#nationataglance Completed access road to Ucab landslide site to speed up recovery operations

CORDILLERA ADMINISTRATIVE REGION: ITOGON, BENGUET

AN ACCESS road to the landslide site in Barangay Ucab, Itogon from the provincial highway has been completed by the rescue team of Philex Mining Corp., intended to speed up search and recovery operations. “Nobody could do it because they don’t believe it could be done,” Philex Mining President and CEO Eulalio B. Austin Jr. said in a statement. “But now we have reached ground zero, so it is possible. We had to do this because we saw how slow the pace of work was because everything was being done manually. With the access road, excavators can now come in to assist the miners and other volunteers in the digging,” Mr. Austin added. This developed as authorities ordered last Friday to limit the number of rescuers at the site following a warning from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) that there is a threat of another landslide in the area. “I was advised by the MGB to implement the reduction of search and rescue personnel who are here at the ground zero,” Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera Regional Director Ruben L. Carandang said in a television interview. As of Friday, 31 bodies have been recovered and more than 50 more are listed as missing. Philex Mining is one of the three local units of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd., the two other being PLDT, Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. Hastings Holdings, Inc. — a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc. — maintains interest in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.