The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) confirmed illegal treasure hunting happens in Negros Oriental particularly in the town of Boloc-boloc, Sibulan where a tunnel accident occured last January 2.
Four “treasure hunters” were involved in the accident. Mauro Alforque, 44, a local resident of Boloc-boloc was the only survivor who also notified authorities about the incident.
Three died after being buried alive: Feliciano Encilay, Sr., 62, an employee of the Provincial Veterinary Office; Algie Javier, 29, a former Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) owner of a gold detector used in the treasure hunt; and Bobby Baldado of Palinpinon from the adjacent municipality of Valencia.
Retrieval and rescue responders, Engineers Edward Malahay and Ramsey Brillante, are both of MGB-7. They said the treasure hunting did not have permits from the National Museum of the Philippines and the Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC), making the activity unlawful and unsupported.
The four men were reportedly not only tunneling vertical as they originally claimed but excavating forward horizontally as well, also endangering the lives of motorists traversing the nearby road cut across underground.
Malahay pointed out the difference between mining and treasure hunting.
According to him, mining is the processing of minerals that can be recovered from the soil while treasure hunting is searching for hidden treasures.
The local government, however, was unaware of the legality of the digging that was concealed by canvas. This was disclosed by Councilor John Rey Abada of Sibulan.
He also added that the site was located just between two houses and was worked on manually, adding to the inconspicuous manner of the activity.
