Landslides threaten river villages in 2 Isabela towns

CAUAYAN CITY, Philippines – Thousands of residents in central Isabela could be displaced as landslides threaten 36 barangays in the municipalities of Angadanan and San Guillermo as rains continue to pound the province, authorities said.

Senior Superintendent Franklin Mabanag, Isabela police director, told The STAR they may consider calling for an evacuation as soon as the river swells due to the continuous rains.

Mabanag said authorities continue to monitor a five-kilometer riverside stretch in the two adjoining towns that is prone to erosion.

Engineer Celso Dasig said the riverside portion in Angadanan town proper has been eroding since the series of typhoons last year.

Dasig said riprapping the vulnerable riverbank wall, as high as 10 meters in some portions, could help.

But he lamented the government has not considered this under its infrastructure program.

Jimmy Asuela, 48, who works as a stevedore for ferryboats in Barangay Centro Dos, Angadanan town, said their place is currently the main access to some 30 forest barangays and adjacent municipalities since successive typhoons last year destroyed the bridge in Barangay Pigalo.

Angadanan is considered a catch basin of floodwaters from the Ganano and Cagayan rivers.