PHNO-HL: 10,000 LEFT HOMELESS BY MAKATI FIRE / MT. MAGDIWATA UNDER INSPECTION


 



10,000 LEFT HOMELESS BY MAKATI FIRE / MT. MAGDIWATA UNDER INSPECTION

[Photo courtesy of Yahoo News: settlers rummage through the still-smoldering debris following a fire that razed close to a thousand shanties Tuesday April 19, 2011 at Makati city, the country's financial district, east of Manila, Philippines. A fireman was treated for slight burn in the two-hour blaze that rendered close to 10,000 people homeless, according to Makati City Mayor Jejomar "Junjun" Binay Jr. (AP Photo/Bullit Marquez)]

MANILA, APRIL 25, 2011 (BULLETIN) A HUGE fire razed a sprawling residential compound in the Philippines' main financial district on Tuesday, leaving up to 10,000 people homeless, authorities said.

The blaze, according to arson investigators, was triggered by a faulty electric cooker in a house at the Laperal Compound in Makati City (Metro Manila).

It was the fifth major fire at compound, which is filled with informally built shanties.

"I just came from the area and we estimate the number of families displaced went beyond 2,000, or up to 8,000 to 10,000 people," Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay Jr. told reporters.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Binay said that the huge compound was privately-owned but that informal settlers had over the years erected clusters of homes that the city government had warned were fire hazards.

"The compound had burned down four times in the past," he added.

"It is very clear it is very dangerous to live there," the mayor said. He added that the city government would temporarily house those affected at two private sports stadiums while a permanent relocation site was being prepared.

Deadly slum fires are common in the Philippines, where years of unabated migration from rural areas has led to proliferation of sprawling shanty towns.

In Manila alone, 37 percent of the 12-million-strong population live in slums, the Philippine Institute for Developmental Studies (PIDS) said in a 2010 report.

PIDS added that the slum population in Metro Manila would reach nine million in the next four decades.

Up to 30,000 people lost their homes in successive slum fires in Manila in February, while in January 12 people, most of them children, were killed when a fire razed an impoverished coastal area.

Tuesday's fire compounded sufferings of south-bound Holy Week vacationers traveling along Epifanio de los Santos or Edsa.

It required deployment of all available fire trucks in Metro Manila, 33 minutes after it started at 12:07 p.m. at Laperal Compound.

Hoover Moral, the Metro Manila fire marshal, said the fire prompted traffic officers to advise motorists to avoid Edsa or take alternative routes such as C5 or the South Super Highway.

Around 500 families were brought to San Carlos Seminary near the compound.

Chairman Francis Tolentino of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said other familes will be brought to a gymnasium.

Binay said that the city government was considering either Bulacan or Laguna province for relocation site for the affected families.

He added that tents will be set up as temporary accommodation for the displaced residents.

Binay has ordered the city's Social Welfare department to attend to needs of the families, some of whom will be moved to covered barangay (village) courts and nearby public schools. AFP, Maria Nikka U. Garriga And Jaime Pilapil

Mt. Magdiwata: Another Guinsaugon in the making? By Ben Serrano (The Philippine Star) Updated April 25, 2011 12:00 AM

SAN FRANCISCO, Agusan del Sur, Philippines – With 48 landslide occurrences and 22 land cracks discovered due to illegal mining, timber poaching and other destructive activities, concerned residents and local officials here fear that Mt. Magdiwata is another Mt. Guinsaugon tragedy in the making.

(MT. MAGDIWATA TRAIL]

Mt. Magdiwata, along with all the mountain ranges in Agusan Valley extending up to Compostela Valley in

Compostela province, is part of the red mountain ranges known to have rich gold ore deposits.

Five people were declared dead, 13 were injured, and 17 still missing as of press time after a landslide occurred in the mountainous area of Sitio Panganason, Barangay Kingking, Pantukan, Compostela Valley early dawn of Good Friday.

The 1,658-hectare Mt. Magdiwata watershed forest reserve is the only source of potable water supply to some 100,000 residents of this town.

According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Mt. Magdiwata is also sanctuary to the remaining flora and fauna and other wildlife endangered animal and bird species affected by unabated timber poaching, hunting, quarrying and illegal mining and exploration activities.

Mt. Magdiwata stretches up to the municipality of Rosario but a majority of areas belong to the town of San Francisco.

On Oct. 23, 1993, Mt. Magdiwata was declared a watershed forest reserve under Presidential Proclamation 282.

Under the watershed proclamation, no individuals or groups are allowed to cut trees, dig grounds, excavate, hunt, disturbance of ecology and other illegal activities within Mt. Magdiwata.

However, in a complaint letter to San Francisco, Agusan del Sur Mayor Jenny de Asis dated April 7, 2011, San Francisco Water District (SFWD) General Manager Elmer Luzon informed Asis that mining firm East Coast Mineral Resources has been allegedly conducting illegal mining activities within the watershed area, particularly in Barangay Mati.

Village officials in Barangays Alegria and Karaos, all in San Francisco town located near the foot of Mt. Magdiwata, also complained of unabated illegal mining and other destructive activities within the watershed.

Karaos barangay chairman Reynalito Homeres, in his separate complaint, said his constituents challenged both De Asis and municipal councilor Lerizza de Leon, chairperson of the town committee, to do something about landslide occurrences in their area.

Village officials admitted that they are having difficulty in stopping small-scale miners "because some of them are just relying on the industry to survive."

During an emergency meeting with stakeholders in the area headed by municipal administrator Evangeline Tan and councilor De Leon last Wednesday, it was agreed upon that an on-site inspection and investigation would be conducted next week.

Pete Ong, liaison officer of East Coast Mineral Resources Corp., holder of an approved small-scale mining permit, insisted during the meeting that the firm has not violated any laws and has not encroached on the watershed.

Records from the Environmental Management Bureau regional office furnished to the water district showed that the company was already penalized P50,000 for violating their Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) due to illegal mining operations in Manangahon, Barangay Mati, which is within the declared protected area.

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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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