Southern Leyte governor orders evacuation of certain places

Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mercado (congress.gov.ph photo)

MAASIN CITY, Philippines — Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mercado has ordered the preemptive evacuation of residents in landslide and flood prone areas following  several days of continuous heavy rain  caused by a low pressure area off Mindanao.

Mercado, in a phone interview, said he ordered provincial disaster management officer Danilo Atienza to monitor disaster areas and make preemptive evacuations.

According to Atienza, the evacuees were in the villages of Catmon in St. Bernard town and Manglit in Pintuyan town.

He could not give any figures, however, on how many families were affected as he had yet to receive reports from the municipal disaster and risk reduction council of the two municipalities.

A section of the Maharlika highway in Sogod town was impassable  following a landslide on Mt. Panjongon that occurred early Sunday morning.

Alan Eway, assistant district engineer of the Department of Public Works and Highways at the Southern Leyte Engineering District, said that the landslide occurred around 7:00 a.m. Sunday.

Eway said heavy equipment was deployed to the area to clear the road, which is near the Agas-agas Bridge. But they could not clear the area because the road had collapsed, Eway said.

Two other landslides occurred in St. Bernard and in Liloan town late Sunday afternoon but it was immediately cleared, Eway told the Inquirer in a phone interview Monday.

The Maharlika Highway is a major route going to and from Mindanao and Luzon.

Eway advised travelers to Luzon and Mindanao to take the Maasin or Bato, Leyte route to their destinations.

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