No panic over wider sinkhole

CEBU, Philippines - The sinkhole in Barangay Camboang, Dumanjug town has kept getting wider but residents are reportedly not that worried and are just going about their regular routine.

This, according to barangay captain Jojo Quirante who said his constituents are not showing any signs of panic and this may be because the area is a bit far.

Walter Pesalbon, caretaker of the farm where the sinkhole was found, also said that the soil was gradually sinking from the surface unlike last Friday when it exploded and collapsed.

“Wala ra man sila magpanic kay layo ra man, (They are not panicking because the sinkhole is a bit far.)” the barangay captain said, adding that residents nearby are doing their usual routine.

From the 18 to 20 meters diameter of the crater, it is now about 20 to 25 meters wide and 10 to 15 feet deep.

PO1 Miguelito Abadilla of Dumanjug Police Station said this expansion in diameter is slower compared to the 18 to 20-meter diameter which happened in less than one day.

Abadilla said residents showed no panic considering that the sinkhole widened towards the area of a cliff, opposite the area where the nearest houses are situated.

Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia confirmed that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and geologists from the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau-7 will check the area and assess the sinkhole tomorrow.

Garcia said both agencies will have to check what caused the sinkhole and the continued collapse of soil which has now created a big crate.

The mayor added that policemen and barangay tanods deployed in the area continue to cordon and patrol the area so that residents, including kibitzers, will not accidentally fall into the sinkhole.

It was 5 am in the morning last Friday when residents heard a loud explosion before Pesalbon saw that the said lot slightly collapsed.

The crate was first estimated to be about five inches in diameter and less than one meter deep when Pesalbon saw the land sinking.

MBG-7 received the information from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council that a sinkhole was newly formed within the private property of a certain Joy Distelkamps.

Based on the initial accounts, the formation of a sinkhole, suspected to be part of a cave, may have been trigged by the 6.9 magnitude earthquake which was followed by many aftershocks as well as the intense and prolonged precipitation brought about by an active low-pressure area.

MGB-7 said that the earthquake may have caused ground or tension cracks, factors which may have weakened the cave roof.  (FREEMAN)