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DENR not ready to blame mining for deadly Itogon landslide
The landslide in Itogon, Benguet that killed at least 20 small-scale miners when Typhoon Ompong hit land on September 15 was not caused by mining operations, authorities said Wednesday.
Officials of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), an attached agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), issued the statement while at least 50 miners were still missing four days after the landslide buried the miners.
The area was part of the Antmok claims of Benguet Corporation, the company that originally mined the area.
“The landslide was not caused by mining because there is no mining operation kung saan nanggaling ang debris. What are the factors to consider in determining the area is landslide prone? It is covered in thick soil, the highly fractured rocks, steep slopes and the monsoon rains,” Fay Apil, regional director for the MGB-Cordillera Administrative Region, said in a press conference.
“The standard amount of rainfall in the area for September is 570 millimeters. During Ompong, the amount of rainfall reached 970 millimeters just for 12 hours.”
Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu and Undersecretary Benny Antiporda agreed.
“I am sending a team from the MGB to determine the culpability of those responsible. We issued an advisory that it is a hazardous zone, especially during the typhoon, but there are those who did not get out of the area. May shanties sila roon. It was an unfortunate incident,” Cimatu said.
“With or without the mining operations, there will be a landslide. It just so happens that the miners had their shanties there,” Antiporda noted.
But when asked if the old tunnels used in the mining operations onsite were a factor in the swift erosion of the mountain as Ompong barreled across Northern Luzon, Apil was not just about to rule out mining as a cause of the landslide.
“That [mining tunnels] will be a part of our investigation,” Apil said.
Mine rahab
It was revealed during the press conference that while Benguet Corporation's mining operations in Itogon already closed in 1997, it only submitted the required Final Mining and Decommissioning Plan (FMDP) to the Mine Rehabilitation Fund Committee in 2016.
“It had been under the company’s care and maintenance from 1997 to 2016. The FMDP was only submitted in 2016 because it was the time they decided that they would not go back into mining,” Apil said.
Benguet Corp.’s FMDP was forwarded to the Contingent Liability Rehabilitation Fund Committee only three months ago, she said.
“The FMDP was submitted to Contingent Liability Rehabilitation Fund Committee three months ago, but it is still under review,” Apil noted.
“Hindi kasi porke’t sinubmit approved agad. Kailangan approved rin ng communities, concerned, government agencies,” she added.
