Rescuers give up finding more survivors in Itogon: official

September 27, 2018

ITOGON -- Operations to rescue over a dozen small-scale miners and their families in Barangay Ucab have ceased and retrieval tasks commenced, the government's main point man in the disaster operations in northern Luzon said late Wednesday.

Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Francis Tolentin said: “We have to face the reality of it and proceed to family counseling.”

At least 86 small scale miners and their families died here when a large portion of a mountain buried a  bunkhouse during Typhoon Ompong’s fury nearly two weeks ago.

At least 111 died in the Cordillera region, mostly from landslides.

At least 200 rescuers are at the site with three backhoes.

Families of the missing were brought to the DSWD-Cordillera training center in Baguio City where Tolentino asked the agency to counsel each and every family and debrief them from stress.

Ifugao lawmaker Teodoro Baguilat Jr. urged the government to look for a longer-term solution while calling for a review of existing mining laws.

Most of the victims of the disaster are “migrants” from Ifugao who were “lured” by the gold rush in the area. DMS