Free-for-all gold hunt in Surigao

IT HAS BECOME a free-for-all hunt for gold in the village of Tambis in Barobo town, Surigao del Sur province. The supposed small-scale mining operations have led to craters this big in areas that used to be farms. CHRIS V. PANGANIBAN/INQUIRER MINDANAO

BAROBO, Surigao del Sur—Supposed small-scale operators allegedly with a permit from the province’s governor have turned to open-pit mining, turning vast tracts of farmlands in a gold-rich village in this town into what looks like craters the size of coliseums.

The mining operations are being financed by Taiwanese investors and have ceased briefly in the past, but have resumed in the gold-rich mining village of Tambis.

The unabated mining operations, which are taking place just 200 meters from the national highway, have resulted in excavations that have gone as deep as the bedrock of several hectares of farms, destroying these in the process.

Villagers reported seeing Taiwanese miners using backhoes and high-pressure water pumps to dig deep into the farms. The operations resumed in the last few weeks.

The mining operations attracted other small-scale miners who have started their own excavations in what appears to be a free-for-all hunt for gold in the village.

Talk about how the village is so rich in gold that one miner can get as much as 100 grams of gold per day added to the frenzy.

The mining operations were unchecked and even supported by a so-called temporary small-scale mining permit signed by Surigao del Sur Gov. Johnny Pimentel and issued to a certain Gecel Bahalla, a resident of San Francisco town in the neighboring province of Agusan del Sur.

Provincial administrator Efren Rivas, however, denied that the governor issued such a document allowing small-scale mining operations in the village to Bahalla on March 5.

“Normally, important documents like that one always go to my office for me to countersign before the governor signs for approval,” he said, denying seeing a similar document.

Danny Lumapas, councilor of the town and chair of the council’s environment committee, said Bahalla might just be a front for Taiwanese financiers.

Lumapas identified the Taiwanese financiers as Jennifer Wen, Jo Wen and a certain Nick Hsu.

According to Lumapas, the three foreigners rented several backhoes and high-pressure water pumps for processing ore.

Gold is being separated from other minerals in sluice boxes the size of cars, according to Lumapas.

Pimentel, in a cease-and-

desist order issued last year, stopped the mining operations of Hsu in the community of Kauswagan, also in Tambis.

A check at the Bureau of Immigration office in Butuan City showed that Hsu no longer had a record as an alien residing in the Philippines.

The check also yielded information that Jo Wen holds a tourist visa and that Jennifer Wen did not renew her tourist visa to extend her stay in the country.

Lumapas said he would file a motion in the council during its regular session on Tuesday to call for an investigation on the recurrence of destructive small-scale mining activities.

He said the mining activities had already caused heavy damage to the farms and were posing a threat to a million-peso, 2-kilometer farm-to-market road concreting project. Chris Panganiban, Inquirer Mindanao