DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 06 February) – At least eight workers of a mining firm in Maco, Davao de Oro were listed to have survived a massive landslide that struck at 7:50 p.m. in Zone 1, Barangay Masara on Tuesday, burying a still undetermined number of fellow workers.
Reports indicate a bus ferrying workers was buried by the landslide that struck near the barangay hall. It is not clear exactly how many workers were on that bus. Other reports indicate there was more than one bus but this could not be independently confirmed.
Gen. Allan Hambala, chief of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, confirmed in a text message to MindaNews that a landslide occurred near the Apex Mining Company, Inc. in Maco and that a bus filled with workers was buried. He said he deployed soldiers to the landslide site to help in the rescue efforts.
Hambala acknowledged that what they have are merely initial reports.
The hotline provided by the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Maco has not been answering calls. Fe Maestre, chief of the Provincial Information Office in Davao de Oro told MindaNews they were still awaiting reports from the Maco MDRRMO.
The area where the slide happened is outside the mine site of Apex Mining Co. Inc. (AMC) but this is where the buses that ferry the employees of the mining company wait for its passengers, according to a post on the page of AMCI Nero Labor Management Council.
It said Apex Mining “is currently working on tracing the whereabouts of the buses dispatched to ferry the outgoing employees” and that the firm was also working with the Provincial Governor’s Office and the Maco and Mawab local government units for rescue operations “both in taking the injured to hospitals and evacuating affected residents to the Mawab Gym, the evacuation center for the residents of Mainit.” It also said rescue work has been hampered by “limited visibility and intermittent slides.”
A list from the barangay identified the eight survivors as Penticase Elding, Gylle Dela Cruz, Benohrao Jubel, Gerum Salvacion, Ronnel Dealosa, Mitchelle Soriano, Ruben Soriano and Darwin Aballe, all from Maco and Mawab.
In one of the videos posted from the landslide site, one could hear a child crying, repeatedly calling “Mama, Mama.” Maco’s MDRRMO announced on Facebook at 8:02 p.m. the forced evacuation of residents in at least five of its 37 barangays, in case a flashflood occurs after the
landslide.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office announced on its Facebook page at 10:10 p.m. that it deployed personnel from its Mountain Search and Rescue (MOSAR) team to help the MDRRMO Maco in evacuating residents of barangays Masara, Mainit, Tagbaros, Elizalde, and Panibasan to at least five evacuation centers in Upper Elizalde, Andili High School, Panibasan Church, Nuevo Iloco High School, and Immaculate Conception Quasi-Parish, Elizalde.
The Davao de Oro Provincial Government established an incident command center at Barangay Elizalde.
In another post on Facebook, the MDRRMO recommended the suspension of classes on Feb. 7 at all levels in Maco because of the landslide and threat of flashfloods.
As of 11:39 p.m., Feb. 6, the Provincial Government social media pages had not yet updated the public on the fate of those affected by the landslides.
The Masara River snakes between two landforms along the barangays near Apex Mining, according to Satellite and Terrain maps of Project Noah, which has been mapping a significant area of Mindanao’s landslide prone areas. (Yas D. Ocampo, Carolyn O. Arguillas and Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
