EDITORIAL — Miracle
There was good news on the eve of the Lunar New Year: a baby boy and an older girl were pulled out of the rubble buried under mud yesterday in the landslide-hit Barangay Masara in the town of Maco, Davao de Oro.
At least 15 deaths have been confirmed in the landslide, with over 30 people injured and at least 110 still missing after heavy rainfall loosened the soil on the slopes and brought tons of mud crashing into the village on Tuesday night. Rain continued to fall yesterday as teams clawed through the mud with bare hands in hopes of finding more survivors.
An official of a disaster agency said the landslide-hit area had been declared a “no build zone” following landslides in 2007 and 2008. Residents were provided resettlement areas, the official said, but people who relied on mining activities refused to leave, or returned soon after leaving.
The first casualties in the latest landslide were passengers on three buses, most of them employees of Apex Mining Co. Inc., which operates the Maco gold mine. Apex has stressed that the site of the landslide was outside its mining area. It said the company, however, is on limited operation because it is focusing on supporting the rescue effort and assisting its affected workers.
An official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources said its initial assessment confirmed the story of Apex. The DENR is allowing the company to continue operating until a full picture of the disaster can be pieced together.
As the disaster management official pointed out, the vulnerability of the area to landslides had been pointed out nearly two decades ago. Deforestation has long turned many mountainous areas across the country into danger zones. The risk is highest in areas with mining operations. Masara is not the only barangay with areas classified as no-build zones. And it is not the only village where such classifications have been ignored.
The “miracle” recovery of the two children yesterday is good news, but with over 100 people still missing under all that mud after three days, the death toll is likely to rise significantly. Local government units must work closely with disaster management officials and mining companies
