City gov't assessing landslide-prone areas

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO) and the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CCDRRMO) are conducting a site assessment on the city’s landslide-prone barangays.

CCENRO head Nida Cabrera said the landslide-prone villages are being evaluated and monitored so that they will not suffer the same fate as the City of Naga, where massive landslides killed at least 78 people and displaced over 7,000 residents on September 20, 2018. Five people, on the other hand, are still marked missing.

“Tungod na sa nahitabo sa Naga. It was an eye opener for us nga dili ibaliwala. So ato tagaan og pagtagad ang areas na gitawag og landslide-prone areas,” Cabrera said.

CCENRO records showed that 17 villages, including the upland barangays of Taptap, Tabonan, and Pulangbato, are prone to landslides.

The assessment is also aimed at checking whether or not the barangays are compliant with the disaster management plan, said Cabrera.

Mountain barangays Busay and Sapangdaku also requested CCENRO for an ocular inspection.

“We would like to request from your good office to schedule safety and geohazard assessments in Barangay Busay. Our barangay is one of the upland barangays which has landslide-prone areas,” read portion of Barangay Busay’s letter request dated October 16.

Cabrera said the two barangays will be included in their assessment.

“Bisag wala’y request if naa’y urgent need sa pag-site inspection sa CCENRO sa prone to landslides nga lugar,” she said.

Last week, the site assessment team inspected Barangay Pulangbato and found out at least four illegal quarry operations.

The city government is set to issue a cease-and-desist order (CDO) against the four operators, whose names are withheld pending the issuance of CDOs.

Legal charges will also be filed against the operators.

Cabrera said the sole quarry operator with permit from the city government is the firm owned by Kelly Quijada. (FREEMAN)