Heavy rains cause landslide blocking road in Valencia

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines — Heavy and continuous rains in the past five days triggered a massive landslide that rendered impassable a major road artery to the Palinpinon geothermal power plants and some mountain barangays in Valencia, Negros Oriental.

Engineer Vicente Omandam, Jr., senior manager of the Negros Island Geothermal Business Unit (NIGBU) of the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) that owns and operates the power plants, yesterday morning said the landslide occurred around midnight Wednesday at sitio Baybayon of Barangay Pulangbato in Valencia.

No casualty was reported at the road—that is bounded by cliffs on one side and the Okoy River on the other side—as it is an uninhabited area. About 100 cubic meters of oversized boulders, soil, mud and other debris rolled off the high cliff, blocking the road and with the large rocks and boulders landing into the river.

Omandam said the EDC-NIGBU immediately deployed heavy equipment, alongside that of the Valencia local government unit, to start clearing operations to make the road temporarily passable to light vehicles.

Early morning commuters and motorists were stranded until a portion of the road was opened around 8 a.m. to allow them to pass, Omandam said, adding that the road is expected to be fully opened by today, as clearing of debris continued without let-up yesterday.

The huge boulders stuck in the river will be broken down into smaller pieces before being removed, as they would obstruct the river and contribute to flooding, he said.

The EDC-NIGBU official disclosed that massive rainfall over the last five days in Valencia had saturated the rocks and soil, causing it to loosen and finally gave way late Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, Valencia Mayor Edgar Teves admitted that the town is susceptible to landslides because of its vast mountains. He thanked the EDC for its quick response in assisting the LGU in the clearing operations.

Teves said he is expecting more landslides in the coming days as he noted massive scouring in the area that is now susceptible to being dislodged when more rains come.

The mayor said there is now a need to put up warning signs in the area, and admitted it is difficult to scale that steep mountain and impossible to institute preventive measures to prevent more landslides.

Long term solutions would also entail a lot of financing to stabilize the landslide prone areas and the mayor clarified the LGU could not afford this as yet. There is also no way to open up new roads, which are expensive, otherwise, EDC who has a stake in it because of the geothermal power plants, would have already done that, Teves added. (FREEMAN)