(UPDATED)

After being stranded at a mining site amid the bad weather caused by shearline, 300 miners from Mati City, Davao Oriental have already returned to their homes safely, according to a disaster response official, as 15 people were reported dead across Davao Region (Region 11).

Charlemagne Bagasol, head of Mati City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office CDRRMO), said that the miners working for Hallmark Mining in Barangay Macambol were stranded in their camp due to flooding last Thursday, Jan. 18.

He said they received a call from a relative of one of the miners informing them that the miners had to be rescued from the mining site. 

It was learned that the miners were about to go home to their families from the mining camp when a flashflood occurred, blocking their usual route.

The Mati CDRRMO coordinated with officials of Barangay Macambol for the rescue operation.

“Ang sabi ng kapitan doon na pinabalik ng kompanya ‘yung mga minero sa kanilang kampo para mas safe sila mula sa baha. Then the barangay official suggested na sea rescue na lang and upon assessment we told them na delikado kasi malakas ang agos at malaki ang alon (The barangay captain told us that the miners were directed by the company to go back to their camp so they would be safe from flood. Then the barangay official suggested for a sea rescue and upon assessment, we told them that it would be dangerous because of the strong current and big waves),” Bagasol said on Sunday, Jan. 21. 

The Mati CDRRMO chief also belied an earlier report published online that the miners were “trapped”.

The CDRRMO also coordinated with the Philippine Army’s 66th Infantry Battalion for possible rescue of the miners. The soldiers reached the miners the next day, Jan. 19.

The City of Mati LGU deployed several heavy equipment to Barangay Macambol for road-clearing operations until the miners were confirmed to have evacuated the mining camp and returned to their homes on Saturday, Jan. 20.

Hallmark Mining also donated food provisions to 236 families in Macambol and 102 families in Cabuaya who are affected by the flooding.

The entire Davao Region (Region 11) was battered by heavy rains and flooding due to the prevailing effects of shearline.

Ednar Dayanghirang, director of Office of Civil Defense in Davao Region (OCD-11), said a total of 111,000 families composed of 490,000 individuals in 297 barangays were affected by the shearline in Davao Oriental, Davao del Sur, Davao City, Davao de Oro, and Davao del Norte.

The bad weather has claimed the lives of 15 people, based on the latest assessment of the National Disaster Riks Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). 

Eleven of the fatalities were recorded in Monkayo, Davao de Oro where a landslide buried an entire family and members of a religious group in Barangay Mt. Diwata; two in Davao City who were also killed in a landslide; and one reported fatalities each in Maragusan, Davao de Oro and Davao Occidental.

The province of Davao del Norte and five other areas in Davao Region including Monkayo and Mati City have already declared a state of calamity due to the extent of damage in the region.