Riprap collapse casualty laid to rest

RELATIVES wailed as they laid to rest yesterday Nestor Tapdasan Sr., one of two men killed after a subdivision riprap collapsed in barangay Talamban last week.

“Wala na intawn siya,” Tapdasan’s older brother Reimwuldo said crying. (He’s already gone.)

Tapdasan was buried in Talamban Cemetery yesterday afternoon.

Reimwuldo, 51, of South Cotaboto in Mindanao, said he last saw his brother in 2009.

Last month, Tapdasan invited him to visit Cebu but he declined because it is too far.

Reimwuldo arrived in Cebu last Wednesday after learning about his brother’s death.

“I still can’t accept the fact that he is already dead. He was such a good man,” Reimwuldo said in Cebuano.

Reimwuldo added that they want justice for his brother’s death.

However, Tapdasan’s relatives said that would not be filing charges but they would want the Commonwealth Estate Inc. (CEI), the developer of the subdivision, to give them proper compensation.

Tapdasan and Allan Oporto were the fatalities when a portion of the riprap of Casa del Rio Subdivsion in barangay Cadauhan collapsed at past 7 p.m. on May 8.

Five persons were also injured while four shanties were destroyed and three were partially damaged because of the incident.

Tapdasan’s wife Elena said they are now staying in her sister’s house in sitio Kalubihan, barangay Talamban.

Tapdasan’s son Nestor Jr. said they are willing to stay in a relocation site if the government would offer one for them.

“It is fine with us as long as the place is safe,” Nestor Jr. told Cebu Daily News.

Jonjie Gonzales, spokesman of CEI, said the company shouldered Tapdasan’s burial expenses and also gave P300,000 in cash as assistance to his family. / Reporter Rhea Ruth V. Rosell