Antipolo work site landslide kills 3; probe on

ENTOMBED Rescuers descend on the Antipolo City construction site where a landslide killed three of the five workers who were erecting steel bars for a residential building project Thursday morning. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The Antipolo City government is looking into the possible liability of the contractor involved in the private construction site where three workers died and two more sustained injuries in a landslide

Thursday morning.

A building permit shown to media teams who covered the tragedy on Marcos Highway, Barangay Sta. Cruz in Cogeo indicated that the project involved RAC Construction. It was issued on Dec. 10, 2015, for a two-story residential building owned by Jacintito Catipay.

Without naming any company, the city’s public information office chief, Reli Bernardo, said “we will see in the investigation if there was any negligence on the part of the one involved in the construction.”

The probe will be conducted by the City Engineering Office and the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. They are expected to come up with their findings within the week, Bernardo said in an interview.

The chief of the disaster management office, Xavier Baldoz, said Darwin, Darrell and Rene Villegas, along with Felix Dulay and Jesse Llorica, were erecting steel frames for a retaining wall when a nearby mound of soil eroded around 8:30 a.m.

Dulay managed to run away but was still hit by the collapsing steel bars and loose earth, while Llorica was briefly entombed in the heap before being rescued, Baldoz said.

Dulay and Llorica complained of difficulty in breathing and apparently suffered leg fractures. They were brought to a nearby public hospital.

But the other workers—the three Villegases—were crushed to death and their bodies lay buried for hours, Baldoz said.

Rene was the first to be recovered at 11:48 a.m., followed by Darrell at 1:30 p.m., and Darwin at 2:30 p.m.

The fatalities were said to be related (two of them were siblings and the third was a cousin) and all residents of Marikina City.