Surigao del Norte, Philippines –The Magkono tree is the Philippine hardest tree. It is so hard that it’s called “iron wood”. Cutting down a mature tree even using modern methods is still a time consuming and laborious process. The Magkono has been classified by the government and international conservation organizations as endangered due to over-cutting and habitat loss. It is unfortunate that this tree is only found in the Surigao provinces.
Iron wood decor/Iron Wood Furniture
Towns in Surigao del Sur like Liangga are well known for their furniture and decorative items which can last for generations and are impermeable to termites and other wood boring insects. Skillfully made and elegantly designed, some furniture items are heirloom pieces and can fetch hefty prices in the furniture market.
The tree from where this durable, dark-colored and extremely solid wood comes from may be found in the dense forests of Mount Diwata and Red Mountains in the Surigao provinces. However, the scarcity in the supply of Magkono wood makes it difficult for local furniture makers to supply the demand for Magkono furniture. Unknown to many, the entry of large-scale mining and logging in the Surigao provinces have brought about the increasing scarcity of the Magkono species.
The last Magkono tree stands defiantly amidst the devastation of an open pit mine in Surigao del Sur. (photos by Cocoy Rebuta)
Caraga Region, the mining capital of the Philippines where the Surigao provinces are found, currently hosts eighteen (18) operating mines.
The oldest of these mines is Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC) in the Red Mountain of Claver, Surigao del Norte. During its 20 years of operation, TMC has displaced the Mamanwa tribe in Barangays Taganito and Urbiztondo, home to the largest known iron ore deposit in the world.
Today, the Magkono tree and its wood have been used to illustrate the toughness and resiliency of the people in Surigao.
The human barricade in a small village Anislagan, Placer, Surigao del Norte headed by a multi-sectoral group Anislagan Bantay Kalikasan Task Force (ABAKATAF) has prevented the entry in the last nine years of Anglo-American Plc, the second largest mining company in the world and Philex Mining Company, the Philippine largest mining company, in the rich agricultural village of Anislagan.
In Surigao del Sur, another human barricade manned by the multi-sectoral group Baywatch Foundation has prevented the transport of mineral ore since November 16, 2009 by Marcventures Development Corporation, which is operating in the watershed of Cantilan declared critical by the DENR.
Cantilan is a rice producing town and the food basket of Surigao del Sur whose productivity is threatened by government’s aggressive promotion of the sale of ore deposits to transnational corporations.
The Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center/Kasama sa Kalikasan-Friends of the Earth Philippines (LRC-KsK/Foe-Phils), Alternative Law Groups (ALG) and Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) are pushing for the Alternative Mining Bill (AMB) to secure critical watersheds, highly-productive agricultural areas, protected areas, forest and the like from wholesale destruction by multi-national corporations which is already degrading the country’s biodiversity.
The struggle continues, but the people of Surigao have demonstrated their resiliency in meeting this threat remains as firm as ever and hard as their native “Iron Wood”.
By Cocoy Rebuta, LRC-KsK
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