PANTUKAN LANDSLIDE : A REACTION PAPER

New Compostela landslide feared; death toll rises to 8

MB – Mon, Apr 25, 2011 7:40 PM PHT

MANILA, Philippines - Compostela Valley, still reeling from the landslide that has left at least eight people dead in Pantukan town, is facing another tragedy after experts found two tension cracks that may lead to another avalanche near the site. 

Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Director Leo Jasareno, who is on the site, Monday recommended to acting Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon Paje that he advised the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) to immediately relocate residents near the area as the huge cracks may lead to another landslide.

Jasareno said at least 50 houses may be affected if another landslide occurs.

Paje directed a team of geologists to begin a more detailed geo-hazard assessment of Compostela Valley that will identify the province's landslide risks.

Continuous rains had saturated the soil triggering a landslide in Sitio Panganason, Barangay Kingking, in Pantukan town on Good Friday, leaving eight people dead and 14 others still missing and believed buried in mud.

As operations at the landslidehit mining community in Compostela Valley shifted to retrieval, from search and rescue mode, three more bodies were pulled out from mud yesterday morning, raising the death toll to eight with authorities unable to say exactly how many more miners are still missing.

Authorities also announced a forced evacuation of at least 30 families at the other side of the landslide-hit village noting that another disaster looms in the area.

Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza, Army 10th Infantry Division (10ID) spokesman who is currently at the command post in Compostela Valley province, said three more bodies were retrieved from the mud that buried 13 shanties situated at the mouth of a tunnel in Sitio Panganason-B, Barangay Kingking, Pantukan town.

One of the latest fatalities was identified as Cristituto Torrejos Sr., while the other two have yet to be identified.

The other fatalities have been officially identified as John Ric Torrejos, 15; Marjun Guilabtan, 18; Rolieto Tabag, 29; Danny Prendo, 26; and Marvin Anglai, 19.

Lt. Col. Leopoldo Galon, Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) spokesman, said that based on official data of the Pantukan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (MDRRMC), the three bodies were retrieved at 8:55 a.m., 10:40 a.m., and 12 noon Monday.

He added that as of 1 p.m., the Pantukan MDRRMC record shows 13 rescued, eight dead - six of them identified - and 16 still missing.

President Benigno S. Aquino III, meanwhile, ordered a thorough investigation into the landslide tragedy to prevent a similar incident.

Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said acting Environment Secretary Ramon Paje was tasked to lead the probe into the incident after the search and retrieval operations are completed.

Valte said they want to know what went wrong in the landslide-hit small mining village in order to avert a repeat of the tragedy that left eight miners dead and several others still missing.

"The President has already tasked Secretary Paje to conduct an investigation after the rescue efforts are done to see what did go wrong," she said in Palace news conference.

Valte likewise called for stricter enforcement of mining rules by the environment department, saying most of these rules have been ignored by some groups.

She said local government executives of Compostela Valley have suspended small-scale mining operations pending the retrieval operations as well as the investigation into the incident. She said local officials have the power to order a temporary mining ban in their area of jurisdiction.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (Nassa-JP), also called on President Aquino to issue a moratorium on all mining operations in the country following the tragedy.

"There should be a moratorium (in mining operations)... not only in Compostela Valley but also in other provinces," he said.

"They should temporarily ban it until such time that there is proper monitoring," added Pabillo.

Meantime, Valte said the national government is focused on the retrieval operations in the landslide-hit mining community in Compostela Valley.

She noted that Paje and Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo have been giving the President constant updates about the retrieval operations.

Authorities earlier acknowledged that that people buried by the landslide had slim chances of surviving after three days underneath the mud. Residents living in the landslide-prone area were also advised to evacuate and move to safer grounds.

Based on the government's geohazard mapping project completed in 2010, Compostela Valley has been identified as most prone to landslides, along with the provinces located in the eastern seaboard -Quezon, Aurora, Southern Leyte, and the areas running from Sierra Madre up to the Bicol Region.

Paje said the maps that were completed last year have a scale of 1:50,000.

"I have pulled out the team of geologists conducting geohazard mapping in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, to go to Compostela to expand geohazard assessment in the area," Paje said, citing that a densified 1:10,000 map will be produced by DENR's Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

"Because Compostela is a highly critical area to landslides, we will be producing a map with a scale of 1:10,000 to determine further the landslide risks of the province. We can already see the area's fissures in this scale," he added.

The DENR chief said MGB has repeatedly warned the residents in the province, particularly in Pantukan town, of its vulnerability to landslides.

The landslide-hit area in Pantukan town, which is inside the Kingking mining site, is covered by mining firm Nationwide Development Corporation's Mineral Production Sharing Agreement (MPSA).

"Mining firm NADECOR is telling us that they were infiltrated by illegal miners. These illegal small-scale miners are the ones being suspected to be operating in the landslide area," Paje said. 


(With reports from Genalyn D. Kabiling and Leslie Ann G. Aquino)

(http://ph.news.yahoo.com/compostela-landslide-feared-death-toll-rises-8-114036793.html)

             The landslide in Sitio Panganason, Barangay Kingking, Pantukan which killed eight people and left fourteen more buried under thick mud was an unfortunate accident which happened last April 22, Good Friday. The people who died were the miners and their families including their children.

            One of the issues which surfaced after the accident was child labor. The children who died in the landslide were not just members of the family of the miners but were also workers. They did not mind the dangers of their job because they had to do.The little amount that they earn is a big help for their families. These children who are supposed to be at school are working at mine fields. against the law to hire minors but some companies still do it. Hiring minors will yield greater profit for these companies since hiring them means cheap labor.

            Another issue was how the mining company managed to secure a permit when some barangays in Pantukan, including Barangay Kingking, were declared to be dangerous zones for mining. This will surely be impossible if they did not get support from the authorities. Some officials say that they allowed these people to mine because they were just being humanitarian. They permitted mining to help the people have a job. Obviously, this is not the whole picture. These officials are not only helping the people but are also gaining for themselves. As the saying goes, there is no such thing as free lunch.

            Did they really help the people or just made the situation worse? If you think about it, their humanitarian help took the lives of these people, including children. Is this the thing they call help? Did they really allow small-scale mining for the people and not for themselves? Is the money they get as a consolation more important than the lives of the people they govern?

            Many people say that the Philippines has a good set of laws but a very bad way of implementation. For me, this statement is really true. We have all the good laws which also cover mining. One thing I am sure of is that the DENR does not allow mining in these places because it is too dangerous. Also, they will be damaging a lot of natural resources including forests and rivers. There are also punishments for violations of these laws, but do we see anyone punished? How come with all the violations people commit no one actually goes behind bars? Where are the policemen? Where are the officials who are supposed to look over these things?

            The government must do their duty to the country. Their top priority must be for the country and not for themselves. However, we must not put all the blame on them because we also have our share in these anomalies. If we did not allow these things to happen, they will not. We are also to blame for letting our officials engage in illegal activities. I know we all want the best for our country but we must do it the right way. We have to obey the laws that are implemented by the government. We must stop thinking that there are alternatives and people can be paid, because they are not. The best thing to do this is by following God’s law. I am sure that if we do things that will please Him, we will be on the right path. If we really want the Philippines to improve and prosper, we have to walk the talk.