After night of heavy rain: Tunnel swallows portion of house

CEBU, Philippines – You've probably seen it in the movies when a portion of a house suddenly collapses and is sucked by the ground.

Yesterday, a portion of a two-storey house in sitio Maracas, Nivel Hills, Lahug, this city collapsed when a tunnel used during World War II caved in after heavy rain the other night.

Emma Auditor, 46, owns the house that was damaged by the "sink hole" and it is located very near to another portion of the old tunnel that caved in last June.

Her 13-year-old son was at the kitchen when their comfort room and dining room collapsed.

Auditor said that she asked her son to go to the kitchen to get some ingredients that she needed as she was cooking food at a neighbor's house.

She said that she was startled when she heard a loud noise coming from her house.

When she rushed outside, she saw her son, who was still shocked at the horror of seeing a part of their house collapse. Luckily, the boy was somewhere that did not cave in.

Auditor told The FREEMAN that shortly before the incident, her son told her that the parts of the concrete wall of their kitchen were falling.

She said that she told her son not to worry and just let it be.

She said that her husband, who works as security guard, was not around when a part of their house collapsed.

The incident, actually, did not surprise Auditor.

She said that there was a crack at her house and the portion that collapsed was the one that was separated by the crack.

She theorized that the heavy rain the other night must have loosened the soil.

"Naa na man na'y liki nang sawog sa kusina, wall to wall jud na. Nya kadtong kusina ug CR na giseparate sa liki mao'y nagcollapse," she said.

Personnel of the Special Reaction Unit of the Bureau of Fire Protection-7 have cordoned the area to prevent people from falling into the hole.

The tunnel was reportedly used by the Japanese soldiers during World War II.

Last June, the house owned by Susan Regidor, sagged after a portion of the tunnel collapsed.

The city and barangay officials, according to Auditor, had already advised them to vacate the area after last June's incident, but they did not heed it as they have nowhere to go.

"Giingnan na bitaw mi sauna pero asa man sad lagi mi paingon," she said. Their family has lived in that house since 1986.

Other residents of the place share the same sentiment.

The MGB-7 said that this tunnel leads to a cave that is estimated to be ten meters deep.

The residents, however, said that it could even be wider as their elders used to tell tales about trucks going into the cave.

Aside from the cave ins, the residents of the area are also worried about the bombs that have been left there after the Japanese surrendered back in 1945.

Some of the bombs are still unearthed from time to time. -/NLQ (FREEMAN)