Landslides close Cordillera roads

HIGHWAY OBSTRUCTION Authorities ordered the closure of Kennon Road on Sunday due to rockslides at Sitio Camp 6, Barangay Camp 4 in Tuba, Benguet. The more than 100-year-old scenic road linking Baguio City and lowland provinces was reopened on Monday after clearing operations. —Photo courtesy of Tuba Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — The landslide-prone Kennon Road was briefly closed on Sunday night after a series of rockslides struck Camp 4 in Tuba town, Benguet, amid the heavy rains dumped by Typhoon “Bising” (international name: Danas), which enhanced the “habagat” (southwest monsoon) and was expected to bring rains while exiting the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Monday morning.

The vital mountain artery that links this city to the lowland was reopened to light vehicles by midmorning on Monday after work crew cleared the road of landslide debris, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Cordillera.

Numerous landslides also hit sections of the city’s Barangay Irisan and Legarda Road—an area lined with hotels—due to the continuous downpours that inundated the summer capital and much of the Cordillera region.

READ: Climate change seen driving more landslides

In Kalinga province, work crews reopened access on Monday through one of its boundary roads connecting to Mountain Province, the DPWH reported.

Mountain Province’s Boundary–Calanan–Pinukpuk–Abbut Road had been blocked by a massive soil collapse in the Ampating community of Tinglayan town, Kalinga.

In Davao Oriental, days of continuous rains also inundated several areas in Governor Generoso town after its main river overflowed on Sunday, prompting the evacuation of at least 105 families in Barangays Surop, Pundaguitan and Luzon.

Clearing

Mayor Juanito Inojales told the Inquirer by phone that the localized flooding brought about by intermittent rains affected the town’s low-lying areas but all the displaced families returned home on Monday after floodwaters had fully

subsided.

In Benguet, the Governor Bado Dangwa National Road in Kapangan town, Benguet, was still undergoing clearing operations as of Sunday.

Meanwhile, motorists could already pass through a single lane of the Junction Talubin–Barlig–Natonin–Paracelis–Callacad Road in Poblacion village, Paracelis, Mountain Province, according to the DPWH Cordillera office.

The 33.7-kilometer Kennon Road, built in 1905, has undergone staggered engineering upgrades due to its high maintenance cost and

vulnerability to slope disasters.

Due to torrential rains, two major dams in Benguet—Ambuklao and Binga—were forced to release water due to rising levels, according to a Monday report from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Pagasa said Bising, which reentered PAR on Sunday after exiting on Friday, was downgraded into a severe tropical storm on Monday morning. /cb —with reports from Germelina Lacorte and Allan Macatuno