SK police to civiliansand surrender dynamites

ISULAN, Sultan Kudarat –- Surrender
or face non-bailable charges.
This was the warning of police authorities
in Sultan Kudarat to farmers in Sitio Kaloloy, Barangay Bai Saripinang,
Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat who reportedly took custody of some of the more than
30,000 dynamite sticks recovered by police and military authorities Saturday.

Senior Supt. Raul Supiter, Sultan Kudarat police
provincial director, aired his warning and appeal after police and elements of
the 57th Infantry Battalion recovered about 35,000 pieces of
dynamites in an abandoned gold and copper mining site.

Those who kept the explosives should coordinate
with the police, surrender the dynamites to avoid criminal charges,” Supiter
told and//www.ndbcnews.com.ph www.ndbcnews.com.ph .

Supiter said residents accidentally discovered the
explosives in an abandoned mining site of Ippo China Mining Company in Barangay
Saripinang, Bagumbayan, Sultan Kudarat at about 11 a.m.

We have retrieved the explosives but there were
reports some were already taken by farmers before the authorities reached the
area,” Supiter said.

They should surrender recovered dynamites, he said of finder-keepers. Supiter said about 60 boxes, each containing 300
pieces of explosives were recovered. Police
and bomb experts also found chemicals used for making explosives in a laboratory.

He said the 57th Infantry Battalion and
personnel from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)
accompanied the police in the retrieval operation.

Residents in Barangay Saripinang have repeatedly
aired concerns about possible landslides and flash floods due to massing mining
activities in Sitio Kaloloy, which is overlooking the village center. Korean or
Chinese nationals have been mining in the upland Sitio Kaloloy for copper and
gold, they said.

We regularly hear explosions, series of explosions
in the mountains the past three years,” residents said. Lately, we no longer hear explosions,” said another
resident asking anonymity.He surmised mining activities have stopped
since President Duterte assumed office.

The Duterte government has been opposed to open pit
mining and campaigned hard against violators of environmental laws.

Mining activities in Sitio Kaloloy, according to
residents, started sometime in 2012 with the entry of state of the art mining
equipment, huge dump trucks and excavators.

Since then, huge hauler trucks have been coming in
and out of the village.

A long time resident was thankful the mining operations
have stopped. My prayers were answered,” Antonio, a retired school official of
Bai Saripinang Elementary School, said.