- A Feb. 6 landslide in a gold mining village in the Philippines’ southern island of Mindanao claimed nearly 100 lives and buried about 55 houses and a government office.
- The mining company was not held liable for the landslide, which occurred inside its concession but away from its mine mining operations; however, activists have called for more accountability by both the mining firm and the government.
- The area has previously been the site of deadly landslides, but neither the local government nor the company issued an evacuation order following landslide and flash flood warnings issued Feb. 4.
- The village that hosts the mine has been declared a “no build zone” since at least 2008, due to the high risk of landslides, but neither the village nor the mining operations have ever been relocated.
Activists demand corporate and government accountability after a massive landslide struck a mining town in the southern Philippines on Feb. 6, claiming nearly 100 lives and affecting more than 7,000 people.
Following nonstop heavy rains that began Feb. 2, a devastating landslide struck Masara, a gold mining village with more than 1,200 residents, at 7:30 p.m., the local government reported. Located in the mineral-rich hinterlands of Mindanao Island’s Davao De Oro province, Masara hosts Apex Mining Co. Inc., a company owned by Filipino tycoon Enrique Razon Jr.
“Apex Mining must be held accountable for all the lives lost and livelihoods severely damaged due to their relentless mining in the mountains of Davao de Oro,” Eufemia Cullamat, a former congresswoman and now vice president of Mindanao for the national militant group Bayan Muna, said in a statement.
Disaster response has been ongoing since then but was halted by a magnitude 5.8 earthquake that hit the region Feb 11. As of Feb. 18, the government of Maco municipality, which includes Masara, reported 98 bodies recovered and eight people still missing.
The Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development stated that 1,457 families, or 4,966 persons, mainly from Masara were staying in Maco and Mawab town’s evacuation centers as of Feb. 14.
Mining firm not held liable
According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR MGB), the landslide area covered approximately 9 hectares (22 acres), roughly the size of 17 football fields. The landslide buried a village government hall, two buses and about 55 houses under mud and rocks, local reports said. Apex Mining said the landslide occurred within their concession but was outside of its operations area; the incident was situated 500 meters (1,640 feet) away from the company’s gate in an area where the company has a terminal for vehicles.
MGB chief geologist Beverly Brebante said “natural factors,” such as persistent rains since late January, terrain slope, fault lines and soil composition, triggered the incident. “[The mining company] didn’t really have anything to do with it,” she said in an Inquirer.net report. The agency also found no grounds to sanction Apex Mining or suspend its operations, as the landslide occurred “outside” its active mine site.
Apex Mining holds two mineral contracts for its Maco site, each lasting for 25 years. Covering a combined area of 2,238 hectares (5,530 acres), these were issued in 2005 and 2007 and are valid until 2030 and 2032, respectively. In 2022, it recorded a net income of 3.339 billion pesos (about $60 million).
Since the disaster, the company has been “on limited operations.”
“Apex Mining remains committed to helping bring closure to those who are still searching for their loved ones,” the company stated. “The company’s rescue equipment, manpower and other resources have been fully focused in supporting the provincial government’s management of this tragic incident.”
Apex reported Feb. 12 that at least nine mine workers are among the dead.
Not a first
Panalipdan Mindanao, a regionwide coalition of environmental and social activist organizations, notes that this landslide is not the first in the area.
The group cites a landslide that occurred Sept. 6, 2008, in Masara, which claimed 24 lives, injured 32 and displaced at least 5,000 residents. In addition, in 2007, heavy rains triggered a landslide in Masara, killing 10 people. Panalipdan also said that Apex Mining’s soil dumping into the river intensified the devastation of Typhoon Pablo (known as Typhoon Bopha outside the Philippines), leading to significant property and livelihood losses and fatalities in 2012.
According to a statement, the DENR MGB recommended the prompt relocation of the Masara community and declared the area a “no build zone” after the 2008 landslide incident. This assessment was based on its series of geohazard mappings, which consistently demonstrated the area’s high susceptibility to landslides. The agency also said it had issued landslide and flash flood warnings to mining companies and local governments on Feb. 4.
No preemptive evacuation order was given by either the mining company or the local governments.
Panalipdan argued that the government chose to support the company rather than protect the community’s rights to a balanced and healthy environment, even after declaring the area a “no build zone.”
“We still hold the company and the mining officials accountable,” Panalipdan said in a statement. “Mining operations are by themselves already environmentally critical projects, so they should not have been allowed so close to an environmentally critical area.”
“This most recent landslide is only a stark reminder that recurring disasters have occurred, pointing to a lack of corporate accountability and the failure to install mitigating measures to prevent a new landslide and prompt response when a new one occurs.”
Mindanao-based watchdog IDIS emphasized the need to consider the broader environmental risks tied to Apex’s operations, irrespective of their direct involvement in the landslide. IDIS pointed out that Apex’s underground mining could destabilize rock and soil layers, thereby increasing landslide probabilities, especially in steep and unstable areas like Masara.
History of resistance
Mining has been a contentious issue in the Philippines, especially in Mindanao. Davao de Oro, previously known as Compostella Valley, is abundant in metal resources such as gold, silver, copper and iron, luring large and small-scale mining companies. This has sparked conflicts with environmental defenders, some of whom have suffered violence and been murdered in recent years.
In Maco, Panalipdan linked the murder of activist Marcelo Monterona on Jan. 3, 2014, with Apex Mining’s operations. Monterona had led protests against the mine following the devastating aftermath of Typhoon Pablo. “Many people in the surrounding communities had been opposed to the entry of large mining operations, but their voices had not been listened to throughout the years,” Panalipdan said.
Panalipdan urged the Philippine government to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation into the disaster, its management and any preventive measures taken by Apex Mining. This catastrophe, the group said, is “a wake-up call” for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “to declare a nationwide climate emergency in order to implement sustainable development initiatives” amid Philippine disasters worsened by climate change.
Banner image: A rescue team rescuing pets after the aftermath of the landslide. Image courtesy of Provincial Government of Davao de Oro.
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Citation:
Arca, D., Kutoğlu, H. Ş., & Becek, K. (2018). Landslide susceptibility mapping in an area of underground mining using the multicriteria decision analysis method. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 190(12). doi:10.1007/s10661-018-7085-5