Greenpeace member `impressed’ with firm’s social programs in Canatuan
When Luis Ramon Rodriguez, a physician and environmentalist, went with his medical team to a remote mountain village called Canatuan in Zamboanga del Norte, he simply intended to conduct the annual physical examination (APE) of employees working in a mine there. He didnt expect to find an indigenous
community that is reaping the social and economic benefits of resource development
in a far-flung corner of Southern Philippines.
TVIRD Canatuan employees wait for their turn to be examined
by doctors during the annual physical examination held recently at the Company
clubhouse in the Subanon ancestral domain.
MedNet medical team members led by Dr. Luis Rodriguez (far right,
in white shirt, with eyeglasses) meet Magi Bagayao, TVIRD Canatuan general manager
(far left, in dark shirt) at the Mill Office. The green doctor
saw a Subanon tribe that has joined in the common effort of judiciously utilizing
resources as a means towards progress.
He saw a Subanon tribe that has joined a company called TVI
Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD) in the common effort of judiciously
utilizing resources in their ancestral domain as a means towards progress. The
tribe has a school with enough classrooms and teachers, a daycare center, a
clinic with a doctor and a nurse, good roads and bridges that provide residents
access to and from markets, and folks engaged in gainful and lawful employment
and livelihood activities. Even as the company has provided all these, it also
takes good care of the environment to ensure that progress for the Subanons
can be sustained long after the mining operations in the area has ceased.
Dr. Rodriguez gives a thorough medical checkup to a Subanon
TVIRD employee: We are impressed with your attention to the needs of
the indigenous tribe here.
A mine worker undergoes an electrocardiogram test:Its
good to know that there are companies like TVIRD that promote, and is committed
to, responsible mining, Dr. Rodriguez told company officials.
We are impressed with what we saw with our own eyes, how you
gave, and still are giving, attention to the needs of the indigenous tribe here
and the economic development you have done so far, Rodriguez told TVIRD
Canatuan managers and personnel.We are also impressed with your concern
for, and commitment to, the preservation of the environment.
Rodriguez trained as a doctor in Hawaii and Nevada, USA as well as in Singapore.
He is founder and general manager of Zamboanga City-based Medical Networkers
Mobile and Diagnostic Services (MedNet). He is also connected with Greenpeace,
described by free-content internet encyclopedia Wikidpedia as an international
environmental organization that addresses many environmental issues and
claims a primary focus on efforts to stop global warming and the preservation
of the worlds oceans and ancient forests.
MedNet medical technologists at work.We are impressed
with what we saw with our own eyes.
When we get back to the city, we will tell
and share to our colleagues the good things that your company has done to the
community and to the Subanon tribe.
Some 600 regular TVIRD employees in Canatuan availed themselves of the APE program
under the company’s healthcare benefit in partnership with Intellicare
and Asalus Corporation. The program was spearheaded by Ramon Salvaleon, TVIRD
Canatuan Project Human Resource Department manager.
During the orientation and AVP presentation conducted by TVIRD personnel for
the visiting medical team, Rodriguez also offered to facilitate training seminars
on alternative and herbal medicines to complement the companys skills
development program for Subanon women.
And they can sing, too. Rodriguez, on keyboards, show TVI employees
what else he and his team can do during the fellowship night after a hard days
work.
Rodriguez, standing right, congratulating TVIRD for a
job well done.
Just recently, the Siocon Subanon Womens Association,
Inc. underwent a training workshop on Traditional and Alternative Medicine.
Consequently, the Subanon women gained skills on Shiatsu (a traditional Japanese
hands-on therapy based on anatomical and physiological theory), Acupuncture
(a technique of inserting and manipulating needles into points on the body where
the flow of energy is thought to be blocked meridians), Moxibustion (an acupuncture
procedure that uses a dried herb, commonly known as moxa or mugwort, burned
so that the heat is transferred to specific points on the body to increase energy),
Acupressure (kneading or reflexology massage), and Ventusa (of similar procedure,
but using glass).
The other members of the MedNet team who accompanied Rodriguez were physician
Michael Abubakar; medical technicians Gemma Gabawan, Isabelita Enriquez, Roberto
Enriquez, Melvyn Cristobal and Gemma Alberto; respiratory therapist Elsie Gonzales;
midwife Jyrnla,Tonette, Abubakar, radiology technicians Hassan
Tawasil, Abdulbakil Majid and Rosli Lipae; and staff members Marjorie Timoan,
and Leopoldo Francisco. They were ably assisted by company doctor Ramil Ignacio,
nurse Lois Ladera-Esnane, and nursing aides.
In behalf of my team, I congratulate you all for a job well done. Its
good to know that there are companies like TVIRD that promote, and is committed
to, responsible mining. Rest assured that we will tell the world of your great
accomplishments,Rodriguez concluded. (Rene Patangan)
MedNet medical team pose with TVIRD Canatuan Security Manager
Gilbert Cayton and HR Manager Ramon Salvaleon (standing second and third from
left, respectively). When we get back to the city, we will tell and share
to our colleagues the good things that your company has done to the community
and to the Subanon tribe.
