Compostela gov: We were not consulted on Diwalwal task force

DAVAO CITY — Compostela Valley Gov. Jose Caballero lamented that the provincial government was not consulted on the creation of the Mt. Diwalwal National Task Force supposedly to oversee security concerns at the gold-rush site.

Caballero said he only received last week a copy of Executive Order No. 217 creating the task force, which was reportedly issued early last month.

"If security was the main concern of EO 217, particularly the fight against insurgency, then that is the prerogative of the national government. But there are also matters that the local government units should be consulted on in coming up with such an assessment," he said.

Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes reportedly recommended the creation of the task force as part of the government’s anti-insurgency campaign due to reports that communist guerrillas derive a huge part of their operational funds from Diwalwal miners.

Major players in Mt. Diwalwal have been locked in a long-standing rift over land ownership, which has claimed hundreds of lives since gold mining started there in the early 1980s.

Mayor Joel Brilliantes of Monkayo town, which has jurisdiction over the gold-rush site, was killed by a lone gunman inside the Matina Gallera cockpit here last June 28. The slay was believed related to the mining controversy at Diwalwal.

The Army’s 29th and 36th Infantry Battalions were reportedly sent to the mining site recently, but were stationed only at the "depot" area on the perimeter of Mt. Diwalwal.

Only the 36th IB personnel, however, remain at the site. Local miners have protested the presence of the 29th IB troops.

But Caballero said groups ensuring peace and order and security already exist in the area. "Here comes the EO, I just don’t know how they would reconcile it," he said.

He said he still has questions on the creation of the task force, which is reportedly chaired by Reyes and co-chaired by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Elisea Gozun.