Communication is key to understanding
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Student leaders from the different Zamboanga del Sur campuses of
the Cerilles State College during the open forum with TVIRD. “We are hoping
for the Company to push through with its plans in Balabag“
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Future leaders of the country pose with TVIRD’s Raymond Acopiado
(in black behind streamer) after the CSC Student Leadership Training and Seminar
in Mati, San Miguel, Zamboanga del Sur.“Through interactions like this
one, we hope to provide the youth the information they need, particularly on
the sensitive issue of mining, so that they can make informed decisions.”
Most of the students at the biggest university in Bayog town used to have questions
about mining. That’s because they were only provided with selective, mostly
negative, information about the industry. They weren’t told that, in the
last several decades, mining laws and mining technology have evolved in positive
quantum leaps to ensure that people’s rights and the environment are adequately
protected; that mining companies have become more and more attuned with the expectations
of their stakeholders.
Now many of these students know better, thanks to the opening of communication
lines between the Student Council officers of Cerilles State College (CSC) –
Bayog Campus, and representatives of TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc.
(TVIRD), which is currently in the advanced stages of exploration at Sitio Balabag
in this remote Zamboanga del Sur town.
In an effort to reach out to the student leaders, TVIRD sponsored the trip of
the CSC Bayog Student Council to the Leadership Training Seminar of all CSC campuses
in the province, held recently Mati, San Miguel town. During the seminar, Raymond
Acopiado, TVIRD Public Affairs Officer, took the opportunity to brief all the
participating student leaders on the Company’s activities in Canatuan, Siocon,
Zamboanga del Norte where TVIRD operates a gold and silver mine, and its plans
in Balabag. He showed some 70 student leaders from the different CSC campuses
in Zamboanga del Sur a 20-minute audio-visual presentation on Canatuan, This
Mine is Yours, as well as provided updates on the activities in the
three year-old mine. It was an enlightening experience for the participants.
“Now that we know the truth about your operation in Canatuan, we can be
at peace and are hoping for the Company to push through with its plans in Balabag,”
said Rajeaan Amor, CSC Bayog Student Council president, after a two hour-long
no-holds-barred question-and-answer forum with Acopiado.
“We thought you were really destroying the environment.” Amor added.
“We were misled by the propaganda they (anti-mining groups) posted. They
should be showing the people both sides (of the mining issue) so that people can
decide well. We expect them to mould us, the future leaders of our country, and
not mislead us.”
Most of them had believed at face value what they had read in the posters and tarpaulins placed in various churches and schools by anti-mining groups: that mining is evil.
The students now want to visit the Canatuan Project for a study tour. They also suggested that TVIRD invite members of the anti-mining groups to site for them to see the truth.
Consequently, the CSC Bayog Student Council called for a special session where the officers passed a resolution commending and expressing their gratitude to TVIRD for its effort to educate students on responsible mining.
The resolution also states that the students of CSC Bayog now understand how TVIRD
puts importance on helping the youth by way of scholarships, training programs,
and financial assistance to poor but deserving high school and college students.
“TVIRD believes that youth development is a process that prepares young
people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated,
progressive series of activities and experiences that help them to become socially,
morally, emotionally, physically, and cognitively competent,” Feliece Yeban,
TVIRD vice president for Social Commitments, said. “Through interactions
like the one we had with the CSC student leaders, we hope to provide the youth
the information they need, particularly on the sensitive issue of mining, so that
they can make informed decisions.”
“It starts with keeping lines of communication open,” Yeban added.
“We’re glad the youth of Bayog, despite the many bad – albeit
unfounded – things they heard about our company, did not close their doors
on us. Now we can partner with them in future activities for the good of their
community.”