1 Chinese, 7 locals held for illegal gold mine
SAN FRANCISCO, AGUSAN DEL SUR—Authorities have arrested a Chinese national and seven Filipinos allegedly involved in an illegal gold mining operation in Santiago, Agusan del Norte, that stripped mountains of vegetation and left communities at high risk of flooding and erosion.
The composite team—from the National Bureau of Investigation in Caraga, northeastern Mindanao and Bukidnon; the Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Region 13 (MGB-13); and personnel from the Military Intelligence Group 10 of the Armed Forces of the Philippines—also shut down the illicit mining operation in Sitio Mantigue, Barangay Poblacion 1, in a raid on Nov. 8.
Engineer Larry Heradez, MGB-13 regional director, said the illegal mining operation reportedly ran by a Chinese national was tracked down after months of surveillance following complaints from local residents.
Heradez identified the Chinese national as Yang Huaming, who reportedly lived in the area. Filipino members of the group included an interpreter for Huaming and several other workers from Butuan City, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay employed as backhoe and payloader operators, mechanics and laborers.
Flushing method
Lawyer Sally Hans Barbaso, regional director of NBI Caraga, said in a radio interview in Butuan City that operatives recovered two backhoes, two payloaders, one dump truck, a service vehicle, a welding machine and other mining paraphernalia during the raid.
Heradez said the suspects used a flushing method, extracting gold by channeling pressurized water through mountain ore deposits.
“The gold originates from the mountain but was washed down to the riverbanks by heavy rains, where they carried out their operations,” he explained.
Authorities believed the suspects were linked to four Chinese nationals arrested by the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Bunawan town of Agusan del Sur on Oct. 1 this year for working without valid visas. The four are now detained at the Agusan del Sur Provincial Jail, facing deportation and permanent bans from the entering the country.
The operation against illegal mining was part of President Marcos’ crackdown on foreign-led operations that caused untold damage to the environment, according to Heradez.
