19 bodies recovered from Itogon, Benguet landslide

The number of bodies recovered from the landslide that struck a mining site converted into an evacuation center by small scale miners reached 19 on Tuesday evening, a report on GMA News TV's News to Go said Wednesday.

Among the bodies recovered was that of Edwin Banawol, president of the Ucab Federation of Small Scale Miners.

The report said some 10,000 miners will lose their jobs once the government enforces a project to rehabilitate Benguet akin to the rehabilitation project created for Boracay.

These miners will be enrolled to the cash for work program by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through which they may even become part of the mountain's rehabilitation.

Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan earlier denied leniency on his part after he was accused of allowing illegal small-scale miners to operate in the municipality because of his wife's gold-buying ventures.

Palangdan had been adamant in the past few days that miners refused to cooperate with the LGU's efforts to preemptively evacuate the landslide-prone area and chose to seek refuge in the mine instead. — Rie Takumi/RSJ, GMA News