By ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
www.nordis.net

At last, the Mount Pulag article I and my friend Harley Palangchao wrote was published by the well known media institution – the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ). The article was an output of training on investigative reporting sponsored by the said institution. For the whole article and the accompanying pictures, you can visit www.pcij.org.

The article exposed in detail how the three mining corporations were given the go signal by the national office of the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) to process their mine explorations at the foot of Mount Pulag, despite the area being protected area. In this case, not even state law or laws to protect protected areas are observed. It is interesting to know these conflicting policies of the state, the policies being invoked by the MGB, in this case, which was an eye opener for us. Read the rest of this entry →

By ARTHUR BOQUIREN
www.nordis.net

Baguio Midland Courier, a newsweekly based in Baguio City, through its writer Mike Guimbatan, reported that Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company has been allegedly dumping cancer-causing wastes in Sitio Sapid, Mankayan, Benguet. As a way of rejoinder to the report, let me reproduce almost verbatim what I wrote for Haribon Foundation sometime 2006 based on latest available data during that time. I am thankful to Ms. Annabelle Plantilla, Haribon Executive Director, for allowing me to use the Haribon material.

The following are lifted from pages 74-75 of Valuation of Benguet Biodiversity and Environmental Costs of Mining: Monetization, Intangibles, and Policy (see Haribon’s website at www.haribon.org.ph and http://www.geocities.com/haribonartboquirenreport/benguetmining2006.htm for details):

Let us review the cancer data of Benguet to see whether data is consistent with the view that large-scale mining can also elevate the rate of cancer in the mining areas or along the path of river systems contaminated by mine tailings. In particular, let us review latest available data on mortality due to cancer and see whether we can discover patterns as well as links with large-scale mining. Read the rest of this entry →

By ALDWIN G. QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

For every talent that poverty has stimulated it has blighted a hundred. — John Gardner

Good news for graduating students this year, they do not need their high grades or pleasing credentials nor years of experience to have a job. You also do not need to undergo those gruelling interviews with human resource officers of different companies.

All you need is a small knife, a small beltbag or big pockets can do and a lot of patience and endurance under the weather is a must for this job. Equally important is you know where the main roads, barangay roads and well travelled routes of Baguio. Read the rest of this entry →

By REV. LUNA L. DINGAYAN
www.nordis.net

“The Word of the Lord came to me…” — Jeremiah 1:4

First of three parts

We believe that the Word of God is not a book, but God giving us Himself. We believe that our faith is not in words, but in Christ. We believe that the Bible is the Word of God, because it bears witness to Christ; It tells how God has encountered men and women in their lives, and that through the Bible we can also encounter God in our own lives.

Christians don’t mean the same thing by the “Word of God” as Muslims do. For Mohammed the Word of God was a book and he was the prophet who brought the book. For Christians, however, the Word of God is, in the last instance, a person: Jesus, who was called the Christ. In Islam, the person points to the book. In Christianity, the book points to the person. Read the rest of this entry →