During the recently concluded 55th Annual Mine Safety and Environment Conference held last November, 2008 in Baguio City, CALABARZON mines and quarries shone anew by garnering top awards in various categories given yearly by the Philippine Mine Safety and Environment Association (PMSEA).

Globorocks Mining Corp. and RGC Agg. Corp. whose operations are both located in Quezon were given prestigious awards for placing 1st and 2nd respectively in the Safest Mineral Processing Operations category.

In the Safest Quarry Operations category, again CALABARZON quarries namely Rapid City and Vulcan Materials Corp. won the top awards for finishing 1st and 2nd respectively.

Moreover, other CALABARZON mine and quarry operations also received citations for having zero accidents during the year under review. These were: Bluerock Agg., Viba Agg., and Republic Cement Corp.-Teresa Operations.

At the height of typhoon “Jolina” which brought heavy rains from July 30 to 31, 2009, the City Disaster Coordinating Council received reports of two landslide incidents that occurred in Antipolo City, Rizal. Mines and Geosciences Bureau Region IV-A OIC Regional Director Miguel C. Fernandez, Jr. immediately dispatched a geo-hazard investigation team led by Chief Geologist Elmer Billedo to look into the causes of the phenomena. Dr. Billedo was accompanied by Mr. Elmer Quintos, Head of the Antipolo City Disaster Coordinating Council during the site ocular inspections.
One of the landslides occurred in Sitio Tanglaw, Barangay San Isidro about 3 km north-northeast of Antipolo City proper. According to local residents interviewed, two persons died when the back concrete wall of their small house collapsed. Dr. Billedo surmised that this incident was triggered when the loose soil from the adjacent 10-meter high steep and highly fractured wall collapsed down the slope due to excessive precipitation resulting into the accumulation of rainwater behind the concrete wall. This consequently seeped through the shallow foundation made up of loose soil rendering it unstable. The five houses adjacent to this site are likewise prone to landslide, Dr. billedo added.