TVI

You have come a long way, Canatuan
By Lullie Micabalo, TVIRD Public Affairs Manager
December 5, 2007

How time flies!

It seems it was only yesterday when I first set foot in Canatuan. Riding a habal-habal, it took me more than three hours to reach Canatuan from R.T. Lim town in adjacent Zamboanga Sibugay province.

The road to Canatuan then literally was long and winding. The road that I used to travel was no road at all.  It was almost just a trail!

It was in 2001 when I first saw the ‘golden’ but tunnel-laden mountain of Canatuan. I was sent by my editor to cover the dismantling of 38 cyanide plants of small-scale miners by the Subanons and personnel from the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau and Department of Environmental and Natural Resources Region 9, then led by Executive Director Teotimo Redulla.

A habal-habal crosses raging waters after a downpour in this photo taken along the road to Canatuan from R.T. Lim in 2003.

I rented a habal-habal that would bring me to Canatuan. It was a long and backbreaking travel. The trail they called provincial road was covered with potholes sometimes as big as the Mindanao map at the Dapitan city plaza. It led to Cuyan creek, the first creek that belongs to Zamboanga del Norte province.

Cuyan creek now with that steel bridge, was not the Cuyan creek in 2001. Big boulders and stone lined-up along the road just few meters before it making difficult for habal-habal or four-wheeled vehicle to pass.

The creek was swelling when we arrived. It was raining hard that day.  It was past 5:00 in the afternoon and almost dark so I ordered the driver to pass through the swelling water. We were nearing the creek’s bank when we were hit by a tree carried by the strong wave of waters. Down I went with the motorcycle! Down went my backpack where my precious tape recorder was kept!  And where was my driver? He swam fast and hard to save his life!

Fortunately, I know how to swim too. Both the driver and I made it safely to the creek’s bank.

Fast forward to 2007.  Residents of Canatuan and nearby villages, as well as employees of TVI Resource Development Philippines, Inc. (TVIRD), which now operates a gold and silver mine in Canatuan, do not have to worry about commuting along the Siocon-Canatuan-RT-Lim route.

Shortly after TVIRD reached production stage in 2004, the company and community requested the Philippine government to construct several steel bridges along this route.  To facilitate the construction, TVIRD provided manpower and financial support.  Travel time to and from R.T. Lim to Canatuan has been drastically cut by 70 percent, thereby allowing upland residents access to markets, hospitals, and educational institutions in urban centers in the Zamboanga Peninsula.  A bus from Zamboanga City now travels to Siocon every day.  To this day, TVIRD assists in maintaining the roads from Canatuan to R.T. Lim in the east, and to Siocon in the west.

I will not be surprised if Canatuan becomes an urban center itself in the future.  Development has slowly and gradually reached this place.  Back then, Canatuan was a picture of isolation and hopelessness; now it is teeming with signs of progress and hope.  And I’m glad I’ve stayed to help, in my own small way, contribute to the many positive changes that have taken place in the area since that memorable afternoon in 2001.