THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has ordered the suspension of all small-scale mining operations in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) following a massive landslide in Itogon, Benguet, that left more than 30 people dead and more than 40 others missing.
Heavy rains brought by Typhoon Ompong caused a landslide at a mining area allegedly “abandoned” by Benguet Corp., which denied giving the small miners permission to use its abandoned barracks.
Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu announced on Monday, in a press briefing, that the DENR will be sending men from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police to effect the stoppage of all mining activities, especially in Itogon.
“So in view of this current situation, in the Cordillera, to prevent further danger to the lives of our small-scale miners, I officially order cease and desist of all illegal small-scale mining operations in the whole of Cordillera Administrative Region,” Cimatu said.
He said even the temporary permits issued by the DENR to 10 small-scale mining associations in CAR will be revoked.
The temporary contracts were issued to these mining associations until their areas were declared as Minahang Bayan.
“Okay, by virtue of what happened, I’m revoking those permits, effective today,” he said.
Under Republic Act 7076, or the Small-Scale Mining Act, small-scale mining operation is only allowed within a declared Minahang Bayan.
“At present, there are existing applications for Minahang Bayan in some areas of the region. While we await for the approval and proclamation of this applications we asked our small-scale miners to cooperate and stop all small-scale mining activities here,” he said.
Cimatu also said they might also file charges against who will not stop despite the cease-and-desist order.
“They could be charged with mining without permit or theft of minerals,” he told reporters in a message when sought for clarification.
Itogon Mayor Vic Palangdan also said in the briefing that the government will not stop until they recover all the bodies.
He also revealed that the people in that area refused to heed the government’s call to evacuate before the coming of Typhoon Ompong.
The mayor said he wrote a letter earlier to the Mining and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Cordillera to stop this mining operation.
He also issued a stoppage order, which was not heeded because the small-scale miners were claiming that they are being allowed by Benguet Corp. to occupy the
abandoned site.
“When they said that, I wrote to MGB for them to stop their operations. I copy furnished National Mining Challenge Committee that we are requesting for the stoppage of that mining operation. But nothing happened. Two times,” he said.
Benguet Corp., in a company disclosure, said it had suspended its mining operations in the area in the late-1990s and was studying new technologies for mining low-grade ores.
“During the period of suspension, the Antamok mines was gradually encroached [on] by the small-scale miners,” the disclosure read.
Benguet Corp. said the persons affected are mostly small-scale miners who have been “illegally operating” in its Antamok claims.
“Their unregulated mining activities are without permission of the company,” it added, noting that they have also warned the small-scale miners to vacate the area but “were met with resistance and outright refusal.”
COMP’s position
Earlier in the day, the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) urged the government to intensify the campaign against illegal mining activities, particularly small-scale mining, in the wake of deaths of miners and their families following a landslide in Itogon, Benguet, at the height of Typhoon Ompong, which dumped rains on Northern Luzon at the weekend.
In a statement, COMP—which represents some of the country’s biggest operating mines—said illegal small-scale mining does not employ the same stringent safety practices required of legitimate large-scale mining operators.
The victims in Ucab, a barangay in Itogon, a known mining town, the group said, are part of the illegal gold-mining activities near an old abandoned bunkhouse of Benguet Corp., a member of COMP.
The area is a few kilometers away from the company’s Balatoc and Dalicno underground mines
in Itogon.
Benguet Corp. said it had sent numerous letters to the small-scale mining operators in Ucab, ordering them to vacate the area as it had been identified by the MGB as a geohazard zone prone to landslides.
Search and rescue
Benguet Corp., along with Philex Mining Corp., had deployed their rescue teams in partnership with the MGB-CAR to actively participate in the search, rescue and retrieval operations in Ucab and other areas where their assistance is needed.
There were no reported casualties in the host mining communities of Benguet Corp. and Philex, a statement released by COMP through Rocky Dimaculangan, its vice president for communication, revealed.
All other COMP member-companies in Northern and Central Luzon have also mobilized their rescue and relief teams in their respective host mining communities, Dimaculangan said.
Search and rescue teams have poured into Benguet as the government works to retrieve at least 30 miners or their families trapped inside the bunkhouses.
At least eight teams of rescuers were sent to Barangay Ucab to join the ongoing search and rescue operations for the victims, declared by the government as still “missing” in the former mining site that was buried in mud and debris.