Philex builds road to hasten search for landslide victims

ITOGON, Benguet, Philippines — A rescue team sent by Philex Mining Corp. to help search for victims of a landslide in Barangay Ucab in this town was finally able to connect an access road to the disaster site on Friday.

Using an excavator deployed from the company’s Padcal mine camp in Tuba, the Philex team carved out a road from the Itogon provincial highway to the so-called ground zero, where dozens of small-scale miners and their family members were believed buried.

The access road was constructed to expedite search and rescue and search and recovery operations as well as bring the needed equipment in the landslide area.

“Nobody can do it because nobody believed it could be done,” Eulalio Austin Jr., Philex Mining president and CEO, said.

“Now we have reached ground zero... We have to do this because we saw how slow the pace of work was because everything was done manually. With the access road, excavators can now come in to assist the miners and other volunteers in the digging,” Austin said.

The landslide occurred at the height of Typhoon Ompong (international name Mangkhut).

As of Sunday, at least 40 bodies have been recovered while 20 others remain missing.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu ordered the suspension of small-scale mining in the Cordilleras following the incident.

Cimatu also revoked the permits of 10 small-scale mining associations in the area and directed the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to enforce the suspension orders.