Philippine President wants to close all mines following deadly landslides

Hanoi (VNA) - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on September 17 repeated his desire to shut all mines in the country following deadly landslides that some government officials and large miners said have been exacerbated by illegal small-scale mining.

"If I were to try to do my thing I will close all mining in the Philippines," Duterte said at a televised meeting of the government's disaster response team two days after a powerful typhoon named Mangkhut struck the country.

Earlier, Philippine Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu ordered the closure of all small-scale mining areas in the Cordillera region, where landslides killed 24 people. 

Illegal mining is popular in the Philippines. Government officials said that the illegal small-scale mining has resulted in increasing numbers of causalities in landslides.

On September 16, at least 30 miners were killed and 13 others went missing when a landslide occurred in Itogon, a small town in the northern province of Benguet.

Local authorities revealed that typhoon Mangkhut caused a total of 81 landslides and 13 flooding incidents in the Cordillera region.

The island state is hit by about 20 storms each year, causing huge damage on human and property. In 2013, super typhoon Haiyan swept through Leyte province in central Philippines, killing more than 6,000 people.-VNA