United Youth of Sibuyan
Becomes MagCaiSa
reported by Jimmy Lama
note: the
word “MAGKAISA” in Filipino means unity
Sibuyan Island
“ a beautiful drop of land ~
WHERE WIND, WATER AND EARTH MEET ”
Youth from each of the 3 different
municipalities, Magdiwang, Cajidiocan and San Fernando, came together at the visit of WSYC. These youth
who live way off from their mainland showed immense energy and
sense of collectivism for their need to become one for an
increased force to preserve their Island. It seemed like they
just needed a reason and a simple assurance from a third party
like WSYC for them to unite in their actions and spirits. Their
primary concern and campaign has been about protecting their
island home from the imminent threat of nickel mining. Nickle
mining allegedly to be committed by an Australian company is
causing loss of sleep by local people as it involves a cruel
process of digging out everything in and around the area which
may leave a huge portion of the Island a barren. The elders
have for a long time been fighting against such exploitation of
resources as they fear it may lead this island to become an
uninhabitable place. But they have not achieved a success
completely yet to gain enough attention from the concerned ones
to come to their rescue. An incident took place in the struggle
in which an elder (who has received a posthumous recognition as
a hero of the Island) succumbed to a bullet from the promoters
of the mining project. Therefore, the youth now believe in
their high sense that they are the savior of their Island. So
they adopted the slogan, “SAGIP
SIBUYAN,” meaning SAVE
SIBUYAN in their local dialect.
At the local youth conference organized in
the Cajidiocan municipality in the presence of WSYC, hundreds
gathered, including the mayors, intellectuals, teachers,
parents and youths. They had decided to unite for a joint
struggle empowering youths as their leaders. It was an amazing
outcome before us just to see how they became passionate to
work together. They are determined to direct their energy
primarily for the purpose of saving their Island, but
they will also extend this gift of unity towards generating
many positive activities for the benefit of their people and
communities. We were given reports of a trend in the past for
many youth to be enticed by city life and hardly ever return to
their homes, a trend which has resulted in severe population
degeneration.
The Sibuyan Youth now believe through this
unity they can send a strong message of love and appreciation
for the island and a sense of urgency to protect it; they must
live and fluorish as an essential part of the remarkable
natural diversity of the island. We (the WSYC) were inspired to
see them build up a concrete foundation from our words, which
warmed our hearts just to imagine their prospect of taking
much-needed constructive actions for years to come, creating a
better life for themselves and future generations by preseving
the health of this island.
These youth have committed to meet
bi-weekly and will stay connected with Children of the Earth so
that many youth around the world through the network of WSYC
will be informed of their work and be able to find resources
and ways of supporting each other.
As we were presented on the TV show, “One Morning,” in Manila, the locals of Sibuyan including all
those youths who have planted their hopes in their unity, cried
for joy to hear us mention the name and concern for their
Sibuyan Island. We (WSYC) gave them hope in return for the hope
they gave us to work mutually.
Location of Sibuyan:
“Known for its biodiversity, Sibuyan
has been dubbed by local and international natural scientists
as the Galapagos of Asia. Its significance to the world’s
animal and plant diversity cannot be taken lightly—one of
the richest spots in the world in terms of density, diversity
and endemism of flora and fauna.”
2009 Sibuyan ISLE (Sibuyan Island
Sentinels League for Environment Inc)
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