YOU’VE got to hand it to the Apo Land and Quarry Corp. (ALQC).
Government officials have been going out of their way to protect the company’s name in light of the tragedy that struck residents of Sitio Sindulan in Barangay Tina-an, City of Naga.
Well? How else would you describe it?
Geologists of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MBG) 7 cleared ALQC of any wrongdoing when residents noticed cracks in some parts of neighboring Sitio Tagaytay where some of the company’s quarry is located.
Of course, it was the agency’s certification with the commitment from the company that it would regularly report its activities in the area that prompted Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong to lift the cease-and-desist order she issued against ALQC. “Please be informed that based on the technical report, the manifestation of the assessed cracks/fissures in the subject site is a natural phenomenon and is not related to the mining operation within the ALQC Tenement in Sitio Tagaytay...,” read a portion of MGB 7’s letter signed by Atty. Gerardo Mahusay, chief of the agency’s finance and administrative division. “Further, the present nature, the number and distribution of cracks/fissures in the subject site are not considered critical and do not pose imminent danger to the neighboring community.”
Several weeks later, in the early morning of Sept. 20, more than two hectares of Sitio Tagaytay collapsed and created a landslide that covered several houses in Sitio Sindulan.
The death toll as of 8 p.m. last Sunday was 77.
In fairness to MGB 7, we didn’t find out until several days after the incident about its recommendation to implement “the immediate forced evacuation of all residents near the area” following a second geological investigation on Sept. 18.
However, the agency stands by its original findings that the cracks were caused by a natural phenomenon since “cracks are part of the characteristic of limestone.”
Last Saturday, in a radio dySS interview, the mayor’s father and predecessor Valdemar “Val” Chiong admitted that he may be partly to blame for what happened.
According to him, ALQC had asked for the houses in Sindulan to be demolished as early as 2009. He said that there was a notice to demolish but the affected residents approached him and asked him to intervene on their behalf. He relented and asked the company to change its mind.
“Mao to nibiya sila (ALQC) anang lugara. Ila naman gani nang gisugdan og tree-planting. Ningadto sila sa unahan gamay kay tungod nihangyo ta kay nihangyo man sad ang mga tawo. Kabalo ana ang mga taga-Sindulan nga (subject to) demolition (ang mga balay) unya nanghangyo ta,” he said.
So I guess it was the people’s fault then?