PTV News
ILOILO CITY, Feb. 15 (PNA) -– The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Regional Office 6 is sending today a team to provide assistance to the victims and bereaved families of the workers of the Semirara Coal Mining Corporation who died in a mine accident Wednesday.
On Thursday, President Benigno Aquino III ordered the DSWD to provide assistance to the victims and affected families in the area.
DSWD Assistant Regional Director Joel Galicia, in an interview Friday morning, said that they have sent a team headed by Judith Tanate, head of the DSWD Crisis Intervention Unit, to Semirara in Antique's Caluya town to visit the victims and their families.
Together with the DSWD team is Antique Provincial Social Welfare and Development Officer Lazaro G. Petinglay.
Petinglay said that on Thursday, Antique Governor Exequiel B. Javier called them for a meeting with the instruction to provide every assistance that they could give to the people.
Galicia said that the DSWD team is bringing food packs to be distributed to the people and their families affected by the collapse of the open pit of the Semirara Coal Mining Corporation in Caluya.
Five persons died in the accident and another five are still missing.
Meanwhile, Caluya Mayor Genevive Lim-Reyes said Friday she will also urge the town council to conduct its own investigation on the Semirara coal mine accident to determine its cause.
Mayor Reyes said the investigation is in line with that of government authorities as the mine firm suspended operations at the Pani-an open pit to ensure the safety of other personnel.
Mayor Reyes said those confirmed dead in the official report include her first cousin Abner Lim. The others were Joven Hocate, George Bragat, Efren Equiza and Anthony Siblet. Still missing are Leovigildo Porras, Jan Riel Planca, Randy Tamparong, Richard Padernilla and Junjie Gomez.
Three rescued mine workers were airlifted to a hospital in Manila Thursday morning. They are Marjun Catoto, Adrian Celmar and Leonardo Sojor.
Retrieval operations are ongoing for the five missing employees who were buried along with some heavy equipment such as pay loader, backhoe and dump trucks.
Most of the victims were heavy equipment operators while Lim, the mayor's cousin and native of Barangay Semirara, was the general foreman.
DENR records show the Pani-an pit is around 350 hectares in diameter in the surface and its bottom, some 350 meters deep below sea level, is about four hectares. Seawater was reportedly already seeping through the cracks especially in the west side facing the sea.
DMCI’s operation in Semirara is currently the Philippines’ largest producer of coal. (PNA) source
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