NEWSFLASH

DIWALWAL GOLD MINE TUNNEL DEATH TOLL NOW 11

Davao City, March 3, 2000 Eleven miners are confirmed dead in Monday's explosion at the gold-rush site at Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo, Compostela. The territorial dispute between rival mining firms JB Management and Helica Mining Corp. had been blamed for the tragedy, which police and residents suspect was deliberately set-off.

More than 40 miners were downed by toxic fumes inside the tunnels. They are now confined at various hospitals in the province.

Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Antonio Cerilles warned that more violence might erupt at Mt. Diwalwal with the issuance by the Court of Appeals of a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the acceptance, processing and approval of small-scale mining applications in the gold-rush area.

The appellate court granted the petition of the Southeast Mindanao Gold Mining Corp. (SMGMC), which opposed the move of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources setting aside 729 hectares at Mt. Diwalwal for small-scale miners.

"The TRO means that the conflict will continue because the provincial mining regulatory board cannot approve any application for a small-scale mining permit in the area," Cerilles said.

Cerilles said the order also stopped the government from addressing the complex problems of environmental protection and rehabilitation at Mt. Diwalwal.

The Supreme Court has yet to act on SMGMC's petition to nullify the "win-win" solution offered by the Mines Adjudication Board, delineating 729 hectares as a people's small-scale mining area and offering the rest of the 4,000 hectares to the mining corporation.