Landslide kills 25 in Compostela Valley; dozens missing

DEADLY SLIDE This photo released by the Philippine Army shows the extent of Thursday’s landslide that hit the small-scale mining community of Pantukan in Compostela Valley. The landslide buried dozens of people months after government officials warned miners that the mountain above them was guaranteed to crumble. PHOTO COURTESY OF 10TH INFANTRY DIVISION, PHILIPPINE ARMY

PANTUKAN, Compostela Valley—It was another environmental nightmare that experts had warned of, yet nobody acted decisively.

Tons of mud from mountainsides crashed on shanties in a sleeping mining community in Barangay (village) Napnapan here before dawn yesterday, killing at least 25 people, including women and children, officials said.

Fifteen people were injured while dozens of others remained missing, according to municipal health officer Arnulfo Lantaya. At least three landslides reportedly occurred in Diat Uno and Diat Palo sub-villages.

Colonel Lyndon Paniza, 10th Infantry Division spokesperson, said “the worst-hit area was in the middle of the community, where there are many shanties.” He described the devastation as “enormous.”

An aerial survey conducted by the military showed a mud sweep 50 meters wide and 150 meters deep over Diat Uno and Diat Palo.

About 30 square meters of loosen earth from Diat Dos fell sharply by 200 meters over Diat Uno, where small miners were digging tunnels and built their homes, Paniza said.

Napnapan and other villages of Pantukan sit on the gold-rich Mt. Diwata mountain range. Diat Uno is 10 to 15 km from Barangay Poblacion Pantukan and near Barangay Kingking, where 13 miners were killed in a similar landslide on Good Friday last year.

As landslides always occur amid heavy rain in the hinterlands of the province, particularly Mt. Diwata, where small scale miners thrive, mining has been banned in these areas, according to Liza Maso, director of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC).

“We expect more casualties,” said Major Jacob Obligado, spokesperson of the Army’s 10th ID.

‘Totally unacceptable’

In Manila, Malacañang said it was “totally unacceptable” for the landslides in Compostela Valley to have happened and taken so many lives despite the warning given by high-ranking national officials to local executives in April last year.

President Benigno Aquino III ordered Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo to look into the circumstances that led to the tragedy, according to presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda.

Robredo, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and Environment Secretary Ramon Paje have explicitly warned local government officials of the cracks on the cliffs in the area, according to Lacierda.

“The responsibility of evacuating or doing a forced evacuation is with the local government officials. But having this thing happen, this is totally unacceptable,” Lacierda said.

Yellow ribbon

A yellow ribbon cordons off the area where the latest landslide occurred. It was put up after the Good Friday landslide at Panganason sub-village in Kingking, Maso said.

Last year, Governor Arturo Uy  ordered the evacuation of residents in the landslide-prone areas, according to Luwalhati Antonino, secretary of the Mindanao Development Authority. “Apparently, the residents who make a living from the mining” continued to sneak in, Maso said.

“This can’t be allowed to happen over and over again. An investigation should be in order to determine accountability and ensure the prevention of similar incidents in known danger-prone sites,” Antonino said.

Asked if certain officials would be made to answer for the loss of lives, Lacierda said, “there will be an investigation and, of course, there will be some responsibility.”

He said local officials were expected to make sure citizens are safe and secure in their homes and workplaces. “You are elected to office to provide service in all forms and that includes ensuring the safety of your constituents,” he said.

Geohazard maps

Lacierda said having geohazard maps would make ignorance of the danger no longer an excuse for local officials.

“You are provided the geohazard map so there is no reason for you to say, ‘I’m not aware of that. We can’t evacuate them because it’s difficult to do so.’” he said.

“This is no longer acceptable for us. If you are a mayor of a town and you’ve been given a geohazard map in this particular area, and it’s risky for those that live there, what will you do? Wouldn’t you, as mayor, think a proactive stance of ensuring their safety is paramount?” Lacierda said.

Lacierda said geohazard maps were being made available to officials concerned.

Return of miners

“Geohazard mapping is now being provided to all local government units. My understanding as well is that some network stations as well as some broadsheets are going to be provided geohazard maps precisely to share with the public the areas where there are hazardous areas,” he said.

Pantukan Mayor Celso Sarenas said the local government had already cleared of people the areas declared landslide-prone by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau after the Good Friday landslide. He said he was not aware that people started tunneling anew and built more houses in the mining area.

Guerrilla tactic

Jim Sampulna, regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, also said the latest landslide area was already cleared by the military and the police on April 24 last year, after the visit of Secretary Paje.

“But the people who earlier vacated the area did a guerrilla tactic by gradually coming back,” Sampulna said.

Lantaya could not exactly say how many women or children were killed. Three of the bodies dug up and brought to funeral parlors in the town proper where those of minors, he said.

Some of the fatalities were identified as Ivy Tolentino, 14, and her sister Bea, 6; Susana Velasquez, 48, of Digmahon, San Isidro, Davao Oriental; and Ruel Zamora, 27, Arlene Senoron, 23, and Romnick Diagdal; all of Visayan Village in Tagum City.

Dr. Renato Basanez, provincial health officer, said at least four of the 17 rescued so far were admitted to the hospital.

Rhona Siojo, municipal social welfare officer, said local disaster teams had already been dispatched to the area. Reports from Frinston Lim, Dennis Santos, Germelina Lacorte, Karlos Manlupig and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao; and Norman Bordadora in Manila