Landslides hit upland barangays

CEBU, Philippines - A series of landslides hit Cebu City’s upland and urban barangays yesterday even before Typhoon “Juan” entered the country’s area of responsibility. There were no injuries reported.

In sitio Laguerta, Lahug, two houses were destroyed after a clump of bamboo fell right on the houses of Dante Magsoling and Arthur Tecson yesterday afternoon.

Heavy rain experienced here the past days is believed to have caused the ground to be unstable.

The houses of Magsoling and Tecson are located not far from each other said that they both suspected that a landslide would eventually occur after having observed some loose soil around the bamboo.

At noon yesterday, Magsoling evacuated his wife and nine children and stayed in their dirty kitchen built separately not far from the main house. Not long after the bamboo fell but the Magsoling family was safe.

Tecson and his family were also able to evacuate the area before the incident.

The Cebu City Disasters Coordinating Council sent personnel to the area to secure the families but did not order for clearing yet.

Alvin Santillana, CCDCC executive director, said that it might cause another accident if they try to work while the ground is still unstable.

Santillana just ordered the evacuation of the families and warned other residents living nearby to temporarily evacuate as continuous rain might aggravate the already unstable state of the soil.

Around 4:30 p.m., Lahug barangay officials headed by barangay captain Mary Ann delos Santos went to the area bringing construction materials like plywood, sacks of cement and lumber.

But Santillana said that construction materials are not the immediate needs of the residents. He ordered the barangay to provide tents or a temporary evacuation center and relief for the families.

In barangay Kalunasan, a riprap wall in sitio Lokana collapsed six hours before a landslide momentarily made impassable the road in sitio Tagaytay.

CCDCC immediately sent a payloader to clear the road of debris as there are no other alternative routes that vehicles may take.

Three separate landslide incidents also blocked the traffic in barangay Binaliw, Sapangdaku and Pulangbato while another riprap collapsed near the river in barangay Guadalupe.

Meanwhile, Sinsin barangay Captain Jun Ylaya sent another request to CCDCC to send a payloader to sitio Sangi to level a portion of the road that caved in by almost a meter deep making it impassable for large trucks.

Ylaya said that the continuous movement of the ground has already damaged the riprap wall of the road. This road where large and heavy trucks usually pass is an access road to Toledo City.

Santillana directed all barangays to activate their barangay disaster brigade especially at this time that they expect the worse come Monday when Juan enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility.

He said that the weather bureau assured them that Cebu will not be directly hit by the typhoon yet it might bring rains all over the Visayas.

Santillana said that they were instructed by Mayor Michael Rama to treat the situation as if there is a typhoon signal, thus, they set up a command post at the office of the Mayor where they can monitor what is happening.

Santillana complained that some barangays, especially the urban barangays, still do not know how to handle crisis situations like this even after they received training from the city government.

He said that some still depend on the city government for everything although they can stand alone as they have their own calamity fund and their own response team.

Santillana said that the whole city is already under their watch now so the barangays cannot expect them to act immediately on their requests especially for those which they know can be done at the barangay level.

“Barangay officials have been doing their part in serving their constituents except for accepting honorarium. Karon unta ang time na i-prove nila nga angay silang butaran, dili kay magtago sila in times of disaster,” said Santillana, who refused to name the barangays that are the subjects of his complaint. —/BRP (FREEMAN)