‘Illegal’ gold mining in Leyte, Samar probed

TACLOBAN CITY—The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Eastern Visayas is investigating the reported illegal gold mining activities in Southern Leyte and in Eastern Samar.

MGB Regional Director Roger De Dios said they have to look into these illegal mining activities as these could trigger landslides just like what happened in Compostela Valley province.

De Dios said a report received by his office showed there were illegal gold mining activities in San Ricardo and Saint Bernard, both in Southern Leyte, and in Balangiga, Eastern Samar.

Balangiga Mayor Viscuso De Lira said he had informed the MGB office about gold extraction in his town.

De Lira, in a phone interview, said gold panning in his town were located in barangays (villages) Cag-olango and Guinmaayohan, both upstream villages.

Cag-olango is about 9 kilometers away from the town center with more than 600 residents while Guinmaayohan has over 1,500 residents and is 12 km from the town proper.

“I sought assistance from the MGB as to the best way to address this concern. I have yet to make a move like for a possible relocation of the people in these areas,” De Lira said.

He said he could not just order the people there to relocate as it would also mean economic dislocation for them.

Residents in these villages rely on farming as their main livelihood source but with a high price of gold at P1,800 per ounce, there  is now a scramble among the people there to conduct the gold panning, the town mayor said.

Given the chance, he said he would like to see the people in these areas to be relocated to a safer place considering the danger of landslides.

“That (landslide) is a possibility considering that Eastern Visayas has been identified as among the country’s landslide-prone regions and with our present weather condition,” De Dios said.

For several days now, the region has been experiencing heavy rains, a weather condition that could trigger landslide or flash flood incidents.

The MGB-8 has listed 2,531 barangays across the region considered “susceptible” to landslide incidents.

“Although mining-related activities is part of the supervisory functions of the MGB, they (local governments) should help us especially those small-scale activities like gold panning,” De Dios said, adding that the local police could help stop the illegal mining.