Local gov’t must act swiftly to prevent mining disasters in their areas 

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MANILA — The Palace commended the local officials of Baguio for temporarily suspending all small-scale mining operations in their area because of continuous rains, which may result to accidents.

“Magandang balita ang ginawa sa Baguio-La Union kasi nga talagang patuloy ang pag-ulan in that area,” Deputy Presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a radio interview on Saturday.

“Kailangan laging maagap ang ating mga local government official na hindi lang ho ‘yung preemptive evacuation ang iniisip natin pero kung mayroon hong presensya ng mga ganyang operasyon diyan ay dapat maging mindful din po ang ating mga pamahalaang lokal.”

Three miners died and six others were missing in Semirara Island when an open-pit coal mine collapsed.

Valte said President Aquino was very concerned when he was informed by the Department of Energy about the Semirara incident.

The DOE, according to Valte acted immediately to suspend the coal mining operations for Contract No. 5 in Semirara.

A thorough investigation is also underway to determine the cause of the accident and make it sure that it won’t happen again in the future, Valte said.

“Kailangang makita kung ano ba ang naging cause nitong insidenteng ito, kung mayroon bang naging pabaya, at kung ano ang mga dapat na gawin para hindi na po maulit ang mga ganitong sitwasyon,” she said.

Semirara Mining and Power Corp.

, a unit of Consunji-led conglomerate DMCI Holdings, operates the coal mine.