Miners cheat death inside Itogon tunnel

ITOGON, Benguet – Two miners were rescued alive Nov. 12 inside a small scale mine tunnel here at Sitio Garrison, Barangay Ucab here following a harrowing five-hour ordeal.

Rescued were Gerry Acloben, 20, native of Barangay Dalican in Bontoc, Mountain Province and John Bas-ang, 23, also from Bontoc who were trapped inside the tunnel.

Itogon policemen said daily rains weakened the soil and caused landslides inside the tunnel around 11 a.m. on Nov. 12.

Their miner-colleagues helped each other in digging out the soil.

After continuous digging, they found the duo alive at around 4 p.m. that same day, police said.
Both miners are now safe.

Supposedly abandoned mine tunnels of the Benguet Corp. here, have been branded “Benguet’s death chambers” for numerous accidents, one of which claimed another life on Nov. 2.

Jeffrey Forayan, 19, and 22 year old Roy Tanacio were taken out by rescuers at level 1000 after poisonous gas reportedly suffocated them.

Forayan died at the hospital while Tanacio recovered.

Both “camote miners” (small scale on-contract miners) who are natives of Sadanga town, also in Mountain Province, reportedly entered the mine tunnel Tuesday morning and met the harrowing suffocation.
 

Both reportedly passed out inside the tunnel alarming their co-workers who alerted emergency and rescue personnel.

The accidents continue to rise at abandoned mine tunnels here even as the regional Mining Geosciences Bureau banned small scale mining in the area.

Mid October, rescuers gave up on small scale miner Antonio Ambonjon, 29, who for almost two weeks remained inside another mine tunnel in the same area where at least 9 miners were killed in 2009 after they were also trapped.

Government engineer George Baywong of the MGB who ended the joint government and private rescue efforts in freezing 100-meter ground water at 114 shaft at the 700 meter level because of hazardous and beyond subhuman conditions even for experienced Phil. Navy frogmen said, accidents of the same nature continue to occur in these tunnels which are supposedly “closed after all”.

Operation below level 400 was earlier banned after authorities declared it as a danger zone after last year’s incident where more than two dozen miners were trapped for more than a week. Nine miners were killed and 8 were rescued from the tunnel mishap.

Sometimes, guards are overpowered with thousands of miners, he added. “You close them but when they go (inside the tunnel) when you are away.”  

Engineer Baywong blamed the apparent “gold rush” in Itogon that even the government remains helpless.

The best way to solve the apparent problem is regulation, Baywong said, “although efforts are being ditched as actions even by the mining firm are too slow to mitigate the problem.”

Baywong admitted eve the moratorium on small scale mining after last year’s disaster has failed to even stop the “gold rush” in Itogon.