Forced evacuation mulled at mine site

MANILA, Philippines - The government may have to forcibly evacuate residents at the mining site in Compostela Valley affected by the landslide, Malacañang said yesterday.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had declared the area as dangerous, emphasizing that residents should leave immediately.

Lacierda said the MGB had warned that it would only be a matter of time before the soil would collapse and put the residents in the area at risk.

“First of all, what we’re going to ask them to do is convince them to leave and in fact many of them have evacuated. But yes, we are going to force them to leave if they do not want, for their own safety,” Lacierda said.

He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had distributed P5,000 in Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) for the residents affected by last Friday’s landslide.

“Also the DSWD has already distributed food packs to those who have been affected by the landslide, and they will continue to distribute food packs in the coming days,” Lacierda said.

With respect to the relocation efforts in these areas, the local government will take care of this, he said. 

Rescuers dug out two more bodies at noon yesterday bringing the toll to 10 people dead, with 15 more still missing.

Thirteen miners have been rescued but officials conceded the chance of finding more survivors being pulled from the debris was slim.

The landslide hit Sitio Panganason, Barangay Kingking, a remote mountain district near Pantukan before dawn Friday after heavy rain, burying illegal gold mines as well as houses, stores and crude gold processing mills.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje had ordered the suspension of mining operations in the area following the disaster.

Paje said authorities had detected a 70-meter fissure directly above the landslide area.

Paje said he would recommend to President Aquino to declare a “no habitation policy” in the municipality of Pantukan.

Paje said that a team from the MGB has been monitoring the situation.

“We don’t want further risks,” Paje said.

More fissures were found in the mining site as the rains brought about by the prevailing low-pressure area in Mindanao continued.

The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) regional office said the rains would last through the week.

The heavy rains since Monday night had forced the rescue teams to suspend retrieval operations for the 15 more missing.

Regional military spokesman Lt. Col. Lyndon Panesa said the Army and police rescuers, along with local civilian volunteer rescue groups were ordered to immediately clear the retrieval site since the soil had become soggy because of the rains.

“Our primary concern now is the safety of everybody - rescuers, the local residents both legitimate and non-resident miners,” Panesa said.

The multi-agency task force that oversees the disaster response assistance in Pantukan had started the forced evacuation.

Some of the residents themselves voluntarily moved out to the relocation site that had been provided by the local government.

The evacuees were also given financial assistance by the provincial government and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and other national government agencies.

As to the issue of large-scale mining in Compostela Valley, Paje said there would be no problem since the mining companies involved are capable of responsible mining.

“They (big mining firms) are capable of putting up tailings dam. They can dispose tailings waste properly. In effect, they are able to protect the environment,” he said.

A total of 112 people have already been relocated, according to Col. Leopoldo Galon, Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman.

Galon said the local government units and partner agencies are helping the residents by giving them an alternative source of livelihood.

“Initial plan was training and hiring of these locals, to act as forest rangers to secure the area and at the same time rehabilitate through reforestation,” Galon said.

Aside from declaring the area as a danger zone, national and local officials, in a meeting following tragedy, also agreed to totally ban the conduct of small-mining operations in the area.

Gov. Arturo Uy proposed a “no habitation” policy in Pantukan saying this would prevent another mining tragedy there.

Uy said landslides are common occurrence in the mining sites since the soil, particularly in Pantukan, has been loosened due to unregulated mining.

One person was killed and five others were injured in a landslide in the same area last month, while 21 people died when a similar disaster brought on by heavy rains hit the same location in May 2009.

Compostela Valley Rep. Maricar Zamora-Apsay said she supports the proposal to declare “no habitation” in Pantukan and also in other mining areas all over the country.

Apsay said such a plan is a welcome development especially if it is for the welfare of the small-scale miners.

“We support all proposals that prioritizes the safety of our miners,” she said.

Apsay said Congress is now looking into how to improve measures on responsible mining following the Good Friday landslide in Pantukan.

“We need to focus on both responsibility and safety to prevent and avoid further tragedy in our mining communities,” she said.

Apsay said the House of Representatives is already studying and reviewing measures that would at least address policy changes in ensuring responsible mining. -With Edith Regalado, Jaime Laude, Rhodina Villanueva