YET ANOTHER potential threat to picture-perfect Sorsogon can be found in an island 90 minutes away by boat from Bacon's beaches. Like other islands in this part of Luzon, Rapu-rapu has tourism potential. The boat trip alone can be a delight. As the visitor leaves Bacon beach, the water is green, reflecting the sea grass underneath. Then it turns a deep indigo in the middle of the Albay Gulf. By the time boat approaches Rapu-rapu, the waters turn into a dazzling aquamarine. Rock formations and white sand beaches line Rapu-rapu's shore. The island boasts of a promontory overlooking the Albay Gulf and the Pacific Ocean. On a clear day, anyone standing there can see Northern Samar, Sorsogon, and, of course, the magnificent Mount Mayon.

	Environmentalists worry that an open pit mine that will soon operate on the pristine island of Rapu-Rapu will wreak havoc on the marine life of Sorsogon. [underwater photos by Karina Escudero]

But if plans push through, this cliff will one day disappear. In its place will be a tailings dam that will hold all the mine wastes coming out of the Rapu-rapu Polymetallic Project, Inc. Not far from the cliff is Barangay Pagcolbon, made up of 37 families, which will be wiped out to make way for an open pit mine. The company that owns the mine expects to extract gold, silver, and copper, among other metals from the island.

Many Bacon residents say the mine will surely endanger the plankton and small fish that sustain the butanding, which have been seen in these parts as well. In a congressional hearing, representatives of Rapu-rapu Polymetallic Project called these concerns baseless since Rapu-rapu is too far from Donsol and Pilar, and is in fact part of Albay province. But the butanding are also known as the gypsies of the deep, traveling great distances around Sorsogon.

Last April, a whale shark got caught in the netting of fish cages in the Albay Gulf, but was eventually freed. Members of the Legaspi-based Bicol Scuba Divers Foundation have likewise encountered whale sharks, dolphins, and manta rays around Rapu-rapu, and they fear the mine will kill marine life around the island.

For now, mining activity has yet to begin on Rapu-rapu. In the meantime, Pagcolbon residents, initially in favor of the mine, are having second thoughts. "The mine will be totally destructive," barangay captain Manuel Belardo now says.

Last year, the villagers had all sold their land to the company for P150,000 per hectare, believing there would soon be a resettlement site for them. That has yet to materialize. The money they got for their land was also much less than promised; they failed to read the contract's fine print, which said they, not the company, would shoulder the capital gains taxes and miscellaneous fees required for the real-estate transactions. "We believed their promises," laments Pagcolbon resident Julio Bandoquillo. "There shouldn't be any cheating, that's just not nice."

The company may have fooled the government as well. On paper, the company that owns the mine is listed as Rapu-rapu Minerals Inc. Among its stockholders is Lafayette Mining of Australia, which owns 40 percent of the stock. Under mining laws, government cannot enter into mining agreements — such as it has done with Rapu-rapu — with companies owned by foreigners. The mining firm has to be at least 60 percent Filipino owned.

But Lafayette actually owns majority shares of the firm, its ownership hidden beneath layers of companies and stockholders. Among the shareholders of Rapu-rapu Minerals, Inc. is a company called Rapu-rapu Holdings, Inc. where Lafayette owns another 40 percent. According to Rep. Escudero, this gives them a total of 64 percent ownership, a violation of the Mining Act.