Two houses buried in Baguio mudslide

BAGUIO CITY — It happened so fast.

Twenty-four-year-old Rosalina Collado recalled hearing a "deep and loud sound," which she likened to "a thousand water buffaloes outrunning each other downslope."

She grabbed a bagful of clothes and jumped out of her house. In a matter of seconds, her dwelling and a neighbor’s at the back of the posh Baguio Country Club were buried under tons of mud.

Collado was one of those who survived the tragedy which occurred at about 4:10 p.m. last Friday. There were no reports of casualties.

All 26 families living downslope of Section A of the Country Club village, including the six families living in the two buried houses, are now seeking temporary shelter at a nearby day care center.

Barangay officials said they had warned the residents of Section A that the continuous rains might trigger a mudslide, but their warning was unheeded.

"Matigas ang ulo nila (They are hard-headed)," said one of the barangay leaders who refused to be identified.

Meanwhile, the calamity death toll in the Cordilleras has risen to three, while two others still missing.

Vicente Tomazar, Cordillera chief of the Office of Civil Defense, said two of the fatalities were victims of landslides. They were identified as Kayang-ew Chumilang, 54, of Demang, Sadanga, Mountain Province, and Lorenzo Damilog of Poblacion, Tinoc, Ifugao.

The third fatality, seven-year-old Jessica Tagtag, drowned in a river in Barangay Badeo, Kibungan, Benguet.