SPECIAL REPORT: Nickel mining threatens Mati’s protected areas (2)
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Jobs, billions of pesos at stake
MACAMBOL, CITY OF MATI, Davao Oriental (MindaNews / 30 November) — Responding to the calls of the government, Hallmark Mining Corporation (HMC) said in a statement that at least 1,800 mine workers and 3,000 more in related industries may lose their jobs.
HMC also stressed in the statement that it remains to be the government’s partner for development, having contributed millions of pesos in taxes and fees that go back to the community through social management and development programs and corporate social responsibility projects.
HMC said in its website the Pujada Nickel project is seen to boost the contribution of the mining sector to the economy of Davao Oriental with a capital investment of ₱540 billion.
In a post on its Facebook page on November 18, HMC clarified that its “operations are NOT inside Mt. Hamiguitan.”
“On the contrary, our presence helps protect the buffer zone. In partnership with DENR, MGB, and the Multisectoral Monitoring Team (MMT), HMC actively assists in preventing illegal logging, wildlife poaching, charcoal-making, and other unauthorized activities around the mountain,” the mining firm said.
On the same Facebook post, HMC said it is collaborating with the DENR’s Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB), particularly its Agroforestry Research, Development, and Extension Center (ARDEC), to help them guide in “long-term ecological rehabilitation strategies.”
(MindaNews reached out to Hallmark Mining Company through the email address posted on their website on August 12, 14 and 18 but the latter did not respond to the request for an interview. This reporter reached out to their Facebook page on October 28, after news of the destruction in the forest broke out in the media, but did not get a reply.)
DENR Administrative Order No. 2010-21, or the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 7942 (Philippine Mining Act of 1995), requires mining contractors and permit holders to allocate at least 1.5 percent of operating expenses to their host communities through the Social Management and Development Program (SDMP).
Part of the company’s SDMP is the provision of educational assistance to the community, and provision of farming tools to farmers associations.
Recently, in the mining company’s post on Facebook, it signed a ₱500,000 memorandum of agreement with Magum Elementary School for the construction of a teachers’ cottage.
Yearly, Hallmark distributes school supplies to their beneficiary students under Macambol Elementary School and Macambol National High School, Wagon Elementary School, Catmonan Elementary School, Magum Elementary School and Cabuaya Integrated School.
HMC also provides grafted cacao tree seedlings to farmers in host communities as part of their SDMP.
Benefits do not outweigh the risks
Mariza Gonzales, 47, a resident of Macambol, told MindaNews that while her 19-year-old child is a scholar of the mining company, the benefits she and the community get do not outweigh the destruction.
One of her children, a second year information technology student at Davao del Norte State University (DORSU), receives cash aid of ₱5,000 per semester since she started college.
Raising two children alone, Mariza depends on her kakanin and viand business that she cooks by order.
“The scholarship somehow helps us in terms of her fare to school and pocket money since the amount is just enough to cover some expenses,” she said.
Since it is costly to go home from school and vice versa daily, her child is now staying in a boarding house closer to school, paying ₱1,200 a month. Their home in Macambol is about 45 kilometers away from DORSU, and one-way fare on a tricycle costs ₱150.
But hearing the calls of the provincial government, Mariza said tourism is better than mining. “Tourism for me is more sustainable rather than mining that destroys the environment,” she said.
Sister Remedios Mapinugos said that while there is a Community Royalty Development Plan (CRDP) in place, there are issues in its implementation.
Section 61 of the 2012 Revised Free Prior and Informed Consent Guidelines of the NCIP prescribes that indigenous cultural communities / indigenous peoples (ICCs/IPs) receiving royalties must formulate a CRDP for the management and use of royalties.
Mining companies are required a minimum royalty payment of no less than 1% of the gross output under the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
Remedios said that they were called for a series of conferences in 2024, until a five-year CRDP was formulated late in 2024.
If realized, the IP community will have their own health facility, home for the aged, IP village and a school bus that will supposedly cater to all IPs and even non-IPs in the whole community.
But while it is in place, Sister Remedios said the IPs hold no safeguards as to the possibility of under-declaration of gross output to avoid payments. “We can never know the exact amount of the loaded nickel ore, so we only depend on the report they submit,” she pointed out.
“They are the ones who are making a profit, while the IPs are left to deal with the landslides,” she added.
In the gross output report for the shipment of nickeliferous ore obtained by MindaNews from MGB, HMC in 2022 was able to complete one shipment of 55,600 wet metric tons valued at ₱92.3 million. The amount rose to ₱1.12 billion in 2023, and ₱2.2 billion 2024.
As of June 2025, HMC was able to complete 17 shipments with a volume of 943,539 wet metric tons, with a value of ₱1.5 billion, more than half the amount in 2024.
MGB noted that the shipments from 2022 to present are still partial and are subject to final reconciliation, so as to determine the final gross value for all the completed shipments.
Better off without mining
While the Pujada Nickel Project is seen to contribute to the economy of the province with a capital investment of ₱540 billion, Gov. Nelson Dayanghirang said the province is better off without mining.
One reason the government has a strong stance to shut down the mining operations is to construct a road network to enhance connectivity and develop tourism.
“We do not depend on mining. Davao Oriental is already a tourist destination. If the mining continues, it will just affect the environment and eventually tourism,” he stressed.
The MACALULA Road network is expected to link the coastal barangays of Macambol, Cabuaya, Luban, and Lanca, all within the City of Mati.
The road was started by former Governor Maria Elena Palma Gil in 2006 and continued by Dayanghirang in 2016, and now that he is back as governor, he wishes to continue the project.
While there is an existing provincial road going to these areas, the provincial government is planning to construct a 30-kilometer coastal road.
“I feel sorry for the residents from Lanca, Luban and Cabuaya,” Dayanghirang said. He noted that while the three barangays are part of Mati, they have to go through the municipalities of Governor Generoso and San Isidro to be able to go to the city center, a much a longer route.
Once the planned coastal road opens, Dayanghirang said there is potential for tourism as the white sand beaches in these coastal barangays will attract the visiting public.
Mining is destructive in nature
Lawyer Mark Peñalver, executive director of the Davao City-based environmental advocate Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS), told MindaNews that by its nature alone, mining is already destructive, and “no activity that degrades ecosystems in the name of economic growth can truthfully be called responsible.”
“The Philippines, already one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, is pushed into an even more precarious and disadvantaged position by these environmentally destructive activities,” Peñalver stressed.
He stressed that the role of the local government units becomes more crucial being the frontliners of governance.
“LGUs must exercise their authority to safeguard their communities, enforce environmental protection measures, and reject activities that threaten ecological balance,” he said. “And when nature strikes, it becomes painfully clear: no one is spared.”
Antonio, whose family’s survival depends on the ocean, said that while the mining operation persists, he could only watch with growing uncertainty.
He is wishing that in the meantime that mining is still there, and that while the waters still breathe life, there will be less of the destructive rains that will wreak havoc on his fishing grounds.
But if he could do it his way, he’d rather that the mining operations in Macambol would stop.
“Kung ma-undang nang mining, ma ok na among panginabuhian, di na maapektohan ang dagat. Ang dagat ra ma’y among gisaligan (If mining would stop, our livelihood would be okay because the sea won’t be affected anymore. We rely solely on the sea),” he said. (Nova Mae Francas for MindaNews)
This story is published with the support of Canal France International under the Media for One Health program.
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