Landslides destroy 5 houses, displace dozens of families in Diwalwal

TAGUM CITY, Philippines – At least five houses were destroyed and dozens of families were displaced following a string of landslides that hit several communities in the gold-rich village of Diwalwal in Monkayo, Compostela Valley on Tuesday, the police said.

The landslides, which occurred starting at 2 a.m. on Tuesday, were triggered by days of continuous rains, Supt. Antonio Rivera, spokesperson of the Southern Mindanao police office, said.

No one was hurt during the landslides that affected Purok 4 in Sitio Nang, Purok 7, in Sitio Cabasaran, and Purok 22 in Sitio JB, said Rivera.
Rivera said at least 57 people have sought refuge in safer areas and barangay (village) officials have started helping them.

About 18, 000 people eke out their living through small-scale mining in the 729-hectare village, part of the 8,100-hectare Mt. Diwalwal Mineral Reserves, which is said to contain billions of dollars’ worth of gold deposits.

Landslides, cave-ins locally known as bar-downs and other accidents are common in the gold-rich area where unregulated mining has been proliferating, causing thousands of deaths since gold was first discovered there in the 1980s. SFM/AC