Balancing act

Cement is needed for construction, and much of the materials for cement production are extracted from the mountains. Quarries, however, are never a pretty sight, and are often used as examples of why governments should ban extractive industries.

The government now faces the complicated task of balancing the needs of the construction industry and the ambitious “Build Build Build” infrastructure program of the Duterte administration with the need to preserve the environment.

This balancing act gained urgency following a landslide on Sept. 20 in Naga City, Cebu that buried houses at the foot of a mountain where large tracts of the top and slopes are dedicated to quarrying. As of last Thursday, 62 deaths had been confirmed while 28 people remained missing after days of heavy rains brought the denuded slopes crashing down into the residential communities.

The disaster came on the heels of another landslide at an abandoned mining site on Sept. 15 in Barangay Ucab in Itogon, Benguet, which buried small-scale gold miners and their families. The death toll stood at 78 as of last Thursday with about 30 others still missing.

Following the landslide in Itogon, the environment department stopped small-scale mining in the Cordilleras. The landslide in Naga, meanwhile, prompted a nationwide suspension of quarrying operations. Earlier this week, however, the environment department lifted the suspension for 90 percent of the affected companies as trade officials expressed concern over the impact of the suspension on cement prices and the Build Build Build program.

For a long time, authorities have tried to balance the need for quarrying and certain other extractive activities with environmental protection. An equally challenging task is putting people out of harm’s way especially when their livelihoods depend on the extractive activities. Experts have geohazard maps of landslide-prone areas, and can identify communities that are at high risk of being hit by landslides. The twin killer disasters in Benguet and Cebu should lead to intensified efforts to achieve this balancing act.