25 killed, scores lost in ComVal landslide

Tagum City—About 25 people were reported killed and dozens of others were listed missing in the wake of a series of landslides that struck a mining area in Pantukan, Compostela Valley, early Thursday, the authorities said.

At least 15 other persons were injured in the landslides that occurred in Barangay Napnapan, according to Pantukan municipal health officer Arnulfo Lantaya.

Lantaya could not say how many women or children were killed when earth from surrounding mountainsides buried an undetermined number of shanties where small-scale miners and their families lived.

Other officials said the landslides struck while the residents were asleep.

The landslides occurred at around 3 a.m. following incessant rains.

Several Mindanao areas have been experiencing heavy rains due to a low pressure off General Santos City.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration had earlier warned of the possibility of floods and landslides due to the rains.

Maj. Jacob Obligado, spokesperson of the 10th Infantry Division, said the landslides happened at around 3 a.m. in the villages of Diat Uno and Diat Palo in the district of Napnapan.

Diat Uno is between 10 and 15 kilometers from the Pantukan town center and is near Barangay Kingking, where 13 miners were also killed in a landslide on Good Friday last year.

“We expect more casualties as it happened in a mining community,” Obligado said, adding that three landslides occrred simulataneously in the area, burying miners’ shanties.

Antonio Cloma of the Southern Mindanao disaster risk management council, said they were still trying to validate reports they were getting from the area.

Rhona Siojo, Pantukan social welfare officer, said they also received reports of the large number of casualties and that local disaster teams had already been dispatched to the area.

Lt. Col. Leopoldo Galon, spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao Command based in Davao City, said a team of soldiers from the Army’s 1001st Infantry Brigade has been sent to the area.

A helicopter was also dispatched to help in the search-and-rescue operation, he said.

Landslides frequently occur in the hinterlands of the province where small-scale miners burrow into the mountainsides in search of gold.

In August, about four months since the Kingking landslide took place, three small-scale miners were killed in a landslide at a mining area in the municipality of New Bataan.

There was also the landslide that occurred on Mt. Diwata in Monkayo last December in which five people were killed.

Last year, Compostela Valley Rep. Maricar Zamora-Apsay said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources had allotted P100 million for the relocation of hundreds of families living on the slopes of Mt. Diwata, considered a danger zone.

Apsay said the plan was firmed up because of previous incidents, including mudslides, that saw dozens of people killed or hurt.

Apsay said relocating families to safer areas, particularly the lower levels of the mountain, also known as Diwalwal, was part of a short-term solution to a problem facing communities there for years now.

“It’s very sad now because you can see children walking around Mt. Diwalwal, playing beside cliffs where anytime they could fall and die,” Apsay said.

She said another expected result of the relocation effort would be protection of women and children from mining hazards.

“They would be protected from the dangers of the small-scale mining operations and at the same time, be provided with education in decent schools,” Apsay added.

“By transferring the operations to the lower ground, more families would also follow as mining is their sole livelihood. So long as the operations remain in the mountains you can never persuade the families to permanently locate,” Apsay said. Inquirer