Panawagan ng Marinduqueño sa ika-23 Anibersaryo ng Mine Spill sa Boac River

PANAWAGAN SA MGA PINUNO NG LOKAL AT NASYUNAL NA PAMAHALAAN:

1.  Tuluyan ng maideklara ang buong lalawigan ng Marinduque na mining-free zone;

2.  Agarang maisampa ang kaso ng Pamahalaang Panlalawigan laban sa Placer Dome/Barrick Gold sa bansang Canada;

3.    Magsagawa ng malawakang pagsusuri sa kalusugan at kapaligiran sa mga apektadong pamayanan sa lalawigan;

4.   Maglagay ng mga footbridges at mga babala sa mga ilog at dagat na kontaminado ng nakalalasong kemikal upang maiwasan ang malawakang pagkakasakit ng mga residente sa Boac, Mogpog at Sta. Cruz. 

5.    Isagawa ang rehabilitation ng ilog ng Boac at ilog ng Mogpog gayundin ang Calancan Bay upang unti-unting maisaayos at muling mapakinabangan ng mga mamamayan.   

MARINDUQUE COUNCIL FOR ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS              San Miguel Street Barangay Mataas na Bayan, Boac, 4900 Marinduque, the Philippines ' (06342)332-0229 7 macec.secretariat@yahoo.com

                                         

PAHAYAG NG PANININDIGAN AT PANAWAGAN NG MARINDUQUEÑO SA IKA-23 TAONG ANIBERSARYO AT PAGGUNITA SA PAGBULWAK NG BASURANG-MINA SA ILOG NG BOAC

Marso 24, 1996. Dalawamput-tatlong (23) taon na ang nakakaraan nang mangyari ang pagbulwak ng basurang-mina ng Marcopper sa ilog ng Boac. Tinatayang 1.6 milyong metro kubiko ng nakalalasong basurang-mina ang pumuno sa 26 kilometrong kahabaan ng ilog-Boac mula sa Tapian Pit na ginawang mine tailings disposal ng Marcopper/Placer Dome sa panahon ng kanilang mining operation. Ang trahedyang ito ay naitala bilang isang pinakamalaking trahedyang pangkalikasan sa kasaysayan ng pagmimina sa Pilipinas at sa buong mundo.  Sa pagtagas ng basurang mina ay halos limanglibong (5,000) pamilya na umaasa sa agrikultura ang labis na naapektuhan. Hanggang sa ngayon ay walang nangyaring rehabilitasyon dahil iniwan na lamang ng Marcopper/Placer Dome ang kanilang responsibilidad na linisin ang ilog-Boac at maging ang ilog ng Mogpog at Calancan Bay na nauna ng naapektuhan ng dahil sa pagmimina.

Dahil sa kawalan ng rehabilitasyon ay patuloy ang pagkalason at pagkasira ng kapaligiran at dumadami din ang mga nagkakasakit dulot ng heavy metal contamination batay sa mga pagsusuri ng Department of Health (DOH) sa 3 bayang apektado: Mogpog, Boac at Sta. Cruz. Ang iniwan nilang mga dam, open pit at iba pang estruktura ay patuloy ding nagbibigay ng pangamba sa mga mamamayan na maulit muli ang mga sinapit na trahedya.

Mahabang panahon nang nananawagan ang mga mamamayan sa mga kinauukulan na makamit ang hustisyang pangkapaligiran at tuluyang pagdeklara ng lalawigan na sarado na sa pagmimina batay na rin sa sumusunod na kadahilanan:

1.      Halos 3 dekada ng nagdusa ang lalawigan sa mapaminsalang operasyon ng pagmimina at sadyang maliit lamang ang isla ng Marinduque at hindi sapat ang carrying capacity nito upang balikatin pa ang mga basurang-mina at iba pang kasiraan kapag magpapatuloy pa ang operasyon ng anumang uri ng pagmimina;

2.      Maliban sa mga panganib na dulot ng mga abandonadong estruktura ng Marcopper ay mataas din ang pagkalantad ng ating lalawigan sa mga natural hazards tulad ng mga sumusunod:

§  Pangpito mula sa sampung probinsya na natukoy ng DENR na prone to landslide;

§  Daanan ng lindol, Central Marinduque Fault at 93% ng populasyon ng Marinduque ang expose dito;

§   Pangatlo sa may pinaka-kalbong kagubatan sa Pilipinas;

§   Daanan ng bagyo at ng iba pang pagsama ng panahon; 

§  May mataas na peligro sa pagbaha at isa sa mga lugar na maaring maapektuhan ng pagbabago ng panahon (climate change) 

 

3.      Hindi lang po ninanais ng mga mamamayan na maibalik sa dati ang mga nasirang kalikasan dulot ng pagmimina, higit sa lahat ay nais din po naming protektahan ang mga natitira pang likas-yaman ng ating lalalawigan na dapat pag-ingatan kabilang na ang  Marinduque Wild-Life Sanctuary (MWS) na idineklara ng Kongreso bilang Protected Area (Republic Act No. 11038) na sa ngayon ay maraming ng samot-saring buhay ang naitala at  pinagkukunan ng daloy ng tubig ng maraming pamayanan;

4.   Mayaman din ang ating lalawigan sa pangisdaan at kabilang tayo sa Verde Island Passage (the Center of the Biodiversity in the World), kaya’t nararapat lamang na proteksyunan laban sa mga polusyon na dulot ng pagmimina. Maraming ding mga pulo at magagandang tanawin na dapat ding pag-ingatan at pagyamanin sa ating lalawigan upang patuloy itong mapakinabangan ng susunod na henerasyon;  

5.      Nang dahil sa pagbulwak ng basurang-mina, ay naitatag ang Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC) na pinangunahan ng namayapang Obispo Rafael Lim, unang Obispo ng Diyosesis ng Boac, noong Hulyo 27, 1996, apat na buwan makaraan ang pagbulwak ng basurang-mina at hanggang ngayon ay patuloy ang adbokasiya at mga kampanya upang itaguyod ang pangangalaga sa kapaligiran at hustisya sa mga biktima. Maraming pagkakataon na naipakita ng mga Marinduqueňo ang pagkakaisa kaya’t marami tayong napagtagumpayan at nararapat nating ipagpasalamat at bigyan ng natatanging pagkilala lalot higit ang mga naging tagapangunang tagapagtanggol sa pagtataguyod ng kapakananan ng ating kapaligiran tulad ng mga sumusunod:

5.1.Noong 2003, pinangunahan ng namayapang Obispo Joey Oliveros, pangalawang Obispo ng Diyosesis ng Boac ang unang Diocesan Synod sa panahon ng selebrasyon ng ika-25 taong pagkakatatag ng Diocese ng Boac kung saan napagtibay ang mga Dekreto ng Diyosesis. Sa ika-6 na Dekreto sa Katarungan isinasaad na “magkaroon ng patuloy at malawakang kampanya hinggil sa wastong pangangalaga sa likas na yaman at kalinisan ng kapaligiran, at tahasang pagtutol na may matibay na paninindigan sa anumang uri ng malakihang (open pit, underground, etc.) pagmimina at iba pang katulad na industriya at gawaing may malubhang epekto sa kapaligiran o ekolohiya ng lalawigan”.  Ang dekretong ito na ipinatutupad ng Diyosesis sa pangunguna ng Obispo at ng mga kaparian ang isa sa matibay na batayan ng MACEC bilang church-based organization sa mga kampanya laban sa pagmimina at anumang proyekto na maaring makasira ng kapaligiran.

Noong Agosto 10, 2015, nagpalabas ng isang circular letter ang Diyosesis ng Boac sa pangunguna ng Obispo Marcelino Antonio Maralit, Jr.  na nag-aatas na basahin sa mga misa sa panalangin ng bayan ang 2 kahilingang ito:

a)    Para sa ikasusulong ng hangarin nating maisabatas na maideklara ang buong Marinduque bilang lalawigang mahigpit na tumututol at nagbabawal sa anumang uri ng pagmimina, at

b)      Para sa pagkakamit ng hustisyang pangkalikasan at panglipunan, nawa ang mga pinuno ng pamahalaang panlalawigan ng Marinduque ay magkaroon ng sapat na lakas at inspirasyon na maging determinadong ipagpatuloy na isulong ang mga kaso laban sa Marcopper/Placer Dome/Barrick Gold

5.2.Noong Oktubre 28, 2005 ang Pamahalang Panlalawigan sa pamamagitan ng ika-10 Sangguniang Panlalawigan ay idineklara ang Fifty (50) year large scale mining moratorium sa lalawigan (Resolution No. 379 s 2005). Naging consistent ang Sangguniang Panlalawigan sa pagpapatupad ng moratorium sapagkat ito ay matapat na itinaguyod ng mga sumunod hanggang sa kasalukuyang ika-14 Sangguniang Panlalawigan (Resolution No. 13 s 2016). At ito ay suportado ng katulad na mga resolusyon ng limang (5) bayan at nakararaming bilang ng mga barangay sa buong lalawigan.       

5.3.Hiniling din natin sa ating mga naging representative lalawigan sa Kongreso na maideklara ang lalawigan bilang “no go zone” for mining. Isang panukalang batas ang isinulong ng dating Rep. Gina Reyes – House Bill No. 5566 “An Act Declaring Province of Marinduque a Mining-Free Zone” na inaprobahan ng 16^th Congress noong Agosto 24, 2015 at naisumite sa Senado noong Agosto 27, 2015 subalit kabilang sa iba pang lalawigan na may ganitong panukalang batas ay hindi rin tuluyang naaprubahan bilang isang ganap na batas. Kaugnay nito, dalawang katulad na panukalang batas din ang isinumite nina Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Q. Velasco (House Bill No. 6336) at MATA Party List Rep. Tricia Q. Velasco – Catera (House Bill No. 6384) upang maaprubahan ng 17^th congress. Sa kasalukuyan, ay patuloy natin itong sinusuportahan sa pamamagitan ng signature campaign upang maging isang ganap na batas. 

5.4.Patuloy din nating sinusubaybayan at sinusuportahan ang mga kasong nai-file laban sa Marcopper/Placer Dome/Barrick Gold sa Municipal Trial Court, Regional Trial Court at sa Supreme Court upang mapanagot ang mga kompanya at makamit ang karampatang hustisya. 

Ngayong ika-23 anibersaryo at paggunita sa pagbulwak ng basurang-mina at sa ating pakikiisa sa World Water Day at Philippine Water Week ay nais po naming bigyan diin ang mga sumusunod na panawagan sa kasalukuyan at sa mga susunod na magiging pinuno ng ating lokal at nasyunal na pamahalaan:

1.      Tuluyan ng maideklara ang buong lalawigan ng Marinduque na mining-free zone;

2.     Agarang maisampa ang kaso ng Pamahalaang Panlalawigan laban sa Placer Dome/Barrick Gold sa bansang Canada;

3.     Magsagawa ng malawakang pagsusuri sa kalusugan at kapaligiran sa mga apektadong pamayanan sa lalawigan;

4.  Maglagay ng mga footbridges at mga babala sa mga ilog at dagat na kontaminado ng nakalalasong kemikal upang maiwasan ang malawakang pagkakasakit ng mga residente sa Boac, Mogpog at Sta. Cruz. 

5.      Isagawa ang rehabilitation ng ilog ng Boac at ilog ng Mogpog gayundin ang Calancan Bay upang unti-unting maisaayos at muling mapakinabangan ng mga mamamayan.   

 Bilang patunay sa aming mga paninindigan at panawagan, kami ay nagkaisa na ilakip ang attendance sa ika-23 anibersaryo at paggunita sa pagbulwak ng basurang-mina sa ilog ng Boac na isinagawa ngayong ika-24 ng Marso 2019 sa Boac Covered Court, Boac, Marinduque

Amazing story! 13 y.o. Marinduqueña fought as a Boy Guerilla in WW2

Kilala natin si Gen. Gregorio del Pilar na binansagang 'Boy-General'. Pero alam ba ninyo na nuong WW2 naman ay may isang 13-taong Marindukenya na nagpanggap bilang lalaki, sumama sa mga gerilya sa loob ng tatlong taon at nakapatay pa ng limang Hapones?

The London Edition of Stars and Stripes, August 13, 1945 where the news item titled 'Army 'Discharges' Girl Who Fought As a Boy Guerilla' appeared.

Girl who fought as a Boy Guerilla!

Ipinanganak siya sa Marinduque, ang ama niya ay isang Amerikano, ang ina ay Filipina.

Ang kanyang nabalong ina ay isa sa mga binihag ng mga Hapon at ikinulong sa UST Interment Camp nang pumutok ang digmaan.

Nagdamit-lalaki ang 13-taong gulang na babae at sumama sa guerilla medical unit sa ilalim ng US 32nd Infantry Division. Kasama siya sa labanan sa Northern Luzon at nakapatay pa ng limang Hapones.

Siya si Virginia Weems. Binigyan siya ni Maj. Gen. William H. Gill, pinuno ng 32nd division ng honorable discharge noong August 12, 1945.

Nang araw na iyon ay nakasuot pa rin siya ng khaki uniform dahil hindi siya nakakuha ng kanyang damit sa isang kumbento sa Cagayan Valley kung saan nag-aaral siya noon para maging isang concert pianist.

Naibalita ang tungkol sa kanyang karanasan sa London Stars and Stripes, August 13, 1945.

Ang English text ng artikulo tungkol kay Weems ay unang nabasa ng blogger sa UlongBeach.

Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo Tomas was utilized for the camp, which housed more than 3,000 internees from January 1942 until February 1945. (Wikipedia)

(Above) Copy of the actual news item about Virginia Weeds, born in Marinduque, from ApolloHosting

From London Stars & Stripes August 13, 1945:

Army 'Discharges' Girl Who Fought as a Boy Guerilla 

MANILA; Aug. 12 Maj. Gen. William H. Gill, commanding the 32nd Infantry Division, gave an honorable discharge yesterday to 13-year-old Virginia Weems, who posed as a boy and served three years with Filipino guerrillas. 

Virginia, whose father was an American, and mother a Filipino, was born on Marinduque Island, near Mindoro. 

Her widowed mother was interned at Santo Tomas by the Japanese when the war broke out. Virginia donned boy's clothes and joined a guerrilla medical unit attached to the 32nd division. 

Virginia served through fighting in Northern Luzon and was credited with killing five Japs. 

She still wears a khaki uniform because she has been unable to get a dress at the convent in Cayagayen Valley, where she is studying to be a concert pianist.

23 years after, mine tailings still a threat to Marinduque, says official

From ABS-CBN News:

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MANILA - Many residents of Marinduque province still live in fear, almost 23 years after the area was hit by one of the largest mining disasters in the country.

These fears were awakened by the supposedly worsening condition of the Maguilaguila dam, which was recently inspected by the staff of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), according to Lord Allan Velasco, the lone district representative of Marinduque.

"Napansin namin na parang yung spillway tumataas na yung siltation niya. In other words, matatakpan na yung butas na paglalabasan ng tubig," he said in an interview on DZMM Friday.

(We observed an in increase in the spillway's siltation.) 

Velasco said if the spillway gets blocked, water from the dam will find other exits.

"Baka talagang masira na ang integrity ng dam kaya medyo nakakakaba," he said.

(We fear that this could weaken the dam foundation). 

After last year's inspection, he said the mining company has barred the entry of MGB. He also lamented that the firm has yet to make any move to fix the dam. 

The lawmaker said he wrote to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to find ways on how to a similar disaster.

"Ang suggestion nila ay magtatayo ng gabion dam. A gabion dam is a dam they'll put doon sa downstream ng river para in case pumutok yung dam, it will filter out at masalo yung siltation. Kaya lang hanggang ngayon hinihintay pa rin natin yung pagpapagawa nila ng gabion dam doon," said Velasco.

(They suggested the construction of gabion dam, which will filter water and prevent siltation. But we have yet to see a gabion dam get constructed.)

How the mouth of Boac River looked after the mine spill.

The disaster on March 24, 1996 saw million tons of mine tailings spilling into rivers, killing marine life and livelihood.

Velasco said the provincial government filed a $100-million class suit against Marcopper's parent company, Canadian firm Placer Dome--later bought by Barrick Gold, also a Canadian firm--for the disaster.

He said Barrick Gold offered Marinduque a $20-million settlement to drop the case and admit that Marcopper and Placer Dome were not liable for the disaster.

However, the class suit filed in Las Vegas, Nevada was dismissed.

Contemporary artist Raymond Kawataki Go of Marinduque in upcoming show "ALAMAT" at Megamall

Contemporary Filipino artist, RAYMOND KAWATAKI GO of Boac, Marinduque will open his upcoming show "ALAMAT"  March 30, Saturday, 6PM at Galerie Anna, located at 4F Megamall Bldg. A.

In today's (3/25/19), Manila Bulletin Lifestyle page some of his works described as "thoughtful, highly informative and visually engaging works" are featured in "Alamat: Bridge to the Past".

Excerpts:

"Every year during the Lenten season, the island of Marinduque hosts the highly anticipated Moriones Festival, featuring folks dressed as biblical Roman soldiers. For Raymond Kawataki Go, the festival is more than a beloved local tradition. It planted a seed in his psyche that will grow into a deep understanding of the wisdom offered by the past. “I was influenced by the figures of the Moriones sculpted masks,” Go said, recalling that he has moved by “the greedy faces that show anger and power of the Roman soldiers.”

It was during this time that Go was also drawn toward painting.  He attributed his decision to take up the brush when he was merely an elementary student, to a fascination for the arts largely spurred by his surroundings. “My deep love for art history started when we inherited paintings from my great grandfather who was a collector of paintings of old masters,” he says. “It greatly influenced me to read, research more, and study art history”...

"... There is an undeniable sense of urgency emanating from the creations of Go. This is caused by his desire to reveal existing social life to his countrymen, to incite, if not action, at the very least, sympathy. “Good governance, equality, and justice for all are the key to empower the Philippine people,” he says. “As an artist I believe I can help remind people about our history, because my paintings speak for themselves.” Indeed, the works of Go are not merely a landscape or a portrait. They are teeming with meticulously researched symbols, each element holding significant meaning. “Every place has a message that touches the inner core of human consciousness and, with hope, it will remain in the hearts and minds of the Filipino people,” Go says..."

From Galeria Anna:

"... Starting from the Spanish conquista, through American colonization, down to contemporary times, Kawataki Go rails against the abusive use of power and the arrogance of leaders, of whatever race, color, or creed, thus breeding corruption, inequality, and spiraling poverty.

"Regarding his art as a sharp weapon of expression, Kawataki Go wields it deftly through the visual aplomb of Pop and Surreal images, for the determined purpose of eviscerating past and present leaders. A native of Marinduque, the artist admits to the influence of his hometown’s famous Lenten festival, the Moriones, where masks are worn to symbolize the Roman centurions in pursuit of Longinus, who pierced the side of the Christ with a lance." - Cid Reyes

 

Also read:

Raymond Kawataki Go: Brazen and Bellowing Artworks

Sara Duterte says Marinduque rep Velasco will be next House Speaker

 From ABS-CBN News 

MANILA - Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio on Wednesday named Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives, a day after she said Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez will get the post.

“Kani siya... ako ipailaila ninyo ang (This one...I will introduce to you the) next Speaker of the House, Marinduque Rep. Lord Velasco," Duterte-Carpio said at a campaign rally in Tagbilaran City.

She had called Velasco her bet for the speakership in November.

But just this Tuesday in Tacloban City, the mayor, who leads the administration-backed regional political party Hugpong ng Pagbabago, named Romualdez, nephew of former first lady Imelda Marcos, as the next House Speaker.

Aside from Velasco and Romualdez, Duterte-Carpio and her father President Rodrigo Duterte are also allied with former foreign affairs chief Alan Peter Cayetano, who has also announced his speakership bid.

Mayor Inday Sara and Cong Lord Allan in a campaign sortie

The President's daughter said everyone she has endorsed is fit for the position but Velasco has an advantage because he is a member of ruling party PDP-Laban.

Duterte added that “the best time to talk about [the] speakership is after the election.”

PDP-Laban earlier said it was eyeing 8 possible individuals as its nominees for the next Speaker.

Duterte-Carpio was instrumental in the unceremonious ouster as Speaker of Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, who was replaced by Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

WWII relic sa Boac: Marston Mat/Marsden matting

Marston Mat na napakinabangan bilang permanenteng bakod sa isang paaralan, Don Luis Hidalgo Memorial School.
Larawan: Eli J. Obligacion

Kung ikaw ay naging mag-aaral o naging guro sa Don Luis Hidalgo Memorial School o sa Marinduque National High School na karatig nito, tiyak na nadaanan mo na ang bakod na ito. Ito ay mga labi ng panahon ng World War II sa Marinduque.

Ang Marston Mat (may maling tumatawag din dito bilang Marsden matting), ay mga butas-butas na mga malalapad na bakal na ginamit noong panahon ng digmaan para sa mabilis na pagtatayo ng mga pansamantalang runway o landing strips. Marston ang tawag dahil unang ginamit ang mga ito sa Marston, North California na katabing airfield ng Camp Mackall.

Ehemplo ng kung paano ginagamit noon ang Marston Mat (hindi ito kuha sa Marinduque). Larawan mula sa Wikipedia

Humigit-kumulang 2 milyong tonelada pala ang nagawang Marston Mat ng mga panahong iyon (1940s). Nang matapos ang digmaan malaking bahagi ng mga ito ang nanatili sa bansa bilang mga labi ng digmaan. Iniwan ng mga US Forces sa ibat-ibang panig ng Pilipinas kung saan sila naging aktibo noong digmaan.

Ginamit naman sa iba’t-ibang pamamaraan ang mga ito para mapakinabangan tulad ng road and bridge construction. Dahil ang mga ito ay gawa sa bakal na may mataas na manganese content, hindi ito basta-basta kinakalawang o nasisira.

Hanggang sa kasalukuyan sa ating bansa kasama na ang Marinduque, ang mga natitira pang matting ay nananatiling ginagamit bilang permanente nang mga bakod.

Sa susunod na masulyapan mo ang mga bakod na ito, alam mo na ang bahagi ng kanilang kasaysayan.
Larawan ni Eli J. Obligacion

Marinduque could soon be declared a mining-free zone

Mine-site Marcopper (Sta. Cruz, Marinduque). Photo: arkimx

The House Committee on Natural Resources has endorsed for plenary approval a bill declaring the province of Marinduque a mining-free zone.

Under Committee Report 1188, the panel, chaired by Cebu Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa endorsed the passage of House Bill 9019, a consolidation of two measures. The bill was principally authored by Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco and his sister, MATA partylist Rep. Tricia Velasco-Catera. 

“The Marcopper Mining Disaster has caused irreparable damage to the people and the province. The effects of the incident were so devastating that a United Nations assessment mission declared it to be a major environmental disaster,” Velasco, chairman of the House Committee on Energy, said.

He asked his colleagues to immediately pass the bill “in order to protect and preserve the natural environment of Marinduque.”

Raising anew public concerns over the integrity of the decades-old mining facility. Partylist Representative Tricia Velasco-Catera

For her part, Velasco-Catera said that justice remained elusive for the victims of the 1996 Marcopper mining disaster, when 1.6 million cubic meters of tailings were released along Makulapnit-Boac river system.

“Not a single centavo had been paid as compensation for what was tagged as the country’s worst mining disaster. Negotiations are still ongoing at present with Barrick Gold on the compensation of damages to the province and its people, but an acceptable deal for the victims still does not appear on the immediate horizon,” she said. 

In 2005, the provincial government filed a $100-million class suit against Marcopper and the parent company Barrick Gold Corp. but the Nevada State District Court threw out the case a decade later.

Velasco-Catera expressed concern that in early 2017, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) detected leaks in one of the abandoned dams of Marcopper Mining Corp., raising anew public concerns over the integrity of the decades-old mining facility.

“The constitutional right of the victims of the Marcopper mining disaster had been and is continuously being violated. It will be a rubbing salt in the wound if mining would be allowed to flourish once more in the province even before proper redress had been provided, ” she said.

House Bill 9019 seeks to prohibit all forms of mining operations and activity, whether large scale or small scale, in Marinduque. The proposed law covers all mining operations and activities, including quarrying, within the territorial jurisdiction of the province of Marinduque.

  

Violators will be penalized with six to 12 years of imprisonment and a fine ranging from P1 million to P10 million.

The bill tasks the Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) , in consultation with the provincial and municipal governments to promulgate the implementing rules and regulations of the proposed Act.

Source: Manila Bulletin/Charissa Luci-Atienza

Also read:

Whatever happened to the serious threats of subsidence at Maguila-guila Dam reservoir and the water leakages at Upper Makulapnit tunnel?

'Marinduque' origin and Tagalog Marinduque

About Tagalog Marinduque:

"Such provincial forms of speech have been originally the roots, or among the roots, from which modern national forms have sprung, and that in them may, therefore, be found remnants of the more archaic speech of our forefathers, remnants long forgotten by our modern parlance but nevertheless of great interest to the linguist" - Cecilio Lopez (Father of Philippine Linguistics)

Rainbow over Mt. Malindig

The origin of the name, "Marinduque", has been the subject of discussions and thought-provoking conjectures.

Fr. Miguel Bernad in a brief account commented on the origin of the names of a number of places in the Philippines, among which was Marinduque. He said that "Malinduk (or Malindik) is now Marinduque." Explaining that there are provinces, towns and villages whose modern names have been the result of some inability on the part of the Spaniards (or of others), to pronounce the original native name.

F. Arsenio Manuel (of the former National Historical Institute), who conducted a study of place-names, made an interesting one on the origin of 'Marinduque'. He said that 'Marinduque' could not have originated from Malinduk or Malindik but rather from "MALINDUG". 

This he said, has historical implication, for the word "malindig" which means "tall and elegant stature" in Tagalog has similar if not parallel meaning to the Visayan term "malindug". These were two cognate terms, Manuel wrote in the study, which fittingly describe the island's volcano, Mt. Malindig.

As for the probability that the Visayan term used as basis for naming the mountain and not the Tagalog word, accounts of early Visayan migration to the island would appear to support this view. The Dasmarinas listing of encomiendas in 1751 already spelled Marinduque in this manner, said he. 

Manuel explained further that the phonetic hispanization of Malindug followed the Spanish phonetic system. Spanish does not tolerate the voiced velar stop "g" in its phonology. In Morga's Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas and other Spanish chronicles for example, the term for 'loincloth' is spelled 'bahaque'. This spelling and its Spanish pronunciation follows Spanish phonetic laws - 'bahag' becoming 'bahaque'.

This change according to Manuel also appears to have happened to "Palanyag" which became "Paranaque", with additional change taking place, the "l" becoming "r", again following Spanish phonetic tendencies. This "l" - "r" 'spin shift' is, of course, also evident in 'Marinduque'.

Hence, the legend of Marinduque as having resulted from the romance of "Marin" and "Duque", the ill-starred lovers of a popular local myth "cannot have any value in historical writing nor folklore studies", stated Manuel. This, he opined, was just another instance of 'folk-etymologising'.

Recent Teatro Balangaw dance-drama directed by this blogger. Photo by Toby Jamilla

In 2002, as a volunteer cultural worker I decided to call the theater group I formed in Buenavista, "Teatro Malindug", for that picturesque town lies at the foot of the subject volcano. I spent sometime, of course, explaining to the cast (students from the Marinduque Victorian's College), that we owe it to our ancestors to preserve that forgotten name.

The MALINDUG name wasn't new to me, though. I first encountered the same explanation from a research paper given to me by the late Ding Jardiniano of Boac back in 1993, in connection with a play I was writing entitled "Saan Nanggaling ang Moryon", which we presented as "Moryonan" Isang Baliktanaw." 

The said research paper (there was a dearth of such materials at that time so we valued anything about Marinduque), was authored by another person (Jardiniano told me then that he knew the guy personally), not Manuel. 

However, in 1997, I happened to attend the Conference on Local History sponsored by the National Historical Institute (NHI) held in Makiling, where Manuel, who was present, freely distributed copies of his work entitled: "Marinduque: A Study of Place Names" - an identical copy of the same document I encountered back in 1993. And so I took note to change the name of my source promptly to that of Mr. Manuel. 

(I was aware at that time that the previous author, also from NHI, earlier figured in the loss of the famous Bonifacio trial papers and sale of other historical documents and was promptly jailed. For that reason I decided that he must have been the one who copied Manuel's paper and claimed the work as his. I am also aware that even on this small island-province, this kind of deplorable practice also happens. Anyway, in 2004 Manuel was declared as National Artist for Literature).

Then, in 2000, former Balangaw member (and kindred spirit), Patrick Henry R. Manguera, who decided to take up a Master's Degree in History at the University of the Philippines, after some discussions on our local history, sent me a mimeographed copy of a 1923 (repeat 1923), article on Boak Tagalog, written by CECILIO LOPEZ, of the University of the Philippines. It gave me a surprise, almost startled by its implications. The said article was reprinted in 1970 by the University of the Philippines also in mimeographed form for distribution.

Excerpts from the Lopez paper:
"A few words may here be said regarding the derivation of the name Marinduque, a word around which the same kind of regrettable, because superficial and erroneous etymologyzing and inventive story-telling has sprung up which is indulged in, nowadays, by only too many of my countrymen who seem to have allowed themselves to be guided away from that historical sincerity which true patriotism should dictate to them.

"The name in question has nothing to do with a Mary, and a Spanish duke ('duque'), but can be shown to be derived from the name of a high and particularly steep mountain on the island, called Malindig.

"In old chronicles the name of the island occurs in such varying forms as Malinduc, Marinducq, Marinduc, Malindic, and Malindig, forms quite evidently to be analyzed into the well-known 'adjectival' prefix 'ma-' denoting chiefly existence, and a radical word, or stem, occuring in Tagalog as 'lindig', in Bikol as 'lindog' or 'lindug', the second vowel of both forms (i.e. Tag. 'i', Bik. 'o' or 'u'), going back, in accordance with the so-called 'pepet law', to the indistinct vowel 'e'. 

"The change of the first sound of the stem, 'l', to 'r' is likewise in consonance with a common Indonesian phonetic law, while the conversion of final 'g' into the Spanish ending 'que' finds an exact parallel in the case of the town Paranaque on Manila Bay, which in Tagalog is called Palanyag. Note, in this connection, also the fluctuation of the last sound of the name Boac which is given by Buzeta y Bravo (Diccionario geografico de las Islas Filipinas) as 'Boac o Boag'.

"The stem 'lindig occurs, according to Noceda y Sanlucar, in the new obsolete Tagalog word 'maglindig', meaning 'rising up straight so as not to be covered by the water', while for the Bikol form 'lindog' Marcos de Lisboa states quite clearly that it means 'monte muy alto y derecho', both forms embodying thus the idea of English 'steep, towering'."

After further research, I came to know that Cecilio Lopez was known as the 'Father of Philippine Linguistics', and his works have not been squarely contested by anyone. I like and admire Lopez. Why? Listen to his expert remarks made after a very thorough study of Boak Tagalog (that's really Marinduque Tagalog, not Tayabas Tagalog or any other):

"When listening to a conversation between people belonging to the speech-group here in question, a native from the country around Manila is likely to receive the impression that Boak Tagalog is simpler, more imperfect form of his own more highly developed speech, an impression comparable to that experienced under similar circumstances by an Englishman, German, or Frenchman, when listening to one of the different dialects spoken in his country. 

"We should not forget, however, that altho they have followed a different development, such provincial forms of speech have been originally the roots, or among the roots, from which modern national forms have sprung, and that in them may, therefore, be found remnants of the more archaic speech of our forefathers, remnants long forgotten by our modern parlance but nevertheless of great interest to the linguist".

Wala na si Lopez pero mahalaga hindi lamang sa mga mag-aaral ng wika, kundi higit para sa mga taga-Marinduque ang kanyang naisulat. Higit sa lahat. 

Galaw-galaw mo, ang Boak Tagalog (na masasabing 'Marinduque Tagalog' o Tagalog-Marinduque at hindi ano pa mang termino na iniimbento sa kasalukuyan, na sadyang nagaganap sa isang pamantasan pa mandin - maituturing tuloy na academic dishonesty dahil walang historical, research, nor any legal basis, o ano mang paliwanag at pinapalulon na lamang ng mga tagaturo sa mga nagtitiwalang mga mag-aaral at madla), ang pinag-ugatan, o isa sa pinag-ugatan ng Tagalog at inasalita pa rin natin ngay-on, at doon pa ngani mismo maririnig ang mga sinaunang pananalita ng 'ating' ('ating' bilang Filipino, dahil ni hindi taga Marinduque si Lopez, ha?), mga ninuno! 

Isipa raw maigi!