Roads to progress

10/30/2008



TVIRD’s infra support spurs socio-economic growth around Canatuan

A good corporate citizen with a strong sense of social responsibility.
These words sum up the description of TVI Resource Development Philippines,
Inc. (TVIRD) from three bus owners who – thanks to the company’s
regular maintenance of the roads to and from its mining facility in a remote
mountain village in Zamboanga del Norte – have been able to service thousands
of passengers along a route that for decades was simply impassable.

Cirilo Dumasapal, Sabino Gallo, Jr., and Dante Alga, owners
of the Dindo, SSG, and Alga bus lines, respectively, are one in saying that
the business of transporting people has improved tremendously and has continued
unhampered since TVIRD took it upon itself to maintain the east-west road from
R.T. Lim town in Zamboanga Sibugay to Canatuan, and from Canatuan to Siocon
town proper in Zamboanga del Norte – a total of 78 kilometers.

Bus
owners all. (Left to right) Dante Alga, Cirilo Dumasapal, and Sabino Gallo,
Jr.: “If we could help fast-track the operation of TVIRD’s
copper and zinc project, we are ready to help in any way we can.”

“The improved ability of people to move around several
provinces undoubtedly helped spur progress in this part of the country. If we
could help fast-track the operation of TVIRD’s copper and zinc project,
we are ready to help in any way we can,” Dumasapal says, referring to
the company’s Sulphide Project, the second stage of its operations in
the ancestral domain of the Subanon indigenous people. His buses, along with
those of Gallo and Alga, service passengers to and from the towns of Siocon,
Sirawai, Sibuco and Baliguian in Zamboanga del Norte to Zamboanga City on the
southern tip of Zamboanga Peninsula or to Dipolog City up north via the Siocon-Canatuan-R.T.
Lim route.

Top
to bottom, Dindo, Alga, and SSG bus lines now ply the R.T. Lim-Canatuan-Siocon
route. Before TVIRD operated in Canatuan, their buses traveled only along
the west coast of the Peninsula. The new route of is more comfortable
for passengers and advantageous to the transport business in the light
of the rising fuel and spare parts costs.

“From our passengers, we have learned that TVIRD is helping
the provincial governments of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga Sibugay in maintaining
the provincial roads we are currently using,” Gallo avers. These roads
cut through the villages of Tanuman, Kilometer 19, San Fernandino, Malubal,
and the R. T. Lim town center.

“We are eagerly awaiting the full operation of your copper
and zinc project because that would mean more passengers for us,” Alga
says.

Before TVIRD operated in Canatuan, their buses traveled only
along the west coast of the Peninsula, via the Siocon-Baliguian-Gutalac-Labason
route going to Dipolog City, or via the Siocon-Sirawai-Sibuco-Baliguian route
to Zamboanga City, using the long, rugged stretch of provincial road starting
at Barangay Texas in Sirawai town. Most of their passengers then were government
employees on their way to Dipolog City, Zamboanga del Norte’s provincial
capital, for official business, as well as farmers and fish dealers bringing
their goods to urban centers.

Dindo
Dumasapal (top photo) is gradually taking over the management of the bus
company named after him. A municipal councilor in Liloy town, Dindo’s
passenger bus business improved after TVIRD helped build four steel bridges
along previously impassable roads that it now also regularly maintains
(middle and bottom photos)

The R.T. Lim-Canatuan-Siocon route then was not an option,
owing to roads that looked like dried riverbeds littered with rocks and boulders
during summer, and a long and winding muddy cake during the rainy season. There
were also several rivers along the way that would rage during heavy downpours.

According to the bus owners, the smoother Siocon-Canatuan-R.T.
Lim route of today is more comfortable for their passengers and advantageous
to the transport business in the light of the rising fuel and bus spare parts
costs. This route now boasts of four steel bridges that TVIRD helped build in
partnership with the Philippine government shortly before the company began
producing gold and silver in Canatuan in mid-2004. Since then, the road has
been regularly maintained by TVIRD’s Civil Engineering Services (CES)
group.

Dumasapal has been in the passenger bus business for more than
30 years. Cirilo’s son Dindo is gradually taking over the management of
the business. Still in his mid 20s, Dindo is also an elected member of the Municipal
Council of Liloy, the hometown of the Dumasapals.

Gallo, on the other hand, owns 12 buses plying the entire stretch
of Zamboanga del Norte. He is also a councilor of Liloy.

Their business allows the Dumasapals, Gallo and Alga to visit
Siocon often. It was in one of those visits where they learned that TVIRD is
the town’s biggest taxpayer and employer.

“While Canatuan and Siocon residents benefit from the
company’s operations through job opportunities and social development
projects like scholarships and health programs, the local government also gets
its share through the taxes that TVIRD pays,” Gallo quips. “These
significant contributions make TVIRD a good corporate citizen. I agree with
the Subanon tribal leaders and the government of Siocon for supporting the company.
I am positive that its Sulphide Project will also succeed, like its Gold and
Silver project.”

The bus owners also commended the security personnel of the
company for always being courteous and professional. “Our passengers feel
safe whenever our buses enter the company’s premises because TVIRD’s
security men are polite and courteous,” Gallo adds. “Instead of
complaining, our passengers even welcome the inspection.”

TVIRD’s 508-hectare Mineral Production Sharing Agreement
(MPSA) area is located within the 8,213-hectare Certificate of Ancestral Domain
Title area of the Subanons. Vehicles entering the MPSA area are thoroughly inspected
as a security measure.

“Other companies should follow the example being shown
by your security personnel. Always alert and ready, but also friendly,”
Alga says. He adds that with TVIRD in Canatuan they are always assured of assistance
when their buses experience mechanical trouble on the way to Siocon or RT Lim.
“All we have to do is inform the security personnel in the boom that we
need help and, true enough, help does come.”

Ed Nercuit, CES manager, says his department has in many instances
already “rescued” not only buses, but truckers whose vehicles got
stuck in muddy and slippery portions of the R.T. Lim-Canatuan-Siocon route.
Rescues generally involve pulling the stuck vehicle with the aid of backhoes
or other heavy equipment. He says his department allocates maintenance funds
for the roads.

“Our service vehicles, dump trucks and heavy equipment
also use these roads,” he points out. “By keeping these roads passable,
we not only ensure the smooth flow of our business, but also help residents
who live in communities in and around our operations travel safely and, on account
of their improved mobility, grow economically and socially as well.” (Lullie
Micabalo)