CEBU, Philippines - No one harmed in Bulacao mudslide.
No one was harmed when mud and rocks slid down a slope yesterday morning in the upland part of barangay Bulacao, Talisay City after a settling pond in a subdivision there collapsed reportedly due to a heavy downpour.
“Pero og nahitabo pa tong naay klase ang Day Care, kuyaw ang mga bata kay ang mga kahoy nga troso gani nabali man. Swerte lang gyud nga way klase ganiha (yesterday morning),” barangay Tanod Dencio Abalo said.
Abalo, who was among those who responded to the alarm, said the Day Care Center and the floor of a gymnasium were covered with rocks and mud reportedly from the collapsed settling pond of Rustyville I Subdivision.
This settling pond, used as the subdivision’s catchbasin for rainfall, was built on the sloppy terrain of sitio Kabanayan, Bulacao, directly above the gym and the Day Care Center.
Councilman Banjo Abastillas, meanwhile, blamed the incident to the developer’s lack of maintenance of the pond, which he believes had accumulated soil and rocks over the last 10 years since it was constructed.
The city hall had to send a fire truck to help in the cleanup.
“Supposedly, naa gyud nay maintenance. Pero ika-duha na ni nako nga term, sud sa napo ka tuig na anang settling pond, wa ko kahinumdum nga gilimpyuhan na,” he said.
Another factor that could be blamed for the collapse was the ground’s instability following the deluge of rainwater the past few days, he said.
Abastillas said the barangay had already proposed to build a riprap near the settling pond aware that it posed danger to the people and the property below it, but the proposal had been shelved due to its inability to finance it.
He said the barangay needs P500,000 to build it, and because it doesn’t have the funds, it referred it to city hall for assistance.
The program of work for the project is still pending there, he said.
Meanwhile, Abastillas said developer Rustico Pelayo will be asked on Monday to explain his side and to review the subdivision’s environmental compliance certificate.
Yesterday, barangay officials rejected Pelayo’s plan to restore the settling plan, saying its design has to be looked over by the City Engineering’s Office first.