‘5,000 must leave Antipolo danger zone’

The Antipolo Rescue Unit has recommended the evacuation of some 5,000 residents at a landslide-prone area in the city.

Joey Marco, head of the agency, told the Inquirer that the proposal was made to Mayor Nilo Leyble after a landslide destroyed a house in Sitio Taguisan I, Barangay Bagong Nayon, around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Gilbert Arizala, his wife Josephine and their four children managed to escape before the combination of soil and rocks that had been eroded by continuous rains dropped on their shanty.

Arizala said that around 2:30 a.m., he heard something falling near his house. When he looked for the source of the noise, he saw the soil slowly eroding, prompting him to grab his wife and children and usher them out of their house.

Aside from Arizala’s family, the city government forcibly evacuated two other families living in the area.

They are now staying with some relatives in Antipolo City although their needs are being attended to by the City Social Welfare Development Office.

According to Marco, Leyble had yet to act on his proposal at press time although a meeting was underway in which city officials were expected to take it up.

He said that he was hoping that a decision would be made within the week.

According to him, the remaining people living in around 2,000 houses in the area should not be allowed to stay there since the soil was “too soft” to support the structures.