CEBU CITY— No one shall be allowed to stay or rebuild their homes in the area hit by a massive landslide in Naga City, south Cebu.
President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said the affected families can relocate to a vacant portion of the Balili beach property located about a kilometer away from their current abodes.
“Naghisgot si mayora (Naga City Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong) nga naay yuta nga gipanag-iya sa provincial government. Nalipay ko. Kay basta gobyerno ang tag-iya, imo na na. (Mayor told me that there’s a lot owned by the provincial government. I’m happy because if a lot is owned by the government that means you can have it),” he said.
Mr. Duterte visited survivors of the landslide that covered at least 50 houses in Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tinaan on Wednesday morning.
He assured them of the government’s full support, even promising to build new houses for the affected families as well as pay the burial expenses for the fatalities, and hospitalization fees of those who were injured.
President Duterte instructed Secretary Eduardo del Rosario of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council to supervise the construction of the settlers’ new houses.
“Ingon ana lang ang akong mahatag. Mapuy-an na na. Antus lang sa. Basta may kapuy-an, may atop, may balay… (That’s what I can give you. You can already live there. Just sacrifice a bit. As long as you have a home and a roof, that’s fine),” he said.
“Ako nasubo tungod sa nahitabo. Dili malalim ang pagka krisis nga inyong giatubang karon. Bug-at kaayo. Dili lang tungod sa daghang tao nga napinsala ug katong nangamatay.Baw-an ninyo, y*** ning bagyo,” he added.
(I’m sad with what happened. It’s not easy to be in your situation right now. It’s too heavy a burden. It’s not just because many people were affected or lost their lives. You should know that typhoons are evil).
Most of the fatalities lie in state at the Naga City badminton covered court.
Area covered by the landslide reached 80.12 hectares, burying more than 50 houses in Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tinaan, an interior village about 2.1 km from the city proper.
The houses were sitting above a quarry site of Apo Quarry and Land Corp. (ALQC) in Sitio Tagaytay, also in Tinaan.
Also on Friday, Environment Secretary Frank Cimatu suspended the environmental compliance certificates of the quarry operations of ALQC and other companies in Region 7 as well as in Regions 1, 3, 4A, 5, 10, 11, and 13 while review of their operations is underway.
Naga City Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong also issued an executive order stopping all mining operations and related activities, including small-scale quarries, sand, and gravel extractions, and other similar activities in the city.
Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III issued an order suspending all quarry operations in Cebu.
“There’s a need to review all permits issued to quarry companies and also to determine the places which are at risk,” he said in a separate interview. /kga