abs-cbnNEWS.com

January 5, 2012

MANILA, Philippines– At least 25 people were killed while up to 150 more are missing after a landslide-hit a remote mining village in Pantukan town, Compostela Valley on Thursday dawn, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Rescuers using only hand-held tools pulled 25 bodies from the rubble, NDRRMC executive director Benito Ramos told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Weather state bureau PAGASA said heavy rains in northern Mindanao in the past days may have triggered the mountain soil to erode.

“Ang nagcause is ang ‘antecedent rainfall’, yung pag-ulan na nangyari bago ang lanslide, maidudugtong niyo na siya sa panahon ng Sendong kasi ang eastern Mindanao, kasama ang Compostela Valley, ay nakatangap ng maraming pag-ulan,” PAGASA officer-in-charge Graciano Yumul told radio dzMM. “So ang nangyari, kauting tikitik na lang ng pag-ulan at ‘yun ang nangyari, siya na ang nagdulot ng landslide.”

Authorities believe that a magnitude 3 quake that struck Davao Oriental at 12:01 a.m. also possibly contributed to the landslide.

The epicenter of the quake was located 121 kilometers east of Mati, Davao Oriental.

The town of Pantukan in Compostela Valley has been placed under a state of calamity.

Last April 2011, at least 13 people were killed in a landslide in Sitio Pangonason, Barangay Kingking in the same town.

16 survivors

Compostela Valley Governor Arturo Uy said 16 people have been rescued from the site.

Eight are still in recuperating in the hospital while 8 others sustained minor injuries.

The pre-dawn landslide caught several residents off guard.

One of the residents, Hitanotonio Dayami, is mourning the loss of his 7-year-old son.

“Sabi niya kasi sunduin ko mama niya. Bumaba ako kaya wala kasama mga anak ko,” he said.

Another resident Bernabe Tolentino lost 4 of his children in the landslide.

The bodies of his 3 daughters have been found while the search continues for his son.

“Hinahanap ko ang isa ko pang anak,” Tolentino said.

Rescue teams are not losing hope that more survivors will be found under the rubble.

Search operations suspended

Search and rescue operations were suspended at Barangay Napnapan Thursday evening due to continuous rains.

However, search teams are on standby in case the weather improves.

Ramos said members of the 71st Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army have been deployed to the area to help in the search and rescue operations.

Heavy equipment have also been sent to the landslide-hit area.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo will visit the area to conduct an investigation.

Robredo said the mining site had long been declared by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as a “geo-hazard” site.

Gold rush

The towns of Pantukan and nearby Monkayo have drawn thousands of miners because of the prospect of gold in its mountains.

Local officials have ordered the forced evacuation of all Pantukan gold rush areas in 2011, based on the advice of national government geologists.

However, they said some people had returned to the restricted area, possibly joined by new migrants drawn by the gold.

“These are small-scale miners who tunnel into the side of the mountains like rats,” Ramos told AFP.
Pantukan Mayor Celso Sarenas said the residents had already been warned against living in the area, which is considered a danger zone due to the mining, but some refused to leave.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje also said the government had issued landslide warnings to the residents because of a crack on top of the mountain that has grown wider over time.

“This had been declared a no-man’s-land, where people are forbidden to live. Local officials must explain why people are still there despite the national government’s warning,” Ramos said. “It’s obvious that the gold attracts them. We cannot guard the mountain 24/7 because we have other responsibilities.” – Reports from ANC; Agence France-Presse; Michelle Robin, ABS-CBN News Davao; Dharel Placido, abs-cbnNEWS.com