Naga gov’t eyes relocation site for families near landslide area

THE families displaced by last Saturday’s landslide in barangay Naalad, Naga City, will be relocated to a nearby lot owned by a home for the aged, Mayor Valdemar Chiong said yesterday.

In a phone interview, Chiong said Hospisyo De San Jose De Barili may agree to rent the lot to the displaced families.

He said he will ask the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to assess the site for safety concerns.

“Our areas are mountainous and has many slopes, so we are prone to landslide,” Chiong said.

He said they will ask for assistance from the APO cement factory in Naga to help remove a truck-sized boulder that hangs over the mountainside barangay.

Barangay Naalad captain Sandra Canatila admitted that they were unprepared for last Saturday’s landslide that caused large boulders to fall and damage four houses.

She said she didn’t know whether the barangay was a landslide-prone area.

A rapid field assessment by the MGB in 2008 rated barangay Naalad with a low landslide-susceptibility rating.

Canatila said she didn’t receive a copy of the MGB’s field assessment report.

She said the barangay council has yet to deliberate on the use of their calamity fund to help the 26 families who evacuated from the area.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7) said it can conduct a new geo-hazard mapping assessment on the site.

DENR-7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo said the last assessment was done in 2008.

Based on their assessment, Llamedo said barangays Tagjaguimit, Alpaco, Balirong, Mayana,Naalad, and Cogon in Naga City are highly susceptible to landslides. Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya