PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 17, 2012) – Motorcycle gunmen shot and killed two village officials and wounded another who campaigned against illegal mining activities in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, police said Tuesday.
Police said the gunmen fled after attack in the village of Depore that killed its chieftain Francisco Arado, 59, and Edita Navarro, 51, and wounded Ernesto Mancao, 62, who recently spoke and told the Mindanao Examiner about the rampant illegal mining activities in the mountain of Balabag in Bayog town.
“We are still investigating the motive of this case and who were behind it, but we are sure that the attack is perpetrated by hired killers,” Senior Inspector Daniel Pel-ey, the town’s police chief, said in an interview.
The attack, which occurred at around 4.30 p.m. on Monday, coincided with the government order stopping all illegal mining activities in the province where the unabated operations of small scale miners continue.
Pel-ey said the trio just came back from a meeting with other village officials at a resort in the town when gunmen attacked them near the house of Arado.
He said the motorcycle used by the gunmen in the attack was abandoned and recovered by policemen in the village. “We suspect the motorcycle was carnapped because we recovered some documents in its tool box which showed that it was registered in Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte province,” Pel-ey said.
He said they also recovered from Arado’s possession a copy of a government order stopping all illegal mining operations in Balabag.
“We recovered from his possession a copy of the MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau) cease and desist order stopping all illegal mining activities in Zamboanga del Sur,” Pel-ey said.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department Environment and Natural Resources issued Monday an order stopping all illegal mining activities in Zamboanga del Sur and other areas in Zamboanga Peninsula.
Mancao earlier appealed to President Benigno Aquino to order a stop to the illegal mining activities which polluted their streams and rivers and posed hazards to their health.
He said their water sources are polluted due to the hazardous and toxic chemicals – cyanide, nitric acid and mercury – that illegal miners used in Balabag.
“Look at our streams, the water is now yellowish and that is because of the chemicals used by these illegal miners. We have been telling the government to put a stop to these illegal activities,” Mancao told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the illegal mining activities brought deaths and miseries to a lot of families because of the unsafe mining practice in Balabag.
“How many more lives must perish before we can act and totally put a stop to illegal mining? I am appealing to you our beloved President Noynoy Aquino to hear us and help us put a stop to these activities in Balabag for the sake of our children and their future,” he said.
Mancao is still under observation by doctors and closely guarded by policemen in hospital in Zamboanga del Sur.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the shooting and it was unknown whether the attack is connected to illegal mining operations in Balabag.
There were reports that some municipal officials are allegedly involved or financing the illegal mining activities in Balabag. The Department of the Interior and Local Government has ordered an investigation into these reports.
At least six villages around Balabag, including Depore which has political jurisdiction over the mountainous area, have passed separate resolutions urging the local government to put a stop to the rampant illegal mining there. (Mindanao Examiner)
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