Locating the Place
When someone asks me where I come from and I say “Gumatdang,” it’s common for them to ask where that is. To make it easier for them to locate my hometown without too much explanation, I usually say, “It’s near Barangay Tuding.” While many may not be familiar with my barangay (smallest administrative division), they often know the municipality and its other barangays.
What people often don’t know is that Gumatdang is the mother barangay of Ucab, which is well-known for gold production. Additionally, Gumatdang was one of the sites of the early American gold mining corporation, Atok-Big Wedge.
According to the stories passed down by the old folks, there was once a wealthy man named Pacalso who owned many cattle and frequently held grand feasts. During these gatherings, he would butcher several cattle, and to preserve the meat for later use, his servants would dry it. They would hang the meat up to dry, and this practice eventually inspired the name of the place.
When people asked Pacalso’s servants where they were going, they would reply, “Undaw ak shi shashangan” meaning “I am going to the place where we hang and dry the meat.” Over time, the place became known as Gumatdang.
and Nearby Houses to the Milling Area.
What is Mining to the Community?
Currently, there are no big corporations operating in Gumatdang—only small-scale miners trying to process ores left by previous companies. Gold mining activity is considered to be the bread and butter of almost all families in the community. Majority of families depend from the production of gold. Daily expenses including academic payments are supported by the produce. Income from the tunnel would directly go to the daily food served in the table, needs inside the house and allowances of their children going to school. Many of my neighbors were able to earned their college degree through their parents income from gold mining. Although not everyone has a sufficient income, some children are actually forced to end their education and eventually finding themselves in the dark and narrow holes.
Gold traders buy a gram of high quality gold ranging from P 1,000 to 1,500, while low purity gold can be sold for P500 to 900.This promising value of gold have attracted individuals from neighboring provinces to work in the barangay. Thus, Gumatdang is occupied by diversified individuals.
The Ambalanga River
The majority of people visiting the area are fascinated by the number of hanging bridges, that is because there are many rivers and streams in the area. Despite the abundance of waterways, almost all attention is directed towards the Ambalanga River. It’s especially noticeable because the main road follows the same route as the river. Ambalanga is the largest river here, as all the rivers and streams flow into it. It is worthy to note also that a quantity of the water flowing in it are coming from nearby places like Baguio.
From the narratives of the elders, the river got its name from its color. In the Ibaloi language, ambalanga means red.They explained that, in the past, if someone looked at the river, it seemed that the water flowing was red. Looking at the river now, it’s hard to imagine this description. I think that, perhaps, the water was once clear, and the red color came from the large red stones present along the riverbed.
As someone who crosses the river almost daily, I’ve observed that the color of the water constantly changes. Sometimes it turns gray, green, brown, orange, blue, or red, although yellow is the most common color. On some days, the river appears red, especially just after a strong rain, when the water is clear, and the dark red stones are visible, or when the water itself appears red.
The color of the river often hints at pollution. Adding to this are the presence of plastics along the river and sometimes an unpleasant smell from the water. First timers who would be passing along the river would say that it smells “metallic and earthy”. While they describe it that way, I notice no distinct or unpleasant odor—perhaps because I have grown accustomed to it.
If the water drastically changes color, miners are often blamed, with many associating it with their irresponsible management of mining waste.
What Pollutes the River?
One of the primary sources of income in the barangay, aside from agriculture, is small-scale mining. The structure of most houses reflects their close connection with gold mining. Houses are often built with two stories; typically, the first floor is used for ore processing. Here, one would usually find a milling machine powered by electricity to crush the ores. This floor also contains leaching pads, where the milled ores are soaked with chemicals to fully extract the gold particles since the manual method, panning, cannot capture all particles. The second floor serves as the family’s dwelling.
In the case of bungalow-style homes, there is usually a separate area nearby for ore processing, often just a few meters from the house. This setup allows easy monitoring of the processing stages, particularly milling, where close attention to timing is essential.
This arrangement highlights the residents’ vulnerability to health risks from the chemicals they use, as well as the river’s susceptibility to pollution. The chemicals used in gold extraction include cyanide, carbon, borax, lime, zinc dust, and nitric acid. Notably, chemicals used inside the mines are not included here. These substances have potential adverse effects on both human health and the environment (International Labour Organization, 2024). For example, cyanide is highly toxic and can lead to severe environmental impacts and public health risks if it contaminates the surrounding area (Earthworks, n.d.).
Mining waste, known locally as duyot (tailings from chemically treated, fine-textured milled ores that no longer contain gold), is stored in sacks and piled in open spaces nearby. However, some residents, lacking storage space, discard tailings into the river—a convenient option since most milling areas and tailing pads are near water sources. This practice often leads to discoloration of the river.
In 2017, a concerned citizen from the barangay captured a picture of the river with blue-colored water and posted it on social media. The incident sparked varied reactions and caught the attention of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, the government agency primarily responsible for the conservation and management of mineral resources and for overseeing issues like this. The Bureau investigated and it was initially found out that the bluish color was caused by a reaction between cyanide and ferrous sulfate (ABS-CBN, 2017).
The Case of Tulibeng
I was able to speak with Paula (a pseudonym), a mother of three who has a neighbor with a milling area and leaching pad nearby. She expressed frustration about the strong smell of acido (nitric acid). “I shout at them to stop. The smell is overpowering, I just close the window,” she said. She added that nearby houses are also sometimes disturbed by the noise from the rolling mill, especially at night. According to Paula, this is a common source of tension among them, particularly between households not involved in mining and those who are. Individuals like Paula, who are troubled by these issues, often voice concerns about the potential health risks.
The courage Paula showed in calling out her neighbor is uncommon in my area, as my neighbors are also my relatives. Even if we’re actually bothered by the mining chemical smell, it’s difficult to confront them directly. One of my cousins finances mining operations, and although his mill and leaching pad are not in our vicinity, he occasionally calls his workers to our area to “cook” the gold. This process involves using nitric acid to purify the gold. We worry that speaking up might lead to family feud, so, we just close our windows. It’s also rare to see formal complaints filed at the barangay about the strong smell of mining chemicals, though there have been records of cattle or goat poisoning from drinking water contaminated by open leaching pads.
When I visited the place, the dried tailings were placed just two meters from the leaching pad, nearly reaching the riverbank. The tailings had simply been shoveled into a pile, without being placed in sacks, almost forming a small hill. It’s a common belief among the community members that chemicals absorbed by the tailings will dissipate after some time particularly the cyanide. In fact a miner believes that the tailings could be used as a soil bed for planting vegetables since it contained lime which is also a common element used by the farmers to grow their crops.
Situation in the Down Stream Communities
The water in the river running through the territories of barangay is not used in anyway that is why we are not drammatically affected by it. However, the human caused water pollution are drammatically being felt by the downstream communities. Barangay Tinongdan and Dalupirip serves as a catch basin of the polluted water. Not only the water from the Ambalanga river that are directed towards this but actually other streams passing by other mining communities.
“The upstream mining communities killed our livelihood” This was the statement of one of the local leaders of the downstream barangays. He said that they used to tend tilapia along the rivers as their source of income but successively it got poisoned so the constituents had to stop tending the fish. Accordingly, at present some are still tending tilapia but only those who have wide lot where they could form their fish pens. To add, they have also listed few numbers of cattles and goats that killed due to poisoning after drinking water from the river.
The local leaders had actually written letters to the municipal offices including concerned government offices about the poisoning incidents but accordingly there are no actions implemented in order for the prevention of poisoning. One of the local leaders shared:
I have written letters 8 times, about the poisoning. I submitted it in MGB and other offices concern. They had just advice me that I will go to the differrent barangays and talk to them. Why? Is that the function of a local leader, to watch over the miners who would be throwing toxic waste on the river? Is that even my job? It’s like they’re saying that I do not have a work but to serve only as a look out.”
This particular concern is also a reason for these two communities an appeal for the formation a new municipality known as Colos. Approving such political request means having control over their own territories. Including creating appropriate ordinances and implementation of existing policies that could be really beneficial for them as affected communities.
What is really happening right now is that everyone are pointing fingers to one another. The down stream communities are blaming the miners due to the mining chemicals that they are using. The miners themselves would deny this saying that only the miners who are processing gold with the use of leaching pad method should be blamed. As some of the miners would just be practicing the traditional method that does not use heavy chemicals. Miners who are also using chemicals would be in defense saying that they are managing well their waste.
Small-scale miners also have the sentiments like “If mining is thought as the cause of these “environmental pollution” then it should all be the entire operation that should be attacked, not only the small scale miners but also including the corporations. Up stream communities would also be saying that they should not be accused because they are also victims of pollution since the water passing through their areas are already polluted of toxic chemicals coming from nearby towns just like Baguio. Furthermore, it also difficult to single out that the cause of fish kill is due to the mining waste that are present in the river since there are reports saying that some households waste pipes in the upstream communities directly ends at the river.
Added also in the scene is the sentiment of the local government leaders of the mining communities on why they cannot stop the mining operation. This also directly answers the question of the LGU leader of the downstream community. The leader said “ It’s better to see my constituents working in the mines rather than seeing them stealing. I would not stop them from mining. I do not have money to feed them.”
There is also an internal tension within the community on the mining operation. The original settlers has a say on the presence of non-original settlers in the place. Oryang an elder had boldly said:
It would just be fine for the settlers to continuously mine in our place. It’s fine for them to dig many holes and use chemicals that would harm our environment. They are lucky because they have their original place to go back when everything in our place is destroyed.”
What Should be Done?
Just after the image of the Ambalanga River turning blue was uploaded on social media, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) issued an order stopping the operation of a eight mines and mineral processing facilities in the barangay (ABS-CBN, 2017). This move affected many miners, especially those who do not use leaching pads to further process their ores. As a result, numerous families, who rely on mining for their livelihood, were significantly impacted.
This scenario demonstrates how a single action can lead to significant consequences. It serves as a call to all stakeholders involved to adopt a holistic approach in addressing the issue—one that balances the economic benefits of small-scale gold mining with environmental protection and human welfare. A human rights-based approach to mining chemical management is necessary. Rights such as the right to life, health information, a safe, clean, and sustainable environment, clean water, safe working conditions, and participation must be upheld to protect miners and rural communities from chemical exposure (United Nations Sustainable Development Group).
The transformation of the river from red to blue is entangled with political, economic, and social aspects. Given the situation at hand, the question remains: who should be held accountable?
References
- ABS-CBN News. (2017, October 16). MGB orders 8 mines closed after Benguet river turned blue, ABS-CBN News.
- Earthworks. (n.d.). Cyanide and mining, Retrieved December 13, 2024.
- International Labour Organization. (2024). Safety and health in mining: Current global practices and challenges.
- United Nations Sustainable Development Group. (n.d.). Human rights-based approach, Retrieved December 13, 2024.
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