Seizure of explosives, arms in Diwalwal ordered

President Gloria Arroyo has ordered the confiscation of all fire-arms and explosives in Mt. Diwalwal in Monkayo Compostela valley following recent violent incidents at the gold rush site in the southern Philippines.

"I have ordered the confiscation of all fire-arms and explosives in Mount Diwalwal to ensure the safety of the public," Arroyo said in a nationwide address over radio.

Arroyo directed Davao City Mayor, Rodrigo Duterte, chairman of the Peace and Order Council of southern Mindanao or Region 11, to oversee the seizure of the fire-arms and explosives.

Earlier, she had ordered the temporary cessation of mining activities in the site after a fresh wave of violence, aggravating an already tense situation that has stirred the area in the last 19 years.

In the meanwhile, the government will take complete control of the area to ensure peace, she said.

"I have ordered the environment department and the interior and local government department to stop for the meantime the mining operations in the area, while we are solving issues pertaining to the environment and the welfare of small-scale miners," Arroyo said.

"Only in this way," she added, "can we protect the security of those living in Mt. Diwalwal and they can continue their livelihood without disturbance."

At the same time, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary, Heherson Alvarez Jr., asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine national police (PNP) and armed forces of the Philippines to conduct investigations into the death of two miners and the serious injuries to five others in two separate violent incidents at Mt. Diwalwal gold rush area.

"I want them to immediately find all the facts related to the incidents and undertake other appropriate actions to effect the filing of charges in court against the perpetrators, if warranted," Alvarez noted.

The mining issue in Mt. Diwalwal has dragged on for 19 years and many people have died from mining hazards.

Last week, many small-scale miners barricaded the Tagmanok Bridge in Mawab, Compostela valley. They sought an investigation of a fumigation incident in a tunnel in Mt. Diwata where a miner died of suffocation.