Residents risk landslide-prone road

Despite the “No Entry” sign and barangay tanods manning checkpoints on both ends of the road covered by landslide two days ago, motor vehicles and people on foot still continue to pass through the road in the boundary of barangay Agsungot and Binaliw, Cebu City.

City Hall and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources -7 (DENR-7) have ordered the closure of the road as the wall of the cliff above the road could slip anytime.

Road users were advised to use an alternative road in sitio Agpasan which also connects to the neighboring barangay of Agsungot, but road conditions in this alternate route is discouraging motorists from using it.

Aside from the threat brought about by the tension cracks found near the landslide area, Eddie Llamedo of the DENR-7 said that at least three sitios in barangay Binaliw – Binaliw 3, Marsawa and Campo – are at high risk of landslide.

He said that two other sitios in Agsungot – lower Agsungot and Lintowang – are also under threat of a landslide which may result from continuous raining.

Romeo Antigua, Agsungot barangay tanod said that the road was supposed to be closed because of the risk that rocks might accidentally fall.

“Dili na man unta ni pa-agi-an pero mangagi gihapon. Gidasmagan man gani ni (signage) ug truck gabii [This road was supposed to be blocked but vehicles still insist to passed through the road],” Antigua said.

When Cebu Daily News visited the area, tons of muds and stones covering the road was already cleared.

Councilor Dave Tumulak, said that they discovered a flowing water (tubod) few meters away from the one-foot tension crack.

Tumulak also asked Binaliw barangay captain Wilson Bacor to fix the leaking pipes and transfer them to a stable ground so as not to aggravate the situation.

Relocation

Vehicles passing by causes vibration which might trigger the loosened soil to collapse, he added.

Today, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau 7 (MGB-7) will conduct an ocular inspection of the area.

Mayor Michael Rama said he is studying the MGB report on the landslide-prone barangay.

“We will have to make danger zone markers.  If the need is immediate, we evacuate the people.  If not immediate, let’s make a plan,” he said.

Collin Rosell, head of the Department for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) said that his office is yet to assess who among the residents in the landslide-prone areas qualify for relocation./with reports from Christine Emily Layos Pantaleon