DYNASTY GOES DEEP IN ISLAND VILLAGE MADE RICH BY MINING
ILOILO CITY— Elections in the village of Semirara have been a family affair and Monday’s village polls are no exception in Antique province’s wealthiest barangay, which earns well above P200 million annually from hosting the country’s biggest coal mine.
Barangay Chair Noeli Gumban-Lim, who is serving her last term, is the wife of former Caluya town Mayor Reynante Lim Sr. and the mother of incumbent Mayor Genevive G. Lim-Reyes and Sangguniang Bayan member Reynante Jr.
Noeli’s daughter, Catherine Lim-Tahum, her niece-in-law, Janice Lim-Illao, and a certain Freddie Buddy Magtoto are slugging it out to take over her seat. Noeli, 61, wants Catherine to take her place, but some of her relatives are backing Janice, claiming she was “closer to the people.”
Noeli’s sister, Roxanne L. Smith, also serves as a kagawad, or village council member, of Semirara.
Caluya has been classified as a first-class town and Semirara, which sits like a jewel surrounded by the blue waters of Romblon, Palawan and Panay Island, is the richest village in Antique.
It had an annual income of P200 million in 2017, more than the P90 million to P180 million that a fifth-class province earns.
With an internal revenue allotment (IRA) share of P8.5 million for 2018, it is considered as one of the country’s richest barangays.
The National Barangay Operations Office of the Department of the Interior and Local Government defines a “rich” barangay as one that receives an IRA of P5 million to P40 million.
Source of wealth
All that money comes from the operation for the past 21 years of the Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SMPC). From 2000 to 2014, the company paid P1.3 billion in royalty to Barangay Semirara.
SMPC is one of the subsidiaries of DMCI Holdings Inc. Caluya Mayor Reyes is married to Sid Reyes, nephew of Victor Consunji, the grandson of DMCI Holdings Inc. founder David Consunji.
The 2,277-hectare island has a mineral reserve area of 261.85 hectares, a huge portion of which is mined by SMPC.
Semirara is home to more than 13,500 people, about 7,100 of whom are voters. Although surrounded by rich fishing grounds, fishing is not their main source of livelihood.
Barangay Chair Lim said at least 4,000 were dependent on SMPC. About 2 percent of the population is involved in growing seaweeds and farmers account for only 1 percent.
The average monthly family income on the island is P10,000 and poverty rate is 5.79 percent, according to the municipal social welfare office.
Cheap electricity
While environmental groups and some residents have complained and raised concerns about the environmental and health problems caused by the coal mining operation, the large dependence on SMPC has not shaken the company’s hold on Semirara. At least eight workers have been killed in mine collapse in 2013 and 2015.
SMPC has practically provided for much of the needs of the islanders over the years, including cheap electricity.
It also donated classrooms, established a private school and a vocational and technical training center for high school graduates and had built and maintained 33 kilometers of roads on the island. It had also constructed a water filtration facility and would soon build a desalination plant.
It built a commercial building and food court in 2010 and 2013 to provide business oppor- tunities for housewives and other dependents of its workers in order to augment their family income. Market stalls are charged very minimal rent.
SMPC also constructed an Olympic-size pool, the largest indoor swimming pool in the Visayas.
So what’s left for the barangay council to do?
If the Lims win Monday’s polls, they will have to address the “urgent needs of the barangay,” which the Caluya information office said include finding a “potent source of domestic water” and install more waterlines to supply to all households.
Focus on social services
Because of the economic gains it already gets from the mining operation, the barangay council will be more concerned with “social programs and not on physical projects.”
The barangay council is focused on social services such as child-feeding programs, deworming in remote sitios and providing free medicines and hospitalization for indigents and senior citizens, according to the Caluya information office.
The village’s income has allowed it to put up a Botica ng Barangay, comfort rooms and birthing place, among others.
The barangay also subsidizes nine elementary and three high school teachers plus seven day-care centers. It also donates school supplies.
It had established 11 elementary classrooms, repaired others that were dilapidated, donated air conditioners, provided water supply and electrification assistance, as well as financial aid for students competing outside the island.