Lepanto continues to deny responsibility

2 MIN READ

By ALDWIN QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

BAGUIO CITY — The Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (LCMC) together with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the Cordillera Administrative Region insists that the massive subsidence in Mankayan was caused by natural causes.

In the regular session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) of Benguet, Lepanto said the sinking of the portion of Aurora St. in Barangay Poblacion in Mankayan last June 5 onwards is a result of poor geographic soil and rock composition which was enhanced by continues rains.The MGB confirmed what Lepanto have said before the members of the SP.

Last June 5, a large portion of the Aurora St. in Barangay Poblacion sank destroying the Mankayan Elementary School and the Mankayan National High Scool and forcing a number of families to evacuate to safer grounds. Fortunately, no one was hurt in the said incident although the classes of the students and economic activities in the vicinity were disrupted.

Press conferences by the affected residents in Mankayan and statements from different organizations were held after the incident.

They blame the disaster to the many years of extraction of ores and earth from the underground of the municipality making the grounds weaker. They even called for the stoppage of Lepanto’s expansions if not its operations and be held liable to the disasters in Lepanto.

The Cordillera Peoples’ Alliance (CPA) and the Benguet Mining Action Alert Network (BMAAN) said that while it is true that the disaster can be attributed to natural causes, the decades of mining operations in that area worsened the situation. BMAAN spokesperson Engineer Vergel Aniceto said that the poorly back-filled mined-out tunnels gave way obviously causing the surface to sink.

Aniceto in their latest analysis with the help of independent geologists, contradicted the earlier comparison of the MGB of the sinking of Mankayan to the landslides in the province of Ifugao. Aniceto said that landslides are much different from land subsidences or sinkings.

Aniceto said that in landslides or mudslides, you can notice that the earth went down in slanted direction and washed away downstream. Aniceto said that what happened in Lepanto is not a landslide but sinking. “Nu kitkitaem diay direksiyon ti daga ket pababa ngay, linumned a talaga. Nu agpayso diay kunkunada a landslide diay napasamak idiay Mankayan, napanan na ngay garud diay naislide a daga?” (If you are going to look at the direction of the soil, it is downwards, it really sinked. If what they claimed that what happened is a landslide in Mankayan is true, then where did the slided soil went?) said Aniceto.

Aniceto said that they tried to look for the rest of the slided soil in the nearby Casubigan creek as it maybe washed away by water but they saw nothing.

The SP members agreed to the proposal of having an independent investigation by private geologists to give more clarity to the issue. The LCMC pledged to help in the expenses.

CPA Vice-Chairperson Xavier Akien said the CPA welcomes the proposed independent investigation. Akien said that the investigation will benefit the Mankayan residents as it will show the real cause of the massive sinking.

Akien said that is is more of great help if the map of the mining operations in the underground will be provided so as to make the investigation more accurate and faster.

The said map is very important as it is the eye of the company for its operations in the underground. The map was repeatedly reported by Lepanto to be missing. # nordis.net