INQUIRER Global Nation

CEBU CITY, Philippines - The Cebu City Council yesterday placed under a state of calamity the six barangays which were affected by landslides caused by the constant movement of soil.

The six barangays are Sinsin, Sirao, Babag, Sapangdaku and Buot Taup. Barangay Guba, which is also affected by landslides due to constant movement of the soil, was declared a calamity area last month.

The barangays were declared calamity areas after the council approved the resolution of Councilor Gerardo Carillo, chairman of the committee on urban planning and development.

The resolution states that all affected mountain barangays be declared as calamity areas. The resolution was later amended to state that these seven barangays should be rehabilitated immediately.

Carillo said earlier that declaring this barangays as calamity areas would allow the city to access its calamity funds for the rehabilitation, assistance and other immediate measures needed for the affected barangays.

Sinsin barangay captain Ramon Ylaya Jr. said that declaring his barangay under a state of calamity will fast-track the emergency needs of his residents affected by the landslides. Ylaya said that most of the residents in sitio Nangka lost their livelihood when their farm lands collapsed after it was hit by landslides and cracks due to continued movement of the earth.

Ylaya said a strong current of water from a spring in the middle part of the 10,000 meter-hill in sitio Nangka caused a major landslide in the area yesterday.

The landslide caused almost half a kilometer of the road at the side of the hill to collapse. The area is covered with huge chunks of land and rocks.

Ylaya ordered to put up warning signs and to block the area to prevent residents from entering.

“Wa na gyoy pasudlon sa maong lugar bata man o dagko kay kuyaw na gyud kaayo ang lugar. Basin dunay mosud aron mangahoy (I don’t allow anyone to enter the area, young or old, because it is very dangerous. Somebody might get near the area to pick up woods),” Ylaya warned.

Ylaya told that the barangay council found two hectares of scattered lots owned by the Tabasa family in Sinsin proper as a possible relocation site for the 41 affected families in sitio Nangka who had been recommended for evacuation due to the risk posed by landslides and cracks.

Ylaya also appealed to the city government to give the barangay assistance for the acquisition of the lots for the relocation site of the affected residents.

Councilor Carillo, however, said he would wait for the report and recommendation of the Mines and Geo Sciences Bureau in Central Visayas (MGB-7) on who among the families would be relocated and whether the relocation site is safe.

Cathy Yso, chief of the Department of Social Welfare Office, said they would have to assess first on what kind of assistance they could give to the residents of Sinsin.

Yso said she would send a social worker in the area to check on the situation of the residents.

“Lisud sab kaayo moderetso lang sab ta didto wa na kahibawo unsay ilang mga needs ,” Yso said.

Meanwhile, the MGB-7 has recommended that the city government conduct a geo-technical study before pursuing to rehabilitate the destroyed road in Sinsin or find another alternative road.

Around 300 meters of the road in Sinsin had collapsed due to cracks and earth movement following incessant rains last week.

Ma. Elena Lupo, MGB-7 senior geologist who inspected the mountain barangay on Tuesday afternoon, said geo-technical study should be done to find out if the road could be rehabilitated.

If the city would decide to find another alternative road, the study would still needed to ensure that the area would not be affected to earth movement in the future.

“A geo-technical study is important to determine how stable the ground is,” Lupo said yesterday.

Lupo said MGB could conduct geo-hazard mapping to determine the risk area of the barangay, but in order to assess the foundation’s stability it needs drilling and that can be done through a geo-technical study.

Unfortunately, MGB has no capability to conduct geo-technical study.

Besides, she said, this study will cost millions of pesos.

Lupo, for her part, said that the residents in the area confirmed to her that it had been affected by minor landslides since 2000. But, she added, the landslides only worsened last week after the series of heavy downpour.

Lupo said the cracks and earth movement could be attributed to the highly-fractured volcanic rocks in the area.

Lupo said there’s a big possibility that earth movement would continue in the coming days, that would put the lives of more residents in danger.

Lupo also asked barangay officials to ensure that the affected area would be closed to the public, especially to children.

Lupo said some cracks have 10 cm gap and it’s very deep.

She learned that before the incident last week, habal-habal or motorcycle-for-hire could still use the half lane of the road but last Friday, the entire lane of at least 300 meters of the barangay road had collapsed. /With reports from Correspondents Jhunnex Napallacan and Chris A. Ligan