Bureau of Immigration to probe influx of aliens in Vizcaya gold-rush areas

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines – The Bureau of Immigration (BI) would look into reports of foreigners flocking to this landlocked province, raking in millions of pesos from illegal mining activities.

Eva Antiporda, of the bureau’s regional office based in Aparri, Cagayan, said they would investigate the reported activities of these foreigners who are said to be financing the illegal activities and acting as wholesale buyers of the extracted minerals.

Their presence, reports said, has further encourage many locals to engage in illegal small-scale mining, especially in the mountain villages of Alimit, Didipio and Runruno in Kasibu and Quezon towns.

“We will act accordingly on this. But it is better if there is a formal complaint on this matter so we can act immediately,” said Antiporda, who was here for the meetings of the Regional Development Council and Regional Peace and Order Council last week.

According to reports, as many as 200 mostly Koreans and Chinese, with questionable status, have been frequenting these gold-rush sites, engaging illegal small-scale miners in extracting thousands of tons of ore or mine tailings, locally called luyot.

Illegal mining activities had been going on unabated even before the foreigners took interest in going to the sites, sources said.

Earlier, Senior Superintendent Elmer Beltejar, provincial police director, said they would also look into the reported sudden influx of foreigners into these areas.

A Cordilleran term for mine tailings, luyot refer to fresh earth materials that contain precious minerals such as gold, copper, manganese and other metals. Due to lack of processing equipment locally, these are shipped out the country.

Reports said the foreigners buy the luyot at an average of P50 per kilogram. At least 30 trucks have been shipping out at least five tons of luyot per truckload daily, equivalent to 150,000 kilograms and worth some P7 million, sources said.

The buyers and their shippers have been allegedly allotting at least P8 per kilogram to bribe police and environment personnel to smuggle out the truckloads of luyot to Metro Manila or Benguet.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) estimates that about 6,000 villagers have been engaging in the illegal extraction of minerals in the gold-rush sites, which have been identified as prone to erosion and flash floods.

The illegal miners and their financiers, some of them reportedly maintaining unlicensed firearms, including high-powered ones, have been utilizing toxic chemicals as well as heavy equipment and banned explosives to construct tunnels to extract the minerals.

The MGB has blamed the small-scale miners for the contamination of rivers with mercury and cyanide. –Charlie Lagasca, The Philippine Star