ITOGON, Benguet: Residents of a barangay in this municipality urged the Philex Mining Corp. (Philex) to coordinate with the said local government unit (LGU) to facilitate the cleanup drive led by the said mining company as a result of the leakage of mine tailings into a local water source.

The request was contained in a letter addressed to Emmanuel Umali, manager of the Watershed Management Department of the National Power Corporation (NPC).

Eddie Amuasen, barangay chairperson of Barangay Ampucao in Itogon, Benguet, signed the cited letter.

Amuasen said, “The sink hole of the Tailings Dam No. 3 of Philex Mining Corporation [affected] the San Roque Dam Watershed and the ancestral land claim of the community along the potion of Kawayan, Cangyan, and Tayum of Barangay Ampucao, Itogon, Benguet.”

“Philex Mining Corporation has been conducting manual cleaning, dredging, sand packing and stockpiling tailing waste without coordinating with the concerned local government units,” he said.

Amuasen urged the NPC to call for an immediate dialogue with concerned LGUs, Philex, and several government agencies.

Amuasen said, “[The dialogue] is earnestly requested in order to possibly come up [with] a more comprehensive plan for the clearing of the tailing waste and to discuss important matters concerning the tailing spillage.”

Earlier, Michael Toledo, senior vice president for Corporate Affairs of Philex, said, “We have successfully plugged our [Tailings Dam No. 3] Tunnel A, and are now focusing our resources on the making of a spillway to replace the penstock system for draining water from the pond.”

Toledo added that Philex Mining has stepped up its cleanup drive on Balog Creek following the successful plugging of the sinkhole at Tailings Dam No. 3 with about 300 employee-volunteers shoveling sediment into sacks and hauling these sacks into temporary storage facilities.