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<center>[[Davao Oriental Province, Philippines|<font size=4>'''Province of Davao Oriental'''</font>]] - [[Davao Oriental Archived News|<font size=4 color=green>'''Archived News'''</font>]]</center> | <center>[[Davao Oriental Province, Philippines|<font size=4>'''Province of Davao Oriental'''</font>]] - [[Davao Oriental Archived News|<font size=4 color=green>'''Archived News'''</font>]]</center> | ||
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=='Small-scale miners in ComVal didn't heed warnings'== | |||
*Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/-depth/01/05/12/small-scale-miners-comval-didnt-heed-warnings | |||
*By: David Dizon | |||
*''January 05, 2012'' | |||
A slight tremor and continuous rains might have caused the landslide that killed at least 25 people and left 100 missing in Pantukan, Compostela Valley before dawn Thursday. | |||
Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said rains for the past 2 weeks might have saturated the ground in Barangay Napnapan. That, coupled by a magnitude 3 quake that struck''' Davao Oriental''' at 12:01 a.m. Thursday might have caused the landslide. | |||
"In our geohazard maps, the contributory factor to landslide is tremors. It's not just rains...Now because of rain, saturated na yung lupa and then there was a tremor. So nagkaroon ng sinking of the soil so bumigay na," he said in separate ABS-CBN interviews. | |||
Small-scale miner Saul Pinggoy, a resident in Barangay Napnapan, said stones started hitting the roof of his house past 3 a.m. before the landslide hit. "Yung vibrations nung bato nagising kami dahil tumatama sa yero," he told radio dzMM. | |||
He said his house was only 50 meters away from the area where the landslide hit at 3:45 a.m. He said the landslide could have covered at least 200 houses used by families of small-scale miners. | |||
Paje said the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) previously identified Purok Diat Uno and Diat Dos in Barangay Napnapan last December as extremely high risk to landslides. | |||
He said another landslide hit the area last April 2011, killing at least 13 people. | |||
He said geologists measured cracks on ridges on top of the mountain in Barangay Napnapan and found out that they were getting bigger. | |||
"We have been giving warnings. We told them it was only a matter of time that this will give way and now bumigay na nga," he said. | |||
Compostela Valley Gov. Arturo Uy said local officials heeded the call of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to evacuate residents in landslide-prone areas. | |||
The problem, he said, is that residents kept returning because of a gold rush in Pantukan town. | |||
"We ordered the miners to evacuate but siguro I think they went back to the mines. I think there is mining activity there again. I cannot monitor it all. The mayor of the municipality already ordered an evacuation. I have to investigate why they kept coming back," he said. | |||
Asked if he would order a forced evacuation, he said: "Definitely." | |||
'''Gold rush''' | |||
Paje said a gold rush in Pantukan town has caused many small-scale miners in the province to conduct operations in the mountains, at the risk of their own lives. Earlier reports said miners could get as much as P1,900-P2,000 per gram of gold. | |||
The environment chief said he surveyed Pantukan town before last April's landslide and found that the area is really like "a mountain full of holes made by small-scale miners." | |||
"The houses there are almost permanent. Hindi na barung-barong," he said. | |||
"They're like ants. Once people hear of a gold vein or a hit, they rush their without any force of mitigation, security or safety," he added. | |||
Paje urged the local government prohibit the entry of new settlers in the landslide-hit area. He said this would prevent more miners to go there while local officials relocate the settlers in the danger zones. | |||
He said the DENR has already stopped issuing environmental compliance certificates (ECCs) to small-scale mining operations in the area. This, however, has not stopped mining operations. | |||
"Most of these operations are considered illegal already," he said. | |||
The environment chief said he will also work for more detailed geo-hazard maps so that local government units would see the danger zones in their areas. He warned that the possibility of another landslide hitting Compostela Valley is higher because of higher precipitation brought by climate change. | |||
"Landslides and flash floods are common all over the world but it is now getting more frequent. But if there are no people there, there would be no casualty," he said. | |||
=='Super heavy rains' in Mindanao feared== | =='Super heavy rains' in Mindanao feared== | ||
*Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/346734/pagasa-keeps-eye-possible-mindanao-cyclone | *Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/346734/pagasa-keeps-eye-possible-mindanao-cyclone | ||