Pa, daughter saved from rising river

A DOWNPOUR that flooded most streets in Cebu City nearly cost the lives of a 46-year-old scavenger and his 7-year-old daughter in Sanciangko Street, Cebu City.

Edwin Saldua and his daughter Christine were scavenging for garbage to recycle below the bridge when the water level in the creek suddenly rose past 2 p.m.
They  were trapped there until rescuers used ropes to pull them up, said Cebu City Fire Marshal Aderson Comar.

The weather bureau said yesterday’s rains were  the result of an intropical convergence zone (ITCZ) that swept the Visayas and Mindanao, and is expected to bring more rain and thunderstorms in Cebu.

Heavy rain fell about 1 p.m. and lasted more than an hour.

Streetfloods were reported in  N. Bacalso Avenue especially below the Mambaling flyover, General Maxilom Avenue and downtown areas like Colon, Manalili and D. Jakosalem Streets.

Knee-deep water in some raods stranded commuters and stalled multicabs.

A  tree fell  on an electric post in Tagunol, Basak-Pardo. No one was injured.

In barangay Bacayan, 10 families have to be relocated to the neighboring barangay  of Budlahan next week.

Bacayan barangay captain Amadeo Borces said they are coordinating with City Hall for relocation assistance after distributing canned goods and giving P2,000 to each family.

Borces said they will heed the advise of environment officials to move another 30 families living along the riverbanks.

Meanwhile, a representative of Genvi Development Corp., developer of Monterrazas de Cebu, said they have started to comply with flood-mitigating measures required by the Cebu City government and the Environment Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Lawyer Dindo Perez, Genvi managing director, said the company has already desilted its  15 detention ponds, which temporarily hold water during heavy rainfall and prevents  rainwater from flooding nearby residential areas.

Perez said they are also undertaking a P10-million drainage improvement project in Grand Legacy and South Plains subdivisions to so that runoff water from the uplands enters the city’s drainage system.

Perez said these steps were not to be taken as an  “admission of guilt” on their part.

“While there may be basis for them (EBM) to come up with a notice of violation, that still has to stand the test of inquiry,” he told Cebu Daily News.

The EMB inspection, he said, was done without  a Genvi representative present to guide the visit.

A tehcnical  conference with the EMB inspection team is set on Thursday to  discuss the notice of violation.   /Reporter Candeze R. Mongana and Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan with a report from Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac