Palace looking into role of gov’t negligence in Itogon landslides

Malacañang is looking into the possibility that government agencies may have been negligent in their duties and failed to prevent the landslides in a mining area in Itogon, Benguet that killed over 60 people.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu was aware of the possibility of a landslide occurring in Itogon, Benguet after a group of geologist informed him of the risk in the area due to mining activities.

Roque admitted that he was also informed of the risk in January this year.

“Ang tingin ko po nagawa ko naman iyong katungkulan ko, dahil ipinarating ko itong impormasyon kay Secretary Cimatu at si Secretary Cimatu sa harap ni Presidente inamin naman niya na nalaman din niya yung impormasyon (I think I have already done my duty. I have relayed this information to Secretary Cimatu and he admitted to the President that he also received the same information),” he said in a Palace briefing on Monday.

A landslide killed over 60 people in Ucab village in Itogon, Benguet during the onslaught of typhoon “Ompong,” which batterred northen Luzon.

READ: Frantic dig for Philippine victims of typhoon landslide

Asked if the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) should be held liable for the landslide and the deaths, Roque said, “I will withhold judgment because although Secretary Cimatu acknowledged [that] he received the information, I do not know what action they took.”

“Now, I’m in the process of inquiring from MGB (Mines and Geo Sciences Byureau) if they took any steps. And preliminarily, they told me that they have actually fined the owner of the mining rights repeatedly, and that these fines have not been paid; I am not sure if the fines are sufficient,” he said.

“But that’s something that I want to make public this week from MGB, how many instances they have fined the mining company that has the mining right in the area where we had the landslide, and what steps they took to enforce the fines,” he added. /ee