Business World Online
Posted on February 14, 2013 09:38:37 PM
ILOILO CITY -- Listed coal producer Semirara Mining Corp. (SMC) yesterday ceased operations after a landslide occurred at its open-pit mine in Antique, claiming the lives of five workers.
A probe of the incident has been ordered by President Benigno S. C. Aquino III as company officials have assured of extending assistance to the victims and their families.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the company said the west wall of its Panian pit on Semirara Island in Caluya town gave way at 11:55 p.m. on Wednesday. Mine operations have been halted to ensure the safety of personnel and equipment.
Semirara Mining, majority owned by DMCI Holdings, Inc., added that it was monitoring the situation in coordination with authorities and will resume operations at the appropriate time.
Vice-Mayor Diosdado L. Egina of Caluya town said the company has declared the site a danger zone and has taken charge of the search and rescue operations.
"The mining firm is working on how to retrieve the five remaining workers because the water below the pit is estimated at 30 feet [9.144 meters] deep. We cannot determine the immediate cause of the landslide although the company initially reported that the bottom of the pit was flooded by heavy rains after their drain pumps stopped operating," he added.
The site of the landslide is about 60.70 meters below sea level, according to the Antique provincial police.
Antique provincial police director Marloe L. Marfil said rescuers were using the mining firm’s heavy equipment to locate and rescue the five workers.
He said Semirara will continue search and rescue operations until the five workers are located hoping that there are still survivors especially those who were driving the heavy equipment that were also buried in the landslide.
"They might survive as the heavy equipment could protect them from the landslide," Mr. Marfil said.
Mr. Egina identified one of the casualties as Abner Lim, a cousin of Caluya Mayor Genevieve G. Lim.
The Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council identified the four other fatalities as Efren Equiza, Anthony Siblet, Joven Hocate and George Bragat.
The rescued have been identified as Marjun Catoto, Adrian Celmar and Leonardo Sojor.
Still missing as of late afternoon were foreman Leovigildo Porras, Jan Riel Planca, Randy Tamparong, Junjie Gomez and Richard Padernilla.
Rosario T. Cabrera, chairperson of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Western Visayas, said the departments of Energy and Labor and Employment (DoLE) have dispatched teams to the site to look into the incident.
Ponciano M. Ligutom, DoLE Western Visayas regional director, said they were coordinating with the Caluya municipal government and the mining firm on how the agency can help in the rescue mission.
He also said he has sent an engineer to the site to determine whether the open-pit mine should be shut down.
Isidro A. Consunji, SMC vice-chairman and chief executive officer, said in a separate text message yesterday that the company will provide financial support to the families of the victims.
"We don’t know the amount of compensation but we have adequate insurance," he said.
Mr. Consunji further said that the company "will resume operations once search and rescue operations have already been finished."
PROBE ORDERED
For his part, the President has ordered his Cabinet to investigate the incident.
Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla is scheduled to visit Antique today to meet with Semirara officials, while Local Government Secretary Manuel "Mar" A. Roxas II has been tasked to coordinate with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
"I asked Secretary Roxas, in particular, to get a briefing from the NDRRMC to find out what is being done to rescue the missing, to find out also what caused this accident to happen," the President said on the sidelines of a campaign rally in San Pablo City, Laguna.
Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda clarified that Mr. Petilla will meet with Semirara officials to "discuss amd assess the nature and cause of the accident as well as safety measures to prevent a similar accident from recurring. He will meet with the families who were affected by the accident."
Further investigation will be conducted, with Mr. Aquino saying the incident could lead to changes in mining laws or sharpening of implementation to prevent a repeat of similar accidents.
"From what I understand, Semirara is a strip mine, so surface, then why was there a tunnel? Again, I may be wrong but of course, any loss of life is always a concern for me, especially any Filipino life," he added.
"Do we need more laws or is the fault in the implementation? What can we do to ensure the same tragedy will not happen again?" he said.
Shares of Semirara Mining in the stock market lost ₱20.60 or 7.99% to ₱237.20 yesterday from Wednesday’s ₱257.80 apiece.
The company’s net income for the nine-month period ending September 2012 dropped to ₱4.71 billion, 9.42% lower from 2011’s ₱5.2 billion in the same comparative period.
SMC has three wholly owned subsidiaries, namely, SEM-Calaca Power Corp., SEM-Cal Industrial Park Developers, Inc. and Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corp. -- Francis Allan L. Angelo, Noemi M. Gonzales and R. J. R. Portillo source
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