Cops cited for LCMC gold heist arrests: 2 miners die, 6 hurt in Benguet gas poisoning

MANKAYAN, Benguet -- Two miners died from gas poisoning while six others were injured inside a pocket mine tunnel here Monday evening in Barangay Cabiten.

Senior Supt. Rodolfo Azurin,Jr., provincial police director bared this, saying concerned residents from Sitio Macannawey reported to Mankayan Municipal Police Station at about 5:30 p.m. that a group of miners were trapped inside the tunnel after they smelled gases coming outside the tunnel.

Azurin said retrieval operation was immediately conducted. Rescuers found the bodies of Dante Lambino Lingyasan, 36, and Elton Padtoc Labintas,19.

The six other miners, who were found unconscious, were rescued. They were identified as Nobres Tip-ac Libag, 28; Elvis Lambino,27; Jessie Lambino,30; Dominic Olio,42; Junes Bombe, 44, and Carl Lingsayen,23.

Investigation said the victims entered the mine tunnel at about 2 p.m. when the fumes from a water pump burst, causing a huge gas and vapors emission which led to oxygen deprivation that eventually killed the victims and injured the others.

Meanwhile, four policemen here were recognized by the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Corporation (LCMC) for the arrest of the suspect in the theft of gold concentrate in January and February this year.

The plaque of recognition, in addition to a P100,000 cash incentive, was handed by Omar Evangelista, LCMC legal officer;  Jose Limmayog, Jr., security consultant, and Gov. Nestor Fongwan to Senior Insp. James Acod, SPO3 Francis Pawe, SPO1 James Cupido and PO2 DaniloQuinio, members of the Benguet Provincial Police Office tracker team.

The group arrested Raymond F. Rosete, LCMC’s former assistant manager of Internal Operations Service Division, last June 20 in his hideout in Huma Island Resort, Busuanga, Palawan.

Rosete was charged with qualified theft by the company for the theft of about P1.7 million gold concentrate after he was seen in a hidden closed circuit television (CCTV) recording on Jan. 22, 23 and 27 and on Feb. 3, 2014 while in the act of taking gold from the drying pan inside the mill refinery where gold bars are molded.

It was learned that Acod was also among the tracker team who caught Agustin Guibang in Basilan on Nov. 5,2013.

Guibang was the primary suspect in the gold robbery in LCMC on Sept. 20, 2003 that led to the death of nine mine employees.