The rescue operation for survivors of the Masara landslide was ended on Tuesday, February 13, one week after the incident.
One hundred ten people remain missing, seven dead and 31 injured after a landslide swept a mining area in Barangay Masara, Maco, Davao de Oro Tuesday evening February 6.
A family of seven was among those killed in a landslide in the mining village of Barangay Mount Diwata (known as Diwalwal) in Monkayo municipality in Davao de Oro Thursday as heavy rain and winds hit Davao Region since January 16.
Small-scale miners and peasants in this town have been up in arms against the no-habitation policy, saying it displaced and deprived them of their livelihood. They reckoned, the move is in favor of big and foreign mining capitalists.
With the number of mining firms under exploration concessions, gold, nickel and copper in the rocky mountains of Davao region continue to be up for grabs. But government earnings from the excise taxes paid by mining firms are small.