius.
WMC Philippines has been renamed Tampakan Resources Corporation.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (July 24, 2005 issue)
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