Suspension of mining urged; death toll rises to 8
MANILA, Philippines—The deadly Good Friday landslide in a gold mining area in Pantukan town, Compostela Valley province, has moved a Catholic bishop to call for a moratorium on all mining operations until an efficient monitoring and control system has been put in place.
The body count in the landslide that hit Sitio Panganason in Barangay Kingking, Pantukan, early on April 22 reached eight Monday.
Residents of the mining area have been told to move out within 48 hours. The government is preparing to forcibly evacuate the families who refuse to leave.
The government should also address “loopholes” in the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 before allowing both small miners and giant firms to exploit mineral resources, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said Monday.
In fact, he said, the mining law that instituted a new system of exploring, developing, utilizing and conserving mineral resources should be repealed.
“There should be a moratorium because as of now, the law is weak and the government’s control on mining is also weak,” Pabillo, who heads the National Secretariat for Social Action of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), told reporters.
He said mining operations in all provinces, and not only in Compostela Valley, should be temporarily stopped: “Mining should be banned in the meantime until the government has addressed the risks and problems involved.”
PH not ready
According to Pabillo, the Philippines “is not yet ready for mining operations because the government cannot control these operations and cannot even take care of those who may be affected.”
“Now, who will be liable for [these disasters]? Can the government hold the mining companies responsible?” the bishop said.
The Catholic Church has repeatedly called for the suspension of mining operations in the country.
In November 2008, the CBCP issued a pastoral letter calling on the government and also mining companies to uphold the rights of indigenous peoples, “compensate the affected communities for past damages, and ensure responsible mining practices.”
Pabillo said there was no pressing reason for the incumbent administration not to heed the call for a moratorium because “there is no immediate need for mining.”
“They must not be in a hurry because the resources will still be there even if the operations are stopped,” he said.
Sensors
In Panganason, the government-organized search-and-retrieval team Monday unearthed three more bodies with the help of sensors, bringing the official death toll to eight.
Of the three bodies, only that of Cristituto Torrejos Sr. has been identified, Pantukan social welfare officer Rhona Siojo said.
Fe Kalimpo of the local disaster management office said the team had to use sensors to locate more bodies as the deadline set by the government for evacuation neared.
Kalimpo said officials expected the retrieval operations to be slow even with the use of sensors and heavy machinery. She said the problem was that the mud carpeting the disaster area was too thick for easy digging.
“But we are still hoping to find more survivors,” she said.
Compostela Valley Gov. Arturo Uy said, however, that the chances of adding to the 15 survivors were very slim. He said officials would decide in three days if the search should be continued.
Immediate evacuation
On Sunday, with the discovery of a fresh fissure 70 meters wide and a meter deep on the mountain that had caved in, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo gave officials 48 hours from Monday to evacuate the residents.
Kalimpo said a damage analysis and needs assessment conducted by authorities had indicated the need for immediate evacuation.
Maj. Jake Obligado, the local military spokesperson, said children and the elderly were the priority in the evacuation procedure, and that at least 100 families would leave the area anytime soon, as ordered by Pantukan Mayor Celso Sarenas.
Obligado said the local government and concerned agencies would assist the residents.
By Wednesday, residents who insist on staying put will be forcibly removed, he said, adding: “Even for rescuers, it is risky to be there.”
Robredo had said the evacuation was not meant to dislocate the small miners and their families.
“We don’t want them to lose their livelihood, but their safety is more important,” Robredo told reporters after a closed-door meeting on Sunday with local and national officials at the Pantukan municipal hall.
He said he had requested Environment Secretary Ramon Paje to produce a template of a safe mining area for use in the monitoring of mining areas in Compostela Valley.
“We will make sure safety standards will be followed and mining tunnels found unsafe will be shut down immediately,” Robredo said.
Political will
In Davao City, Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Leo Jasareno said the Good Friday landslide was a wake-up call for the government to cut back on small mining operations, particularly the illegal ones.
“Maybe this is the right time for the government to have the political will to rationalize small-scale mining operations,” Jasareno told reporters.
He said that by law, small mining operations should be regulated but that in reality, “in over 20 years, nothing has happened.”
He also pointed out that under Presidential Decree No. 7076, “small-scale miners should form a cooperative before they can legally operate, and their operation should be duly approved by the Department of Environment and National Resources (DENR.)”
Use of explosives
Jasareno said small miners were violating not only the law on mining but also other laws.
He said government rescuers, including those from the DENR, had reported that mining operations in Purok Mabaros in Panganason involved the use of explosives, mercury, and cyanide, which were banned by law in small mining activities.
“Who are supplying the miners these explosives, mercury and cyanide? If you cut the supply of these materials, there will be no small-scale mining,” he said.
Jasareno said the government was not against small-scale mining in itself but wanted the industry strictly regulated for the safety of miners and their families.
‘No one to blame’
“No one can be blamed for the [landslide in Panganason],” Governor Uy said. “If you look at the situation of the miners there, you will really pity them. The area is almost inaccessible, the roads are very bad, yet they continue to stay there.”
Uy said that even the no-habitation policy he had ordered following a similar landslide in Pantukan two years ago was ignored by small miners because they wanted to make some money for their families.
He promised that the evacuation order would be enforced and that the police and the military would be overseeing it. With reports from Frinston L. Lim, Rosa May de Guzman-Maitem, Dennis Santos and Judy Quiros, Inquirer Mindanao
