Semirara is an island in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

located in the Caluya archipelago which is situated south of

Mindoro Island Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous List of islands of the Philippines, island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ), it has a population of 1,408,454, as of the 2020 census. It is lo ...

. It is under the jurisdiction of the town of Caluya in the province of

Antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

. It is a major site of

coal mining Coal mining is the process of resource extraction, extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its Energy value of coal, energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to Electricity generation, generate electr ...

in the Philippines. Other economic activities in the island include fishing, seashell gathering, and farming.

History

A 1905 report documented the island as then being forested, and it was estimated that nearly half the trees were a species of Molave described as "wonderful hard wood", as "scarce along the coasts of the archipelago". This large and readily accessible supply was noted to possibly be of considerable importance. The report also documented a profusionn of wild grapes on the island, describing them as edible and similar in size to the

Concord grape The Concord grape is a cultivar derived from the grape species ''Vitis labrusca'' (also known as fox grape) that are used as table grapes, wine grapes and juice grapes. They are often used to make grape jelly, grape juice, grape pies, grape- ...

. and noting that a large quantity of seeds would be brought a forest reserve facility for experimentation aimed at producing a cultivatable variety. The island was declared a mineral reservation by President

Manuel Quezon Manuel Luis Quezon y Molina (, , , ; 19 August 1878 – 1 August 1944), also known by his initials MLQ, was a Filipino lawyer, statesman, soldier, and politician who was president of the Commonwealth of the Philippines from 1935 until his d ...

in 1940 through Proclamation No. 649. Semirara Mining and Power Corp. (SPMC) opened its first coal mine in the island in Unong in 1984 which operated until 2000 and the area's vegetation and lake restored years later. The company then opened several more mines including the Panian Pit which operated until in October 2016 shortly after its coal deposits depleted. SPMC also opened the Narra Pit and the Molave Pit in Semirara Island, both which started commercial operations in the same year.

Administration

Semirara Island is part of the municipality of Caluya in the province of

. The island itself consists of three

barangays The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the precolonial polities of the same name, modern barangays are political subdivisio ...

of Caluya: Alegria, Semirara, and Tinogbok.

Geography

Semirara is an island which has a land area of about . The island also has a saltwater lake in its southeastern portion, which was the former site of the Unong mine. A freshwater lake also exists north of the island where the Panian mine used to be.

Coal mining

There are two active coal mines operated by the Semirara Mining and Power Corp. as of January 2020; the Narra Pit and the Molave Pit, both of which are each. Coal in Semirara is characterized as sub-bituminous C coal with a high moisture content based on

ASTM ASTM International, formerly known as American Society for Testing and Materials, is a standards organization that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical international standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems and s ...

. ;List of coal mines *Narra Pit *Molave Pit *Panian Pit *Unong Pit

Transportation

Semirara has an

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

which serves chartered flights from

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

. The island is also accessible by boat, specifically from the town of San Jose in neighboring province of

Occidental Mindoro Occidental Mindoro (), officially the Province of Occidental Mindoro ( or ''Lalawigan ng Occidental Mindoro''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. The province occupies the western half of the island of Mindoro. I ...

. Motorized tricycles also provides a means of land transportation within the island.

Environment

Semirara is host to 21

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

species which accounts for 60 percent of the total of 35 recorded mangrove species in the Philippines. Waste produced as a byproduct of coal mining in Semirara has been a concern by residents. Waters adjacent to Semirara also host all recorded

giant clam ''Tridacna gigas'', the giant clam, is the best-known species of the giant clam genus ''Tridacna''. Giant clams are the largest living bivalve molluscs. Several other species of "giant clam" in the genus ''Tridacna'' are often misidentified as ...

species in the

. The Semirara Marine Hatchery Laboratory was set up in 2010 by SPMC in the island as the marine rehabilitation arm of the company as well as to develop marine-based livelihood for its host communities.

References

{{reflist Islands of Antique (province) Coal mines in the Philippines