Clearing operations: City prioritizes upland areas

CEBU, Philippines - Personally assessing the extent of damage in the upland, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama yesterday inspected mountain barangays with reported landslides.

Both barangays Binaliw and Agsungot have suffered from eroded soil initially blocking roads but has already been cleared by the city government and barangay officials.

Barangay Cambinocot had two areas with landslide incidents, both along the road.

One is in sitio Lintuwang where a pile of soil slid down to the right portion of the road but was immediately cleared and accessible to vehicles.

The other site has made one lane of the road closed due to a fallen tree on the cliff side which soil eroded.

A city-owned heavy equipment was also on standby in barangay Lusaran to address landslide incidents.

Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office operations head Alvin Santillana appealed to the public especially in the urban area to understand the limited manpower of the city government in conducting clearing operations.

“We are clearing one tree at a time. Nangayo tag pagsabot sa public. We are prioritizing clearing of roads from uprooted trees and eroded soil,” Santillana said.

The clearing operations group is composed of chainsaw operations from CCDRRMO, Parks and Playground Commission, Department of Public Services, General Services Office, Department of Public Works and Highways, City Traffic Operations Management, Cebu City Fire Department, and marine reservists, he said.

After clearing the main roads, next priority are the interior roads where the city government has received at least 30 requests apart from cases they chance upon.

He further requested homeowners to take the initiative to clear their own backyards and not wait for authorities. —/GMR (FREEMAN)