She is an expert in planting, nurturing and saving trees. Now, Forester Gemma
Tolentino, along with 25 other employees from different departments of TVI
Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD), can also save people’s
lives. For one week, a three-member team from the Philippine National Red
Cross taught the employees how to respond and administer first aid to victims
of disasters and calamities if these happen at the company’s copper-zinc
mining facility and host community in Sitio Canatuan, a remote mountain village
in Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte.

The team from Red Cross, headed by its Dipolog City administrator Paul Gain
de Barras, conducted the 5-day training on First Aid and Disaster Management
for TVIRD Canatuan mine supervisors and selected employees following a request
made by Arturo Abad, Jr., the company’s Safety Manager.

“I can use everything I learned during the training
not only in my job but also at home as a mother,” said Tolentino.

Rob Darryl Acaylar, sampler of the Metallurgical Laboratory Department said
adherence to workplace safety is shared by management and workers at TVIRD’s
Canatuan Operations, adding it is important that employees are equipped with
the proper knowledge and skills on handling victims in times of accidents,
or even disasters and calamities like earthquakes, typhoons, and fires. “Knowing
these skills can spell the difference between life and death during emergency
situations,” he stressed.

De Barras encouraged the participants to practice and enhance what they learned
at the training sessions in their work areas, even as he reminded them to
put great emphasis on safety while they’re at work. He proceeded to
say that TVIRD should never hesitate for a moment in calling the Red Cross
if a calamity or disaster occurs in Canatuan and its surrounding communities.
He also commended the company for its environmental protection initiatives,
which he said could be seen, among others, in TVIRD’s properly benched
mine pit and tailings impoundment dam.

“When we talk about mining, there will inevitably be disturbance in
the environment,” noted de Barras. However, TVIRD did a great job in
minimizing environmental impact by implementing mitigating measures against
soil erosion and by re-greening the mountains of Canatuan through the company’s
reforestation program.”

He also praised TVIRD’s livelihood projects for the Subanon indigenous
people in its host community and other communities affected by its mining
operations: “Since mining is not a long-term source of income for the
locals, utilizing their skills to create jobs out of local resources is a
one of the company’s best contributions in improving the economic condition
of the people here,” De Barras said.

During the training, participants learned how to apply first aid on different
kinds of illness and accidents and the proper way to rescue, react and respond
in times of disaster.

“We will conduct training sessions of this kind in the succeeding months
for other TVIRD employees as one way of ensuring safety in our work place,”
Abad said. He added that he will organize an Emergency Response Team which
will be ready at all times to respond to emergencies.

De Barras was accompanied by Red Cross Zamboanga del Norte Administrator Samuel
Legados and First Aider James Bahian. (Raymond Acopiado)