Palawan is a province of immigrants. Every day people arrived from other parts of the Philippines looking for a fresh start in a pristine environment. Not all are so lucky. For the residents of Pulang Lupa, a pristine environment is more than a hop, skip and a jump away. The area they live in is an ex-mercury mine and their closest neighbor is the city landfill. Residents here are far from the city and even the barangay (suburb) health center is a good distance away. Because we are starting our work in this location I have decided to write about the physical environment of Pulang Lupa and the health risks to the residents that live there.

Pulang Lupa, literally means “red earth”. The location received its name due to the presence of cinnabar (Mercury) in the soil, which gives the earth a distinctly reddish tinge. During the years 1953 to 1976 Palawan Quicksilver Mining Incorporated (PQMI) removed 2,900 tons of mercury from the area. The red earth is so apparent here due to the bare slopes that were excavated during mining and were never rehabilitated.

Residents have built their houses on the former steps created by an open-pit mine. They have planted vegetables and fruit trees and many families keep animals, although  these are owned by other people). Mercury is a very versatile element: as a mineral solid it is harmless. When bacteria break it down it turns into methylmercury and can be absorbed by living organisms. It can be absorbed through the skin and lungs and also ingested by eating organism such as plants, fish and domestic animals that contain methylmercury.

Once inside the body, Mercury remains and accumulates as an individual continues to ingest or absorb it. Very little is excreted over time. An excess of Mercury in the system can result in fevers, headaches, paralysis, nausea, memory loss, brain damage and can eventually lead to death. Because Mercury travels through the bloodstream it is always transmitted from pregnant mothers to their children. These children are at a high risk for  mental retardation, physical birth defects and a host of other issues.

A short walk along the hillside leads to the “Sanitary Landfill”. In the West it would just be called a landfill, but plastic lining to prevent leaching, pipes to capture and transport methane gas and bulldozers to compact the trash are new concepts here in the Philippines. Many residents of Pulang Lupa used to make money by picking through the trash at the landfill until a city policy citing health concerns made it illegal for them to do so. It seems that having no income is worse for one’s health than picking through trash is because despite the policy, many residents continue to sift through the trash. Now they do it at night, when there are no guards to chase them away. Piles of recyclable materials are located outside almost every household in the community, waiting to be resold to a middleman.

A little further down from the landfill is a man-made lake. From a distance the water looks fresh and inviting. Closer inspection reveals a different picture. The banks are lined with trash, bags are visible in the murky depths and a greenish film collects on the surface. According to studies, methylmercury levels are highest in this pit lake. This is the water that children swim in and that farmers use for irrigation.

The mine at Pulang Lupa was never truly rehabilitated. Thirty years later there are ferns and acacia saligna “Port Jacksons” growing, which indicate some effort to rehabilitate the land. However, the mostly barren, red earth still abounds and the backdrop to every scene in this community are bare, bright red cliffs – an ever-present reminder of the dangers of living in the area. An added health risk to local benefits in addition to Mercury poisoning is the risk of landslides. The exposed soil leads to erosion, particularly during the periods of heavy rain in Palawan from June to October. Deep gullies line the area, putting some houses in precarious positions.

After analyzing data from our needs assessment, we decided to work in Pulang Lupa because out of all our prospective sites, residents of Pulang Lupa have the lowest levels of income, the lowest levels of education for women, the lowest levels of contraceptive use, the highest number of children per family, the highest levels of malnutrition and the highest incidence of women not accessing the Barangay Health Center. These factors alone place residents at high risk of negative health outcomes. Throw in the environmental concerns and this population is even more vulnerable. As we work within the community we will endeavor to find some solutions to these issues that the environment has thrown at them. We will be looking into more studies on the area and hope to educate the community on the unseen dangers they face. We hope to work with residents of the community in further reclaiming the red earth and finding sustainable and realistic solutions to these health problems in Pulang Lupa.