Baguio under state of calamity over trash slide; typhoon, rains seen to further erode dump

BAGUIO CITY—The city council declared Baguio under a state of calamity during a special session on Wednesday, following almost two hours of debates over who was to blame for the August 27 collapse of a section of a decommissioned dump in Barangay (village) Irisan here.

Councilor Peter Fianza also convinced the city’s environment office and its engineering office to study whether removing the whole mountain of trash was more cost-effective. He said restoring the dump and its closure plan may cost the city government more than P100 million.

On Saturday, a section of the dump was washed out by heavy rains dumped by Typhoon “Mina,” causing tons of garbage to slide down to a mountainside community on Asin Rd., killing five people and burying at least three houses there.

Some councilors were initially skeptical about supporting a resolution that sought to declare Baguio under a state of calamity, after pointing out that Republic Act 10121 (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010) may not allow the release of calamity funds for the accident that affected two communities.

The calamity funds made available by the resolution could amount to more than P90 million.

More than P20 million would be spent on fees for hauling the trash blocking Asin Road to a sanitary landfill run by the Urdaneta City government in Pangasinan, said Councilor Elmer Datuin.

Vice Mayor Daniel Fariñas, the council presiding officer, urged the councilors to heed the expert opinion provided by several agencies that the 38-year-old dump in Barangay Irisan could further erode from monsoon rains or the entry of another typhoon.

Based on an inter-agency evaluation conducted this week, city environment officer Cordelia Lacsamana said floods created by runoff rainwater pushed a corner of the dump down toward a concrete reinforcement wall.

She said the combined weight of the garbage and water that seeped through the dump caused the wall to burst Saturday afternoon.

The mountain of trash had been terraced to ensure it would not topple, but its full weight was shouldered by the concrete wall that was designed by city engineer Leo Bernardez.

When pressed, Bernardez insisted that his design was sturdy.

To reduce the risk of another trash slide, Lacsamana said one of the city’s options is to lighten the load of the dump by moving trash out of the west end of the facility.

But Fianza urged them to weigh the cost of removing all trash from Irisan, if city officials could not assure people that another trash slide would not be repeated.

In Olongapo City, Mayor James Gordon Jr. asked the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to assess whether the landslide prone areas in the city are still fit for habitation following a slide that killed two persons in Barangay Sta. Rita on Tuesday.

Gordon said he wanted the MGB to assess Mt. Balimpuyo in Sta. Rita where the landslide killed Ederlyn Macapal, 54, and her daughter, Manilyn, 12, so the city could take the next step to protect residents and their property.

“We will know if we have to order a forced evacuation in the area. Our last inspection there showed that there may be [other boulders] that could roll down the hill if there is a storm, continuous rain or an earthquake,” he said.

Sta. Rita village chair Jerome Bacay said the landslide was triggered by continuous rains in the city on Monday and Tuesday. Mother and daughter were found a few meters from their house. Five other people were hurt and taken to the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital in Olongapo.

Gordon said the assessment of the city engineer showed that Mt. Balimpuyo is a danger zone. “But we need the MGB to validate that so we could order a forced evacuation of the affected residents,” he said.

Gordon said he asked the MGB to study the landslide-prone areas in the villages of Alaklan, Sta. Rita, Mabayuan, Gordon Heights and East Bajac-Bajac.