Philex Mining Corp. has given immediate assistance and prioritized the processing of benefits and insurance worth P1.13 million to the bereaved family of Abelardo Binwag, an LHD (load, haul, dump) operator at its gold-and-copper operations in this town’s Padcal mine, whose untimely passing after an underground accident is mourned deeply by the company and the entire Padcal community.
Binwag, 48, was pronounced dead on arrival at Padcal’s Sto. Niño Hospital, on Sunday, July 16, owing to acute respiratory failure secondary to severe asphyxia.
He was found inside the LHD cab he was operating, “strapped to his seat and covered with muck up to his shoulders, unconscious and not breathing,” said Manuel Agcaoili, SVP at Philex Mining and resident manager of Padcal, in his July 17 report to the company’s CEO and president, Eulalio Austin, Jr., after a mud rush at the underground at around 8:20 a.m. yesterday.
The company released today a check of P290,000 to cover Binwag’s accident insurance (P275,000) and burial assistance (P15,000). His retirement benefits, on the other hand, amount to P518,427, while his life insurance is at P325,000, bringing to P1,133,427 the total monetary benefits due Binwag’s family.
His wake is at Bldg. 2 of the Market Area inside the mine camp in Tuba’s Sitio Padcal, barangay Camp 3. Details on the interment will be announced later pending preparations.
Binwag, who is survived by his wife, Lolita (née Ferrer), and four children, had been working at Padcal’s Mine Operations – Production Dept. since 1991, and was designated as a heavy-equipment operator for LHD.
Agcaoili said the regional office, in Baguio City, of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), a government agency under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) tasked to regulate the mining industry, has been informed and that an “investigation of the accident is ongoing.”
By HENT