2 illegal miners die in ‘banlas’ mining site in South Cotabato

KORONADAL CITY (MindaNews / 12 Aug) — Two alleged illegal miners died in a flash flood late Monday afternoon in a remote “banlas” or sluice mining site in Tampakan, South Cotabato, sources confirmed Tuesday.

Destruction caused by illegal “banlas” or sluice mining in the mountains of Tampakan, South Cotabato. Taken during a raid in December 2024 conducted by a municipal government-led task force against illegal mining. Photo from the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office of Tampakan

Col. Samuel Cadungon, South Cotabato provincial police director, said the victims died from drowning in Sitio Campo Kilot, Barangay Pula Bato, a banlas mining hotspot within the tenement of Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI), developer of the controversial Tampakan project, Southeast Asia’s largest undeveloped copper and gold minefield.

Cadungon said the distress call was received by the Tampakan police station at 4:30 p.m. and immediately sent people to the area.

The team went back with the cadavers at the barangay hall of Pula Bato about four hours later due to the bad road conditions, he added.

The victims were identified as Richard Sumali, 31, married, farmer and a resident of Purok 7, Brgy. Sinapulan, Columbio, Sultan Kudarat; and Junrey Samling, 35, married, farmer

and a resident of Purok Kawayan B, Barangay Danlag in Tampakan town.

Witness Jay-ar Samling, 39, a farmer and also of Purok Kawayan B, told police investigators that the three of them were crossing the Pula Bato River when rampaging waters suddenly flowed down, sweeping Sumali.

Junrey tried to rescue his brother-in-law but the strong current drowned and killed both of them, Samling added.

Jose Sebua, president of the Campo Kilot Farmers Association, told MindaNews that the victims were killed while conducting banlas mining operations.

“The victims were doing guerilla-type banlas mining that has become rampant in the area,” he said in an online interview.

Last July 27, another alleged banlas miner was killed, bringing to six the number of individuals killed due to banlas operations in the same area since 2012, Sebua said.

Tampakan Mayor Leonard Escobillo said the local government unit, along with the police and military, raided the banlas site two weeks ago.

He said they confiscated various mining equipment during the operation, including high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes of various sizes, two large sluice boxes, three screens, and other mining paraphernalia.

“We had conducted numerous operations and warned about the dangers of banlas mining many times but they did not stop,” Escobillo said in a radio interview on Tuesday.

He said banlas mining has already destroyed extensive portions of the mountains in Sitio Campo Kilot and other nearby sites. “It destroys the trees and our mountains, and the waters eventually flow downstream and pollute our river systems,” the mayor added.

Sebua called on President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., South Cotabato Gov. Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., the local officials of Tampakan and SMI to address the worsening illegal banlas mining in the area.

Escobillo said that he would issue an executive order for the establishment of Task Force Banlas.

The mayor warned Tampakan residents involved in “banlas” mining, noting that they already identified them. “We have gathered their names already. In one way or another we will eventually get them if they will not stop,” he said.

Sebua called on the officials to build the long-overdue farm-to-market road to give farmers better livelihoods and reduce dependence on banlas mining.

“Our rivers are now brown, polluted, and contaminated with mercury due to illegal mining and banlas operations. This has endangered the health of our residents, destroyed aquatic life, and is now damaging Lake Buluan downstream—a vital resource for South Cotabato and Maguindanao del Sur,” he said.

Banlas or sluice mining, a highly-destructive mining method, involves the pouring of large amounts of water using high-pressure water jets on a mountain’s surface to loosen the soil and rocks and extract the gold ore, and then pan them with mercury.

Last month, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Region 12 raided a banlas site in Sitio Datal Saub, Barangay Datal Blao in Columbio, Sultan Kudarat.

Columbio and Tampakan towns are part of the mining tenement of SMI. (Bong S. Sarmiento, with reports from Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)