WITH his ticket and pen, the policeman got off the bike and went straight to the mentor. He told the mentor “Sir I am trying to avoid hassles, it’s my day off in ten minutes and tomorrow is the weekend. I am planning to dip in the beaches of La Union.
Thus, if you can just give me one reason why I will not apprehend you, kindly do so.” The old mentor thought for a while and wittingly said “Ten years ago my wife ran off with a policeman, so when you were chasing me in the highway, I assumed you were trying to return her to me, that’s why I sped away.” The policeman nodded, grinned and went away.
If one would like to have a picture of the years before the huge Itogon landslide which claimed the life of several miners and their kin, here is an account. Before the dissolution of BC (Benguet Corporation), Antamok, just below the slide is short of a mini city.
School, hospitals, market and even disco pub and jueteng can be found. The location of the slide was part of BC’s mining area. The corporation was started by three Americans in 1903. Prior to the Spanish era, gold panning was already an activity by the Ibaloy natives in the Antamok river.
The company grew up and in 1916, liberal labor policies were introduce, affording employees free housing, water, light, fuel, schooling, hospitalization, rice, groceries and Christmas bonus, which has become a model for all other industries. Reforestations in nearby mountains started as early as 1921.
Timbers, rock hammers, ball mill technology, tramlines, underground railways were introduce through the years. It was the largest gold mines in south East Asia during those times. It goes on to acquire several mine site from Acupan, Balatoc to as far as Dizon and san Marcelino mines in Zambales and Paracale in Camarines. Copper and chromite were also mined.
BC built the longest overhead tramline in Asia with 45 towers and three power stations. In 1949 just after World War 2, it was the first mining company to be listed at the New York Stock Exchange.
The advent of Ferdinand Marcos to power in 1965 and the declaration of martial law, including the abolition of the parity rights of both Filipino and Americans had changed the landscape in the mining industry.
To be continued...