Demolition of houses in landslide areas starts

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Authorities started demolishing yesterday the houses and other structures in areas considered to be landslide high-risk locations in Pantukan, Compostela Valley.

The demolition came a week after the deadly landslide in Purok Diat Uno and Purok Diat Dos that claimed 38 lives with 36 more still missing.

Arnulfo Lantaya, spokesman for the municipal disaster risk reduction and management council, said the military and police together with local demolition teams were sent to the areas to tear down the remaining structures, including the houses of small-scale miners.

The affected miners have been served their corresponding relocation notice as early as Monday as part of the implementation of the “no habitation policy,” he said.

Lantaya said the miners were given P5,000 each as cash assistance for their relocation while the kin of the fatalities were given P10,000 each by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), on the other hand, was also tasked to facilitate the smooth relocation of the miners to safer grounds.

A mining ban was also imposed in the landslide high-risk areas while ball mills have been moved to the mineral processing area in Lower Pantukan.

There are at least 30,000 small-scale miners operating in Pantukan, most of whom are outsiders.

Meanwhile, the search and rescue operations in Pantukan shifted to retrieval operations Wednesday as the chances appeared slim that there would still be survivors in the landslide area.

The continuous rains in the south for the past few days also hampered the search and rescue operations at the landslide area in Pantukan where 36 people remained missing.