Rescuers are now racing against time to save residents of two small communities whose houses were buried under tons of soil and rocks following landslides near a quarry site in Naga City, Cebu.
As if this writing, at least three people, two elders and a child, are confirmed dead.
Their bodies were among the first to be recovered by rescuers in an attempt to rescue possible survivors beneath tons of mud that covered at least 20 houses.
According to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Region 7, the landslides occurred at around 6 a.m. in barangays Tinaan and Naalad after days of rain brought about by typhoon ‘Ompong’ last week.
DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste and Local Government Units Benny Antiporda, the deputy spokesperson of Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, said he is still in the process of information-gathering.
Antiporda, a former journalist, said as a policy, the DENR constantly reminds local government units to advise mining stakeholders about the potential dangers of geological hazards like floods and landslides occurring within their jurisdiction, especially during the wet and typhoon season.
Just last week, a landslide buried bunkhouses at the Antamok area, a mining site long declared closed, but still being used for small-scale mining, in Barangay Ucab, Itogon, Benguet.
Dozens of small-scale miners taking shelter from the heavy rains were buried under tons of soil and rock debris.
The incident has put the mining industry in a bad light and prompted Cimatu to order a fact-finding investigation to determine who is to blame for the tragic incident. Cimatu also ordered a review of Minahang Bayan applications to fast track their processing, especially in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR).
Quarrying is done through surface or open-pit mining.
The process involves scraping of vegetation and removal of topsoil to extract target mineral reserves, possibly limestone for cement production, or gravel, leaving a bowl-like hole after mining.
Quarrying, along with nickel-mining operations are exempted from a ban imposed by the DENR on prospective open-pit mining projects for select ores, including gold, copper, silver and complex ores, which industry players are appealing to set aside.
Image credits: Photo courtesy of CNN Philippines