SunStar Unstable ground hinders search, retrieval efforts
ON SHAKY GROUND. In this photo taken in December 2020, a habal-habal driver points to the crown of the landslide at the Carmen Pit in the Toledo copper mines. / SUNSTAR FILE
+ January 30, 2021 MORE than a month after a deadly landslide hit the Carmen Pit of Carmen Copper Corp. in Toledo City, authorities have yet to recover the bodies of six missing workers.
Biga Barangay Captain Pedro Sepada, Jr. on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, said the search and retrieval operations are challenging because the ground remains unstable and the cracks are widening.
“The search and retrieval operations continue. But the ground is still unstable. A portion above the landslide continues to move,” he said.
SunStar
File photo January 03, 2021 THE Philippine Movement for Climate Justice (PMCJ) Cebu has called upon the Toledo City Government in southwestern Cebu to compel the Carmen Copper Corp. (CCC) to provide “enough” support to the families of Barangay Biga who have been evacuated after a deadly landslide occurred in a mining pit owned by the CCC in the barangay.
Teodorico Navea, PMCJ Cebu chapter convenor, said some evacuees complained about the “deplorable” state of the evacuation sites in Sitios Hag-it and Manokan.
“When we were there (on Dec. 31, 2020), many were insinuating that they might return to their homes because they could not sustain their lives there,” he said.
SunStar Toledo City Government relocates families living near mining pit’s collapsed area
STILL SEARCHING. Emergency responders led by the Philippine Coast Guard conduct on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, search and retrieval operations in the collapsed portion of Carmen Pit, an open mining pit of Carmen Copper Corp., to retrieve the six miners who remain missing after a landslide hit the pit on Dec. 21. / TOLEDO CITY PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
+ December 29, 2020 THE Toledo City Government in southwestern Cebu has evacuated 400 families, composed of 2,000 individuals, living near the collapsed portion of an open mining pit owned by Carmen Copper Corp.
John Roseller Layan, Toledo City public information officer, said the evacuation of the families living in Barangay Biga began on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020.
SunStar Biga chief claims pleas ignored before landslide
SIGNS IGNORED? Residents of Barangay Biga, Toledo City claim they warned officials of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau Central Visayas and Carmen Copper Corp. of large cracks in the village prior to the landslide. (Alan Tangcawan)
+ December 30, 2020 BARELY a month before a deadly landslide hit a mining pit in Barangay Biga, Toledo City last Dec. 21, 2020, residents sought the help of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to temporarily halt the mining operations of Carmen Copper Corp. (CCC) after large cracks were discovered in their village.
But the appeal reportedly fell on deaf ears.
SunStar Toledo City Government relocates families living near mining pit’s collapsed area
STILL SEARCHING. Emergency responders led by the Philippine Coast Guard conduct on Monday, Dec. 28, 2020, search and retrieval operations in the collapsed portion of Carmen Pit, an open mining pit of Carmen Copper Corp., to retrieve the six miners who remain missing after a landslide hit the pit on Dec. 21. / TOLEDO CITY PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
+ December 29, 2020 THE Toledo City Government in southwestern Cebu has evacuated 400 families, composed of 2,000 individuals, living near the collapsed portion of an open mining pit owned by Carmen Copper Corp.
John Roseller Layan, Toledo City public information officer, said the evacuation of the families living in Barangay Biga began on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020.