At the Hudyaka ZaNorte Festival grounds in Dipolog City, an oversized water buffalo with a big happy farm boy astride it never fails to catch the attention of event organizers, participants, and visitors. The crowds’ curiosity is further stirred when they discover that the carabao effigy actually houses a two-storey booth showcasing Siocon’s natural richness, which sustains agriculture, tourism and industry in this remote town of Zamboanga del Norte.The booth is a joint project of the Siocon municipal government and TVI Resource Development Phils., Inc. (TVIRD), whose Canatuan venture has become Siocon’s major industry that is now spurring positive socio-economic change in and around the municipality, a post-conflict zone in Southern Philippines.
The company has helped build roads, supported education, promoted livelihood development, and generated an increasing amount of royalty for the Subanon indigenous people who hold the ancestral domain title in Canatuan. Philippine Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes and Canadian Ambassador Peter Sutherland have referred to TVIRD as a model of best practices in environmental management and protection, as well as responsible mining.
“Hudyaka” is Visayan for merriment. It is an annual celebration to commemorate the founding anniversary of Dipolog, drawing participants from all of Zamboanga del Norte’s 25 municipalities and two cities. Last May 29, the first day of the two-week event, thousands of merrymakers marched through the streets of the provincial capital in a colorful parade dubbed as a “showdown of festivals”. The parade culminated at the Hudyaka grounds adjacent the Zamboanga del Norte National High School, where government officials and private citizens had set up booths to showcase their hometown attractions.
And the booths show their builders mean serious business. One booth is shaped like a ship, while another a shark. There is one that appears to be a cave, and one a waterfall. A common theme is the nipa hut, the indigenous house in these islands. All the booths, each painstakingly built, display local produce. At stake: The Best Booth Award – and hometown pride.
The Siocon booth appears to be a winner. People are not only drawn to the uniqueness of its boy-and-beast theme, but are also impressed by the creativity that went into the booth’s design and construction. Onlookers are likewise amused that the carabao belly contains “gold bars” — mockups of the real ones produced by TVIRD in Canatuan and among the displays in the company exhibit that occupies the booth’s second level.
“This carabao has grown fat because it swallows gold bullions,” a government employee from Dapitan, the twin city of Dipolog, says, beaming at his companion.
“If there is a goose that lays golden eggs, this carabao produces gold bars,” says a student from Sibuco, the province’s southernmost town, as she takes pictures of her classmates in front of the Siocon booth.
“I really want Siocon to win,” stresses Mayor Ceasar Soriano, who sought TVIRD’s participation and assistance, a clear indication of the local government’s recognition of the company’s significant role in the development of the municipality.
Siocon Vice Mayor Andres Micubo, on the other hand, avers that the company’s involvement in this year’s Hudyaka festivities underscores the cooperation between the municipal leadership and TVIRD, adding that “the taxes that TVIRD has paid Siocon is really a great help to us,” he says. The mining operations have become Siocon’s biggest taxpayer.
According to TVI Canatuan General Manager Yulo Perez, TVIRD currently processes an average of 1,500 dry metric tonnes of ore – rocks that contain gold and silver – at Canatuan to produce roughly P5 million to P6 million worth of gold per day, based on current high gold metal prices of above $650 an ounce.
Recently, Calgary-based TVI Pacific, Inc., TVIRD’s mother firm, announced that it received positive results on a feasibility study to mine copper and zinc at Canatuan. TVI Pacific will invest over $23 million for this project and hopes to begin production, estimated to reach 1,300 dry metric tonnes per day, in early 2007.
If Siocon decides to use the carabao theme again for its Hudyaka booth next year, the carabao should be heftier than it is now – symbolic of increasingly better times for both TVIRD and its host community.