MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. on Friday said mining operations may not necessarily be the cause of landslides in the province of Rizal.
Marcos made the pronouncement during a situation briefing with local and provincial officials in Antipolo City.
In the briefing, Antipolo Mayor Jun Ynares said residents are blaming mining activities for the landslides in the province, but noted how it was “unfair” to do so because only one percent of the Marikina watershed is being mined.
Marcos concurred.
“When I flew yesterday, the other day, kitang-kita ko ‘yung mga mining operation. Hindi naman nag-landslide,” said Marcos, who recently conducted an aerial inspection of areas hit bySevere Tropical Storm Enteng, including Rizal.
(When I made an aerial inspection yesterday, the other day, I could clearly see the mining operations. There were no landslides.)
“Akala ko, sabi ko, ito kasi wala nang kahoy. Sabi ko, ito baka dito, baka dito. It was — lupa ang nakikita ko. Tapos may mga truck. They were like about five of them that we flew over. And I looked downstream from them, mukha naman — quarrying, mostly quarrying ang ginagawa nila. Hindi naman yata naapektuhan,” he added.
(I thought, I said, it’s because there are no trees left. I said, it might be here, it might be here. I could see soil. There were like about five trucks that we flew over. And I looked downstream from them, it looked like — they were doing quarrying, mostly quarrying. I don’t think there was any effect.)
Marcos, however, noted that the government would still have to further study how much mining actually contributes to landslides.
“Because I guess, when you look around, the only areas with bare soil are the landslide and the mining areas. So, sinasabi siguro, kaya gumuho ‘yan, dahil… I don’t know, we’ll have to — we’ll really have to look at it,” he said.