Going back and moving forward

Our second outreach program last April 2019 was held in a small village in the middle of the mountains in the province of Zambales. It is called Acoje Mines. For those who may not have captured my post months ago, you may wonder what the place is. It is where I was born. The outreach has brought up a lot of memories during my early and elementary days.

^{This is the rugged road to and from Acoje Mines. I did not have the chance to take photos on our way to the place so I did it when we were already leaving.}

Yes, I was born in the middle of the mountains. As the name implies, it is a mining site and it was for chromite mining. I say it was because the mining operation was stopped. I am not sure the exact year when it was stopped but the talks spread out in 1987. We left the place in 1989 while many employees, mostly laborers, were being laid off. Few years later, I heard that the operation was totally stopped. I was not paying much attention to the details but one thing for sure is that some families did not leave the place. There is still a community to go back to. Many of them havr resulted into small time farming mainly for subsistence.

Clear and sunny sky is one of the treasures of this place. During summer from April to June, heat strikes with clear blue sky without the humid and with refreshing fresh air. That makes the heat not so scorching after all.

The site is about 27 kilometers away from the town proper. That is supposed to be less than 20 minutes drive at 90 kph. However due to the rough road, travel time takes around an hour and a half up to two hours.

My previous travels to the place were mostly during weekends when commute from town proper to the site is a challenge. That is because there are only two jeepneys plying the route and during weekends specially on Sunday, many residents would go down to the town as it is their market day. There were instances when there is not enough space in the jeepney for all passengers. They end up riding at the top of the vehicle. So when you hear "top load," that means you are being given the option if you want to ride at the top like this:

While it seem fun to be on top, one has to be careful riding so because it obviously is not so safe.

When the mine site was closed, they said less than 300 families were left. If those who are in there are less than 300 families, there must have been few thousands of families when we were there. The neighborhood was very close to each other. Most residences were bunk houses divided into four for four families. After the closure, I heard a comment that Acoje looks like a ghost town. When I caught this sight from a running jeepney, it's funny that I thought it is like Acoje. It may have looked like a ghost town but there are families holding on to it and doing their best to keep it alive. That tree full of hope at the back will survive the dead one.

Somewhere around a third of the way to the site is this popular stream called Tucon. Travelers in private vehicles would usually stop by to freshen up from the heat and dust. Others would have picnic along the bank and will even have a quick dip specially during summer.
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During season of mangoes, the fruits are getting ripe on the tree and falling rotten on the ground. Why is that? There are not enough consumers in the area. Almost every household has their own mango tree that they do not need to give to each other. It is saddening to think that the produce is just getting wasted like that. If only someone would invest in trading of the products from the place, I am sure it can change the life of the villagers.

Now back to Metro Manila in a corporate world, I had a chance to share with one of my colleagues as to how simple life was in the province. We both wondered what those have become. He talked about his plan to go back to their province someday and till their land. I cheered up! I encouraged him to do so because no matter how successfull people are in the concrete jungle, it is still agriculture that brings food on the table.

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