Groups rally to demand probe on mining firm over landslide

AROUND 20 members of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Southern Mindanao Region (BAYAN-SMR) and Panalipdan staged a protest rally at the Freedom Park, along Roxas Avenue on Feb. 20, strongly urging concerned authorities to hold APEX Mining Company responsible for the massive landslide in Masara, Maco.

Rauf Sissay, BayanSMR secretariat member, cited the need for a thorough investigation of the incident and the declaration of a climate emergency.

“Para mahatagan ang mga biktima og husto ug sakto nga hustisya dapat adunay paspas ug bugos nga imbestigasyon sa nahitabo sa Masara para mapunting ang mga violations sa Apex Mining sa pagguba niini sa kinaiyahan, tulubagon sa APEX Mining ang nahitabong landslide ug mahatagan kini og silot sa batay sa imbestigasyon (There must be an extensive and speedy investigation to give justice to the victims and pinpoint the violations of APEX Mining in destroying the environment and its liabilities in the landslide),” Sissay said.

He added the incident should be a wake-up call for the government to find sustainable solutions rather than mount relief or rescue operations after each disaster.

This is the first of the series of protests that the group will conduct, which includes a picket at the office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources to issue a ban on all mining activities in the region.

He also slammed the Mines and Geosciences Bureau XI for “inappropriate” statements clearing the mining firm of responsibility and accountability for the landslide.

Apex Mining’s hands not totally clean: IDIS

Meanwhile, an environmental group believed that Apex Mining Corp. should still be held accountable in the Barangay Masara, Maco landslide even after being cleared by a government agency.

Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) said that despite the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) XI’s report that Apex Mining’s activities did not factor into the earth movement, the environmental hazards linked to the mining operations must not be discounted.

On Feb. 13, Beverly Brebante, MGB XI chief geologist, said the active mine was a kilometer south of the landslide area. She also stressed that one of the factors was the heavy rainfall the region experienced due to the shear line weather system and the trough of the low-pressure area since last month and the first week of February.

Based on the 2021 Report on Economic Assessment and Ore Reserve Estimation of Maco

Epithermal Gold Deposits commissioned by Apex, Davao de Oro was classified as Type IV in the