Last Monday morning, Governor Patrick Alain T. Azanza reiterated his administration’s strong stand against mining in the province of Catanduanes during the commemorative program for its 81sth founding anniversary.
He said mining will not only destroy the environment but also the livelihood of its people, reminding everyone that all Catandunganons exist as stewards of the God-given natural resources.
The chief executive lauded the municipal mayors and the people for their support in the government’s drive towards progress.
A similar message was left by the guest of honor, South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., who encouraged the people of Catanduanes to continue nurturing their unity, emphasizing that solidarity among citizens is essential to overcoming challenges and achieving their aspirations for progress and development.
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Tamayo happens to be president of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas (PFP), the political party that Ferdinand Marcos Jr. used for his 2022 presidential run and the same group to which Azanza and Congressman Eulogio Rodriguez belong.
Both Azanza and his guest ascended to their posts by defeating entrenched politicians: then three-termer Mayor Tamayo beating five-time Governor Daisy Avance-Fuentes in 2019 and Azanza slipping past the Cua family’s brightest political star in 2025.
Their similarity ends there, as Tamayo’s father was a former congressman while the governor’s dad’s connection with politics was when he was invited here by then Cong. Jose U. Alberto to be president of the former Catanduanes State Colleges.
In his message last Monday morning, Gov. Tamayo could not help but mention the greenery that abounds on this island, praising its residents for helping nurture its environment.
Both South Cotabato and Catanduanes have won the coveted Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) multiple times, with the former perhaps having won more trophies.
Again, the similarity ends there, for South Cotabato is a lot bigger than Catanduanes in terms of area and people: Tamayo’s province has a population of a million people, or about four times than that of our island, and it has 266 barangays, 15 tertiary educational institutions, and 24 hospitals of which seven are tertiary level.
As the most competitive province in Region XII, it has earned accolades for transparency and good governance under Tamayo’s stint, particularly its flagship programs on free education, free hospitalization and agricultural modernization through rice mechanization.
This early, a political analyst has described the PFP president as a possible “dark horse” contender in the 2028 presidential race, citing his popularity, humility and empathy.
His Reinforced Services Taskforce (RST) initiative, the analyst said, promoted community collaboration without political theatrics.
Catanduanes environmentalists would have been grateful if Gov. Tamayo at least went further from his motherhood nature praise and expressed vocal support for the anti-mining stance of the Azanza administration.
But it would have been too much to expect him to do so, as South Cotabato has at least two major mining companies involved in large-scale copper-gold and coal extraction projects within the province.
Sagittarius Mines, Inc, is developing the Tampakan Copper-Gold project, with an estimated 2.94 billion tons of ore grading 0.6% copper and 18 million ounces of gold valued at a total of US$200 million.
The project is reportedly backed by the written consent of leaders of the Blaan tribe and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) although communities in the affected area are opposing the mine’s development.
The other mining entity is Daguma Agro Minerals Inc. (DAMI), which is engaged in coal mining under Coal Operating Contract No. 126 in its project site in Lake Sebu, with the area holding an estimated 95 million metric tons of coal reserves across 2,000 hectares of forestland.
Despite environmental and community concerns, DAMI has expanded operations to increase its output from 3 million to 5 million metric tons annually.
Compared to this giant mining company’s output, the Small-Scale Coal Mining Permit granted by the Department of Energy (DOE) to Adelbert Almario allows him to extract in the next two years only 9,000 metric tons of coal or just three-tenths of one percent of DAMI’s initial output.
True, the Obi coal mining may only amount to just three-tenths of one percent of the output of South Cotabato’s coal mine but as they say, small mistakes tend to lead to large ones.
Let us be one with the Virac Diocese’s firm opposition to any mining activity and, in doing so, heed Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu’s advice: “Solve the small problem before it becomes big.”