5 miners found dead inside illegal tunnel in Nueva Vizcaya town

Inquirer files

BAYOMBONG, NUEVA VIZCAYA, Philippines — Five small-scale miners were found dead early on Tuesday inside an illegally dug tunnel within the compound of a mining company in Quezon town, Nueva Vizcaya, authorities reported.

The victims—identified as Daniel Segundo Paggana, 47; Lipihon Ayudan, 56; Florencio Indopia, 63, all residents of Barangay Runruno; and Alfred Bilibli and Joval Bantiyan, both from Maddela town, Quirino—were reportedly engaged in illegal mining activities at a depth of 91.44 meters (300 feet) and could have suffocated, authorities said.

Their bodies were discovered around 1 a.m. by Russel Tumapang, 29, a resident who entered the tunnel and who later informed Barangay Runruno chief John Babliing of the situation.

READ: Sierra Madre on the brink: Can we stop mining before it is too late?

The Quezon police, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office sent rescue teams to the site.

Retrieval

Retrieval operations led by workers of FCF Minerals Corp. were ongoing as of Tuesday afternoon as authorities worked with barangay officials to determine if more people were trapped in the tunnel.

Barangay Runruno has long been a hot spot for unregulated small-scale mining in the province.

In 2021, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources led a multiagency crackdown on illegal operations in the area.

The campaign led to the dismantling of ball mills, diesel engines and other mining equipment within the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement or FTAA zone of FCF Minerals Corp.—an area that has not been developed and is not eligible to be declared a “Minahang Bayan,” or a legally recognized small-scale mining site. /cb