Suicide, lost jobs after Philippine mine closures, but some relieved

A view of nickel-ore mine Zambales Diversified Metals Corporation ordered closed by Environment secretary Regina Lopez in Sta Cruz Zambales in northern Philippines February 7, 2017. REUTERS/Erik De Castro

SANTA CRUZ, Philippines (Reuters) - His brother kept telling him that the mine would reopen and he would be hired again: but when Winston Ordonez didn't get a call from a mining firm, he took a laptop charger cable, tied it around his neck and hanged himself in his kitchen.

Ordonez worked at the nickel mine operated by Eramen Minerals Inc near Santa Cruz, a town in the mountains of the northern Philippines, that was suspended for environmental offences in July and later ordered to shut for good. He took his own life in September.