Six families relocated following Buhisan landslide

ABOUT six families affected by last week’s landslide in barangay Buhisan, Cebu City, were permanently evacuated from their homes last Saturday.

Alvin Santillana, head of Cebu City’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management, said the families are temporarily living in the third floor of their barangay hall in sitio Puti, Buhisan.

Santillana said the families will be relocated in either in barangay Tisa or Kiyot. He said Cebu City provided P5,000 worth of housing materials for each of the affected families.

“The area of the landslide is still unstable. The ground is still moving,” Santillana said in an interview.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Central Visayas recommended the relocation of the families based on their field assessment test.

Senior geologists Maria Elena S. Lupo and Josephine T. Aleta said the area was highly susceptible to landslides as evidenced by the rock fall and slope failure.

The MGB recommended for constant monitoring of the area and establishment of an early warning system for the residents.

The CCRRMC has declared sitio Puti, Buhisan, as a danger zone. Since December last year, four landslides occurred in the area. The latest took place yesterday dawn.

The landslide damaged water pipes of the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD), which sources water from the Buhisan Dam. Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya