BETWEEN 40 and 50 persons are feared to have been buried alive in a massive landslide in Ucab, Itogon town in Benguet at the height of Typhoon Ompong (international name Mangkhut), which barreled through the Cordillera highlands and the rest of northern Luzon on Saturday, September 15.
Mayor Victorio Palangdan of Itogon said the casualty count from Typhoon Ompong could easily reach at least 100.
"The casualties can rise because we fear there are people in the bunkhouse because we are not certain of the numbers. We are saying that 40 to 50 people were there. They were inside when the building went missing, people saw that. That is what I fear. That if this is true, the number of dead here due to Ompong could really rise beyond 100," Palangdan said in a news conference Monday, September 17.
He said there was "99 percent (chance) that they really are all dead."
As of Monday, September 17, Ompong left Cordillera region with at least 54 dead, 49 missing, and 33 injured. Of the 54 fatalities in the region, 34 were from Itogon town.
In the village of Ucab, Palangdan said rescuers have dug out 11 bodies from a muddy mound covering two small-scale mining bunkhouses and a former miners' bunkhouse which had been turned into a chapel.
Dozens of residents sought shelter there during the storm Saturday despite warnings it was dangerous.
"They laughed at our policemen. They insisted. They were resisting when our police tried to pull them away. What can we do?" Palangdan said.
The church, UCF which is under the Assembly of God, was a two-storey structure that housed an office and space for worship while the two bunkhouses could hold as many as 50 people at any given time.
Missing
Rescuers pulled out Monday noon the body of Edwin Bannawol, a church leader and a miner. The rest of the Bannawol family are still missing.
Pio Badangayon, 60, father-in-law of Bannawol, tearfully relayed that his daughter Jasmine and four grandchildren, aged 2 to 13, are still trapped under the mud and debris.
He was hopeful that they are still alive. Badangayon has refused to leave the site until all of them are found.
Itogon teems with small-scale mining concessions from Benguet Corporation.
Town councilor Arnel Bahingawan said the site of the landslide is a geohazard area but is still mined for ore and inhabited.
He was optimistic that some may have survived the landslide.
Solpico Orina, a miner from Patina, said there were several smaller boot camps in the area where families resided. These have also been covered by the landslide.
Philippine Army rescuers note that the site of the landslide lies at a very steep angle, making it difficult to implement search, rescue and retrieval operations.
Walter Coteng Jr., a volunteer rescuer from Barangay Ucab, said the situation is difficult because of the steep slope and lack of equipment.
He said a backhoe is needed to clear the area of soil and debris. Floodlights are needed to allow 24/7 operations.
"We don't know how many people were here," Coteng said. But he mentioned that a manifesto before the storm showed less than 50 people.
Coteng said work stops in the evening to give rescuers time to rest, as shifting schedules have not been finalized.
"We worked till 8 p.m. (Sunday) with about 100 volunteers, now (Monday) we have more than 200," Coteng said.
Cease order
Department of Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu on Monday afternoon ordered a stop to all illegal mining activities in six mountainous northern provinces in a drastic decision to prevent more tragedies.
Cimatu said army troops and police would be deployed to enforce the ban, which covers about 10,000 small miners in Itogon.
Mines Geosciences Bureau Cordillera regional director Fay Apil said there are 10 small-scale mining associations with about 10,000 members given temporary contracts pending the declaration of a Minahang Bayan.
Cimatu, however, said the permits were cancelled effective Monday, September 17.
"I will be revoking those permits starting today," said Cimatu.
Palangdan, however, appealed to Cimatu to conduct a technical conference to determine the areas where small-scale mining should be stopped.
The mayor said he recommended back in 2013 that the small-scale mining activities be stopped.
"The abandoned mining areas of the Benguet Corp. should have reverted back to the government as public lands to develop as tourism area or agricultural, because in the Itogon municipality, more than half of it is mining area, the other half is agricultural," Palangdan added.
Palangdan pleaded to authorities to help them clear the roads after almost all of its major road networks were wiped out leaving Barangay Tuding, which is near Baguio, the only access to the municipality.
Ompong (Mangkhut) hit the Philippines on Saturday and Hong Kong on Sunday before weakening to a tropical storm Monday in inland China, where four have died. (With a report from Lauren Alimondo and AP)