Chamber of Mines members, affiliates provide relief efforts to Mindanao quake victims
By MB Online
As in past natural disasters, the Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) from some of the country’s biggest mining firms and professional organizations were again among the first to respond and provide relief efforts to the victims of the series of earthquakes that hit South Central Mindanao last October 16, 29, and 31.
According to official reports from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau’s (MGB) Region 11 and 12 regional offices, the ERTs provided relief goods consisting of truckloads of food packs, medicines, hygiene kits, beddings, and potable water to victims who took shelter in evacuation centers in the towns of Makilala, Magpet and Tulunan in Cotabato Province.
Close to 51,000 families were affected by the successive strong earthquakes (Magnitude 6.3 to 6.6) whose epicenter was identified to be in Tulunan. “In times like this, our member-firms strive to assist our countrymen as best and as fast as we can and in ways that we know best, including relief operations and, if need be, search, rescue, and retrieval operations,” Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (COMP) Chairman Gerard Brimo said. “Our members are well-prepared to mobilize ERTs at a moment’s notice to help the MGB and other government agencies in mitigating the impact of disasters and humanely addressing the needs of victims.”
COMP member-firms that contributed to the Mindanao earthquake relief efforts include Teresa Marble Corporation; Philsaga Mining Corporation; TVI Resource Development Phils., Inc. (through its subsidiary Agata Mining Ventures, Inc); Sagittarius Mines, Inc.; Taganito Mining Corporation; Taganito HPAL Nickel Mining Corporation; Cagdianao Mining Corporation; and Platinum Group Metals Corporation.
QUICK RESPONSE — Members of the ERTs of Taganito Mining Corp. and Philsaga Mining Corp. unload disaster relief goods for victims of the series of earthquakes that shook South Central Mindanao last October 16, 29 and 31. Other members of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines also immediately responded to the government’s call to assist in the relief efforts for quake victims in the towns of Makilala, Magpet and Tulunan in Cotabato Province.
COMP professional member-organizations, such as the Philippine Society of Mining Engineers (North Luzon and Caraga chapters) and the Mindanao Association of Mining Engineers likewise conducted relief operations for the quake victims. Meanwhile, other COMP members Nickel Asia Corporation and Filminera Resources Corporation donated one million pesos each to the Philippine National Red Cross to further support PNRC’s relief operations in Mindanao. Philex Mining Corporation and Silangan Mindanao Mining Corporation, for their part, will turnover donations, including those from employees, to the ongoing MVP Group Tulong Kapatid relief efforts in partnership with the Philippine Disaster Resiliency Foundation.
COMP member-companies and affiliate professional organizations were also at the forefront of search, rescue and retrieval operations as well as relief efforts in the wake of massive disasters such as the July 1990 earthquake in Baguio, Typhoon Sendong in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan, Typhoon Yolanda in Samar and Tacloban, and the 2017 Surigao earthquake.
Source: Manila Bulletin