An anti-mining group in Benguet province said that the disaster in one of the mining villages of Itogon town that buried 16 small-scale miners is traceable to lax environmental and pro-corporate policies of the country.
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) – An anti-mining group in Benguet province said that the disaster in one of the mining villages of Itogon town that buried 16 small-scale miners is traceable to lax environmental and pro-corporate policies of the country.
Virgel Aniceto, spokesperson of the newly formed Benguet Mining Action and Action Network (BMAAN), pointed out that the lax environmental policy of the state is manifested in the fact that Benguet Corporation (BC) has not been compelled to implement any rehabilitation program after it profited from mining the Itogon area for many years since 1903.
BMAAN is a new organization that advocates for a sustainable environment.
Aniceto’s pronouncements came in the wake of reports that quoted Itogon Mayor Mario Godio as seeking a review of Republic Act No. 7076 or the People’s Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991.
No rehabilitation
“The absence of rehabilitation over the mined out areas shows that corporate social responsibility to affected communities is just a myth,” Aniceto explained in a phone interview.
Aniceto pointed out as concrete example the latest destruction brought by mining in Itogon town.
The landslides in Sitio Bedda in Barangay Loakan, Itogon, were mainly caused by the collapse of two BC tunnels below the church of the Iglesia ni Kristo (Church of Christ) in that area.
The church was among the buildings not destroyed by the slides, but at least 51 houses were destroyed, causing at least 400 residents to evacuate from the area. Residents claimed the landslides and collapse of the tunnels were due to mining.
Trapped miners
The collapsed tunnels, believed to be 700-feet deep, trapped 16 small-scale miners at the height of typhoon Nina.
The miners, mostly from Ifugao in the Cordillera and Quirino in the Cagayan Valley, were allegedly contracted by BC under the Community Mining Program, where a sharing scheme between the company and the miners are agreed upon, sources revealed.
Two bodies were found inside the tunnel when floodwaters started to rise. The bodies were starting to decompose when recovered Thursday night. The first body was that of Joel Bulga from Aglipay, Quirino, while the second was identified as Vincent Himmayod from Nagtipunan, also in Quirino.
Earlier, the National Disaster Coordinating Council identified the other 14 missing miners as Gilbert Nattem, Garry Ganu, Rudy Boling Jr., Joel Bulga, Jeyson Himmayod, Rudy Himmayod, Jojo Himmayod, Juan Himmayod, Marvin Himmayod, Vincent Himmayod, Joseph Anayasan, Mario Annayasan, Gerry Monyboda, and Robert Buway. Two other missing miners are Nitnit Pagulayan and Jose Panio.
Rescue and retrieval
The rescue and retrieval operations for the trapped miners have been going on for more than a week now.
Various government, private and non-government organizations are among those joining the operations but community members are leading the rescue operations despite bad weather.
As early as Tuesday, SN Aboitiz Philippines-Benguet dispatched personnel and equipment to aid in the rescue operations, which was stalled as the rush of floodwaters was so strong and the tunnels was submerged in water chin-deep.
On Thursday and Friday, more groups pitched in, even giving crash lessons in scuba diving.
The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) in a statement pointed to large-scale mining, particularly BC, as the culprit behind the tragedy. “Their effort to rescue is the least they could do and must not cover up their responsibility and accountability in the whole disaster – the loss of lives, the environmental disaster, displacement of families and the demolished community which could never be built again. What future awaits the displaced families who have lost their loved ones, their homes, and their community?” the statement read.
Meanwhile, while government environment authorities see corporate liability over the disaster, BC’s Reynaldo Mendoza, vice-president for legal affairs, said the tunnel where the miners remained trapped is a “no-mining zone,” insinuating that the miners entered the mines without permission.
BC has been in Itogon for a century. In 1996, it stopped its open-pit mining operations, which had stripped Itogon’s mountains of their forest cover.
In 2000, the company started its community mining scheme where any one interested can join small scale mining activities upon the company’s approval.
In 2005, it offered its Antamok open pit as a water reservoir for a bulk water project it won in Baguio City. (Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat)
