Residents of landslide-prone Negros village urged to evacuate

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  – The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has urged residents of a community in Escalante City, Negros Occidental to evacuate after its assessment team found the place prone to landslides.

MGB-Region 6 director Leo Van Juguan, in his letter to Gov. Alfredo Marañon Jr. this week, said the agency is “strongly recommending” the relocation of all residents of Sitio Baloc to a safer place like in the barangay proper of Malasibog and Malapitan.

Juguan said he made the recommendation based on a memorandum report entitled “Initial Findings on the Reported Land Fissure Observed at Sitio Baloc” prepared by MGB-Region 6 engineer Leilani Suerte, who led the field assessment last Jan. 14.

Houses in Sitio Baloc stand on slopes or foot slopes prone to landslides, Juguan said, quoting the report.

The assessment was made after land fissures have been reported in Sitio Baloc since Jan. 10. Provincial social welfare officer Liane Garcia, through the governor’s office, requested it.

As of Jan. 16, 53 families from Sitio Baloc in Barangay Malasibog and five families from Barangay Paitan had been evacuated, Suerte said in her report.

Juguan, based on Suerte’s report, also recommended that the damaged buildings at the Malasibog Elementary School, currently occupied by evacuees, must be abandoned as the structures pose risks to them and to the students and teachers, too.

Suerte also recommended the continuous monitoring of the land fissures on the slopes and foot slopes of Mt. Solitario (locally called Mt. Lunay) where Sitio Baloc is situated.

Suerte said several landslides occurred on the slopes of Mt. Solitario last Dec. 27. The slopes showed signs of active soil creep, like tilted trees, she added.

A rapid geohazard assessment conducted by MGB-Region 6 in 2010 classified Mt. Solitario as “susceptible to landslides,” according to the report.

Ten houses were also buried when landslides struck the area in 2006, it added.

Suerte said the landslides were primarily due to the overloading of water of the unconsolidated slope materials, the abundance of groundwater and rainwater, the type of rocks in the area, and the sloping terrain.  

Juguan, meanwhile, also recommended that signages be put up declaring the landslide site a danger zone.

He said carrying out these recommendations would ensure the safety of the local folk.