Siquijor Yamashita's Treasure

Every once in a while I get fed up with life in the Phils. Yesterday was such a day. Just down the road from us at the beach a local big wig has had the bright idea to dig for treasure. I hear that he has no permit. I know he has no mining qualifications or any geology credentials. None the less this fool starts to dig a hole 15metres deep at about 1m above sea level less than 7m from the waters edge.

Locals are convinced he is looking for Yamashita's gold. You can imagine the scene 75 years ago:

Yamshita: I have great idea Highness. Now the war is lost, let's bury some gold in someone's back yard. No one will know. We'll hide it on Siquijor. The locals are dumb. No-one will notice.

Emperor: Great idea Yams me old fruit. No one could possibly notice umpteen tons of gold being dropped into a dirty great hole on a beach could they? Even if they did they would forget about it pretty d*mn quick. It will be safe for oooooohhhh, at least 75 years. Make it so.

So 73 years later I start talking to this big wig. Had he thought about subsidence? How was he going to stop the pit from flooding with the tides let alone the run off water from the hills? What safety precautions was he taking for his workers? Btw I told him that at the bottom of every mine the world over is a Cornishman. Mining is in our blood. He waved me away arrogantly telling me he knew what he was doing and this was none of my business.

So yesterday the asawa rings me in tears. The pit collapsed in on itself at high tide burying 3 men. Patay. As they say around here. Took hours to dig them out and far too late. A father and son, another man from the other side of the island. All 3 no doubt desperate for a wage and no doubt suckers for this myth.

Would these guys still be alive today if I had complained to the baranguay officials or the government? I probably would have been labelled as a foreigner trouble maker - and no 2 year mining operation goes without a blind eye being turned I'm sure. So I kept quiet. I wish I hadn't.

 

That's a sad story. I don't think there was anything you could have done.
Hard headed people will not listen.
If the families of these victims (best word I can come up with) make life impossible for Mr. Bigwig and he has to flee the island, that would be great.
Jerk :(

 

Greed leads to many Things, "STUPIDITY" Being top of the list in this Instance

 

You did the right thing. You made your concerns clear to the person involved. Anything beyond that would get you labeled as a trouble maker. The work would have gone on even if you had complained AND the guys would still be dead AND somehow it would be the foreigners fault. Again, you did the right thing, IMHO, and thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks all. I think Mr Big will do time for this. I would be very surprised if he didn't. But then again nothing surprises me anymore...it avoids any disappointments in life. :(

 

I have to wonder about the sanity of people looking for lost gold or even prospecting for natural gold in the Philippines. I know there is some gold but not that much has been found from what little I have read.

 

Just an update. Yesterday the house near the mining project was searched by Police. I hear the project manager and his business associate fled the island the moment they heard of the accident. Q'uell surprise ce nes pas?

 

Verne, are you Bob? A fellow named Bob told this same story to me and another fellow named Charley. It is sad that people would take such risk.

 

Nope. I am not Bob. Nor am I Sparticus Just Cernunos (look me up!), Cerne will do for short.