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First Posted on Inside Mindanao (www.insidemindanao.com) on August 27, 2010

Coal miners in Zamboanga Sibugay continue to employ children
Antonio M. Manaytay

Diplahan, Zamboanga Sibugay (August 27, 2010) — Fourteen–year–old Michael calls it "day–off" as he hangs out with friends of same age in the village's basketball court.

Later, he changes his mind : "Dili diay day–off. Pabugnaw sa ko (No, it is not my day–off. I have to let things cool off )."

The blistering heat of near mid-day sun is reflected on the 14–year–old's forehead — beads of sweat begin to trickle down his face.

"I simply cannot forget the victims of the mine accident which could have included me if I reported to work earlier," Michael said in the dialect while wiping the sweat on his forehead with the back of his right palm.

One person died while 4 others were injured after a coal mine collapsed last August 7 in Barangay Sta. Cruz, this town. Reports stated that the accident occurred at around 7 am amid continued downpour of rain.

Town mayor Walter Palma confirmed the coal mine accident but did not give the details saying "an investigation is underway". The names of the fatality and the victims have yet to be disclosed.

Coal mine accident, the mayor said, is common in the area and neighboring towns. The town and three other towns — Malangas, Imelda, and Payao — are homes to big–scale and small–scale coal mining operations.

The province of Zamboanga Sibugay has witnessed several mining–related disasters in the last 15 years.

A coal mine gas blast in the town of Imelda caused the death of a worker and injured four others on December 3, 2009. The blast occurred inside a mine tunnel when workers were installing electrical lights. Police investigators said the workers in the mine noticed gas emissions entering the tunnel before the blast. They cited violation of safety regulations, including lack of fire control equipment and required ventilation as the causes of the disaster.

In 2004, a coal tunnel collapsed in Diplahan town causing the death of six workers.

The biggest disaster in the province happened in 1995, when a coal mine tunnel in Malangas was destroyed by a massive methane gas explosion, which killed more than 100 people.

Imelda Gatinao, provincial director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE), said the provincial labor office is "closely and strictly monitoring compliance to safety labor standards".

The labor office, Gatinao said, is facing difficulty in monitoring small–scale miners. Most of these small–scale miners, according to her, do not have clearances and permits especially in employing children.

In 2003, the provincial labor office successfully rescued several children employed in a coal mine in Payao town. But after that, Gatinao admitted her office had difficulty monitoring cases of child labor in the different mining areas in the province.

"It is possible that child labor in mining activities is still rampant," she admitted.

Michael is a testimony. "Most of my companions are young people," he revealed, adding that some are even younger than him. He refused, however, to disclose if one of the victims of August 7 accident was young like him.

Dribbling the ball, almost meditatively, Michael takes a two–point shot but missed while his companions laughed.

"I have to take a rest for a while from my work in the coal mine. I need to forget," Michael said as he waved goodbye to his playmates.

"Maybe, I have to return to school next year if my parents would allow me," he wishfully ended.

End