4 families left homeless by landslide in Zamboanga City
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur—Four families lost their homes on Friday due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains.
Elmeir Apolinario, the city disaster risk reduction and management officer, said the landslide happened at Shanty Town Cluster 4 in Barangay Pasonanca.
According to Apolinario, continuous rains from Thursday night to Friday morning damaged a 35-meter portion of the slope protection structure in the area, causing debris to fall down into the houses.
No one, however, was reported hurt in the incident.
The four families are now temporarily sheltered in the village’s covered court.
Engineer Rommel Allan Labayog, officer in charge of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvocs) in Zamboanga City, said the city government should immediately relocate the rest of the villagers “because the slope is already unstable” and could trigger more landslides from rain or tremor.
Apolinario said they are already considering relocating residents and the immediate repair of the damaged portion of the slope protection structure.
