LEGAZPI CITY – Albay Gov. Joey Salceda has ordered a close watch on landslide-prone areas in Libon town and in Barangay Cullat in Ligao City despite two days of good weather.
The order came in the wake of continuous torrential rains that pummeled the first and third district of the province.
Salceda said 55 families or 200 people are at risk in Barangay Cullat due to cracks on a hill where a school building is located.
Reports said a kitchen of a house there has slid down due to a landslide last Feb. 21.
Barangay Cullat is about eight kilometers from the Ligao City proper on the way to Pio Duran town.
Other high-risk areas are Puroks 2 and 3 in Barangay Burabod in Libon town where a crack stretching to 150 to 200 meters was observed on the upper portion of a hill.
Salceda said 578 families have been evacuated since Saturday.
“A curfew with a limited duration is now in place there to control the (residents’) movement,” said Salceda, adding that barangay tanods are strictly implementing the curfew.
“In fact, one of the responsibilities of the tanods assigned there is to ring the chapel’s bell just in case the earth starts to slide,” he said.
A copy of the evacuation order was furnished to the Commission on Human Rights’ office here.
The hillside in Barangay Burabod was also found by the advance landslide monitoring team to be sitting on a fault line.
Salceda said 628 families in adjoining Barangay San Vicente have also been evacuated due to the landslide risk.
A total of 222 families or 1,161 people are still staying in evacuation centers across the province.
Meanwhile, Sorsogon Vice Gov. Renato Laurenaria said the provincial board has placed 14 towns in the province under a state of calamity.
Laurenaria said the town of Magallanes was heavily affected by seven days of continuous rainfall that caused severe flooding and landslides.