ComVal town mayor not keen on province-wide mining ban

The mayor of a mining town in Compostela Valley is not keen on a province-wide ban on mining following a landslide that buried a mining community last Friday. Pantukan town mayor Celso Sarenas admitted Sunday residents remain willing to risk their lives if they do not get an alternative means of livelihood. "Ipasasara pero hindi lahat. Saan pupunta ang tao na yan? ... Paano ang kabuhayan nila, paano ang pagkain nila (I am in favor of closing down some mining operations but not all. Where will the affected people go, and how will they earn a living)?" Sarenas said in an interview on dzBB radio. On Saturday, Compostela Valley Governor Arthur Uy said he may impose a temporary ban on mining after Friday's landslide. As of Sunday, at least three miners were killed while 19 remain missing in the wake of Friday's landslide. Sarenas said the residents in the landslide-hit area had repeatedly ignored local government teams' warnings to leave the area since mining was not allowed there. He said the residents had said they will risk tragedy instead of going hungry. "Sabihin mo kay mayor patrabahuhin niya kami (Tell the mayor to give us livelihood)," he recalled many of the residents telling members of the teams he organized. — LBG, GMA News