Oceanagold's Didipio Project Scholarships Reviewed

Camilo Bahingawan, proud father of one OceanaGold Scholar at Quirino State College in Quirino acknowledges the importance of the scholarship assistance his daughter received from OceanaGold and urged other parents to support the program.

Dr. Hermana K. Banciles, (center) Director for Instruction at Quirino State College, recapped the successful Consultative Dialogue with a signing of Memorandum of Agreement with Didipio Green Valley Institute principal Mr. Esmeraldo Carpio for the mutual assistance in which QSC donated books for DGVI. Tucod National High School & Andres Bonifacio Integrated School also availed of the assistance being given by QSC as part of its outreach program

Corazon Alma De Leon, Secretary General of Philippine National Red Cross and currently Director for Social Affairs of OcenaGold, delivers her message before the OceanaGold Scholars at Nueva Vizcaya State University. She challenged the scholars to put premium value on the scholarship they received as their successful performance will inspire OceanaGold to provide more scholarship grants for other
students. Earlier, Sec/De Leon also graced the same dialogue with OceanaGold Scholars at Quirino State College in Diffun, Quirino.



OceanaGold (Philippines) scholars at Quirino State College (QSC), together with their parents, had a dialogue with QSC administration and OceanaGold officials headed by Cora de Leon, OGPI Director for Social Affairs, for the improvement of scholarship program in QSC.

Dr. Marilou Gilo-Abon, First President of Nueva Vizcaya State University (NVSU) delivers her message to OceanaGold scholars at NVSU. She mentioned of the proposal submitted to the University of the
Philippines for the extension of Geology, Mining and Metallurgy Engineering courses in NVSU, citing that the proposal is logical because of the presence of large scale mining projects in Nueva Vizcaya
and that it will be beneficial to students from the Region 2.

Marilyn Sarac, a student leader and one of the 25 OceanaGold scholars at Quirino State College, expresses her appreciation of the OceanaGold Scholarship Program and its good implementation by QSC Administration.

Alfredo Dumingyay Jr. an Environmental Science student and scholar of OceanaGold in Nueva Vizcaya State University, inspired his peers with words of wisdom and challenges to make the best from the privilege which they received from the scholarship program of OceanaGold. He came out with suggestions how it can reach out for more needy students.

Nueva Vizcaya State University and OceanaGold officials, answers queries and provide clarifications on issues of implementing scholarship. Arnel Arrojo, Regional manager for Community Partnership (2nd from left), mentioned that future scholarship shall be available to technical courses especially to those skills applicable to the mining operation of OceanaGold. Presently, OceanaGold and NVSU-Bambang is forging a Memorandum of Agreement to train 45 Didipio and Dingasan residents on various trades using NVSU programs and facilities.

Margie Julian from Didipio receives the Scholarship certificates which provides her and other scholars free tuition fee until she graduates provided she maintain the required academic grades. 25 students from NVSU and 25 students from QSC received the same privilege scholarship award.

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Better Roads, Better Opportunities for the Communities

Life in Didipio between the 1970’s to 1990’s was difficult if you wished to travel around the local area. There were no regional, local or all-weather roads connecting Didipio to the National Highway and even access to other barangays was limited. It once took 7-8 hours to visit nearby places and worse, sometimes a day or so to go to the next town as there were no fixed trails. With this scenario, people’s livelihood was greatly affected.

Victor Ananayo (Mang Victor) a resident of Purok 7, Sitio Waterfalls, Barangay Didipio remembers the difficulties encountered by he and his neighbors.

Having been in the barangay since 1969, he recalls some of the hardships that he himself and other locals went through during those days. People then were dependent on slash and burn or “kaingin” and planting crops as their main source of living. After harvesting crops, they still had to travel far to transport their produce to other towns. Mang Victor said that during the 70’s they walked for two days to reach the town to trade two cans of ginger (approximately 10 kilograms each can) in exchange for 5.00 pesos (2.50 each). Their effort and time were not proportionate to the value of the money from selling which had been their routine for the longest time.

During the interview, Mang Victor mentioned that with the entry of OceanaGold’s Didipio Gold-Copper Project, there was a remarkable change in the barangay and in the entire province as well. Roads were built. People could now travel from one place to another more readily and in less time as well as transfer their fresh crops and agricultural products with greater ease.

Didipio is now accessible from the north commencing at the National Highway at Cordon, Isabela and continuing along a concrete paved road to Cabarroguis, Quirino. A graveled all-weather road is now available to Debibi traversing a concrete bridge over the Debibi River and graveled-paved road to Tucod. OceanaGold is building and maintaining a 22-kilometer road from Debibi to Didipio.

OceanaGold’s Community Relations Office led by Manager Arnel Arrojo was involved in the
negotiations with the residents before any road construction activities started.Social concerns were identified and immediate resolutions to any issues arising from construction activities were made. The Community Relations representatives explained to the residents the benefits and importance of having better roads.

Information meetings were conducted with communities attended by barangay officials and
residents. There were presentations on the road plan indicating the extent of work, Road Right of Way policies, crops and structure inventory, crop compensation schemes, improvements on affected claims and conduct of safety and environmental procedures. The meetings also notified the affected land owners of the cutoff period when land claimants may no longer plant compensable crops.

Having briefed with all the benefits ahead, Mang Victor and his fellow residents were encouraged to cooperate and became open-minded and decided to sell their crops.

Mang Victor invested the money for a piece of land in another town where he plants crops like rice or “palay” for livelihood and family consumption. He also plants red chandler, ginger and banana from which he earns additional income.

The new roads are part of OceanaGold’s commitment to assist in the development of the area
as the Didipio mine is constructed. OceanaGold has provided job opportunities for locals of Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces including one of Mang Victor’s children who works as a carpenter at the Didipio Project. Mang Victor himself has assisted the company by building and supplying boxes for drill core.

Skills enhancement programs and artisan training have also been part of the programs delivered in the local community. These include training in mechanics, welding, automotive, clonal techniques, electrical wiring system, etc.

Mang Victor shared that the residents were given the opportunity to get involved in the various training programs and would later share and apply the knowledge and skills with other residents. One of his sons attended training on clonal/ cloning technology in a nursery held at Diadi, Nueva Vizcaya.

Mang Victor in final reflection emphasized that he would like to see OceanaGold stay for many years to come and to continue to assist in making their province a better place to live in….

Didipio Project Touching Lives: Education and Livelihood

Pictures courtesy of Ramoncito Gozar

Didipio Project Touching Lives: Health and Safety, Oceanagold's Primary Concern

In line with OceanaGold’s commitment of ensuring importance to the health and safety of its employees, contractors and communities where it operates, the Health and Safety Department of the Didipio Project headed by Health and Safety Manager, Albert Eacott together with Clinic Staff, Mary Bajita has been conducting series of health and safety activities.

A Blood Smear Collection was conducted by the Municipal Health Office in the Didipio Project. The activity aims to prevent and control malaria disease (one of the most common infectious diseases) in the community. Test results have shown that all 320 employees were negative for malaria. Bed nets were also distributed to employees.

Another activity administered was the painting of the community clinic participated in by the Community Relations and Health and Safety departments. Such activity will create a healthy and cozy atmosphere for the clinic.

The department was also engaged in provision of medical and emergency assistance to locals. Recently, it provided a vehicle to a local of Didipio who gave birth to a baby boy. In another instance, OceanaGold’s medical team assisted in bringing to the hospital a local who accidentally got buried in a tunnel.

Meanwhile, training and development plays a key role in the health and safety aspect of the Project. Since it is the most important way to ensure that workforce and the community shares the Company’s health and safety commitment and that they are well-equipped with knowledge and skills, a basic first-aid training was proposed. Through this, people will know how to give basic first-aid to patients and will learn how to handle emergency cases with care.The Health and Safety Department coordinates with the Red Cross in the said activity.

OceanaGold will continue to perform community activities that will help in fostering the health and safety of the community.

Didipio Project Touching Lives: A Feature Story on Juliet Atiwon

She sat comfortably in a wooden stool inside her house. She looked relaxed and contented with her life. She smiled and laughed in between her stories. She never ran out of interesting facts to talk about.

As the adage goes, “Life begins at 40”, for this 41-year old woman it holds true. For her, life is just starting and she is exploring new things. She is optimistic and determined that more opportunities will come her way. She is Juliet Atiwon a native of Ifugao province.

Looking back, when Juliet left her province to visit her relatives in a wedding at Didipio, she was enchanted by the scenic beauty of the valley. After a while, she decided to migrate to the place and there she met her husband Peter.

Now, she is a resident of Dudusna Centro and a doting mother of three boys. Her eldest son is 13, second is 12 (“PJ” was named after former Climax Exploration Manager and Geologist Paul Joyce) and the youngest is six years old.

She recalled that during her younger years she almost missed the chance of completing her college education. Her course was Agricultural Education at the Ifugao State College. She was in fourth year college when she decided to stop schooling and work in Malaysia for two years. Due to age and financial factors, when she returned home she was unable to continue her studies. She also became busy tending to her children.

In 1996, Juliet decided to apply as a utility worker at Climax-Arimco Mining Corp. (now OceanaGold Philippines) to augment their family income. Having reached college level, she was considered overqualified for the position and was discouraged by the geologists to pursue her application.

In 1997, she found out that the Company granted scholarships and provided educational support to the community. She applied for the scholarship and went back to Ifugao State University.

After a year, she graduated and acquired an Agricultural Education diploma. It was an accomplishment that fulfilled her dream in life of getting her degree. “Akala ko noon hindi ko na matatapos ang aking pag-aaral pero nakapagaral pa ako. Ngayon, masaya ako at naka-graduate ako at utang na loob ko sa kumpanya ang lahat ng ito. “Before, I thought that I will never finish my tudies. But then I was able to study. Now, I’m happy that I graduated and I owe everything to the company,” she acclaimed.

In 1998, Juliet served the Didipio community by teaching pupils in the Didipio Elementary School. It lasted for three years. She decided to stop because she focused in taking care of her children.

She disclosed that during those years, it was difficult to go to the towns and even in the adjacent barangays during inter-town school events and competitions. It took them four to five hours and even a day or so (under adverse weather conditions) to reach the town. Sometimes, they were lucky enough to take a ride in a truck which they called “weapon”.

She revealed that when OceanaGold started the Didipio Project, the roads improved dramatically which greatly reduced travel time of the locals and visitors in the area. Now, they are not exhausted by long and tiring hikes to transport their agricultural products and other locallyproduced goods. Before, rotting tomatoes and other vegetables were a predicament of the local farmers.

The Didipio community and neighboring barangays were also provided with health and medical assistance. Since, the barangay is far from the town proper, OceanaGold provides vehicles during emergencies.

Employment opportunities also flooded the community. There are several jobs generated for Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino provinces. This is not only beneficial for the people but for the whole region as well. Juliet attested to that since her husband is one among the many locals employed by OceanaGold. Her husband has been working with the company since late 90’s during the exploration period.

People are also becoming computer literate and their communication skills are now more enhanced.

Juliet extended her sincerest words of gratitude to OceanaGold. She said that their neighborhood were also delighted and thankful to the company for bringing good opportunities in their province that improved their living conditions

As for now, Juliet is raising chickens in their backyard for their consumption. She raises them with tender loving care. During rainy days and under bad weather conditions, she gathers and puts all the chicks and chickens inside the cage to keep them safe and warm. She also plans to sell chickens and to raise native eggs.

No matter how difficult life may be, Juliet still believes that hard work pays off. With strong conviction, she shared that it is nice to enjoy things that you earned through labor because things that are easy to get are easy to loose.







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