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Sunday, February 06, 2005
Village chief, spouse buried in landslide
By Lizanilla J. Amarga
GOLD mining was their livelihood but it also led to their deaths.
A hinterland barangay chief, his seven-month pregnant wife and two of his barangay police were buried alive in a landslide caused by their gold mining at Pigsag-an River around 3:00 p.m. Wednesday.
Pigsag-an barangay chief Bernie Misca, 41, and his wife Jocelyn, 25 together with barangay police officers Efren Laborte, 33, and Junice Demasito, 37, were mining gold at the Pigsag-an River last Wednesday.
They were reportedly into "flashing" or "hydrolicking," a method that uses hydrolics machine to spray water hard on a particular side of a hill or soil formation where they believe gold can be found either in raw chunks or in sand like form.
The soil would then slide and gather at the foot of the hill where "billing" or "panning," a process that involves manual soil sifting, is done.
Micsa, his wife and the two tanods had been flashing a particular side of the hill, creating a tunnel.
During that fateful Wednesday afternoon, the four gold miners were reported to be at the foot of the hill and were flashing this same part of the hill where the tunnel was.
Then the tunnel collapsed on them, burying them alive.
Mayor Vicente Emano and local Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) chairman Alexander Dacer expressed their grief over the tragedy.
They described Misca as a good public servant despite his poverty. The two executives said they are now finding ways to help the families of Misca, Laborte and Demasito.
"Luoy kaayo na-abtan nalang namo ang patayng lawas sa duha ka tanod ug ni Kapitan Misca ug iyang asawa nga naghigda sa salog gitabunan lang sa habol wala intawon lungon," the mayor said
He added that they have already sent out coffins for the four victims and some formal injections to preserve their bodies for the wake.
Over dxIF Bombo Radyo Friday, the mayor said he even met with a woman who identified herself as the first wife of Misca and who also was residing with the barangay captain and Jocelyn in the same house with their children.
He said Misca has three children with the first wife and then another three children with the second wife, Jocelyn, who was bearing the former's seventh child.
Dacer, already delivered a special report on the small-time mining activities in the hinterland barangays including that of Barangay Pigsag-an, said Misca has been fortunate to have been able to mined gold in the past.
He told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro that Misca's gold mining could be described as illegal but not that harmful to the environment as compared to the other miners who use chemicals during gold panning.
"Kadto ilang Kapitan Misca tubig raman gyud to ilang gigamit sa ilang gold mining so dili gyud siya ingon illegal," he said.
(February 5, 2005 issue)
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