CCDRRMO inspects Buhisan cracks

CEBU, Philippines —  Personnel of the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) yesterday inspected the cracks found on a mountain in Sitio Sandayong, Barangay Buhisan.

CCDRRMO Head Nagiel Bañacia, in a phone interview, said the findings will be submitted to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-7 before it will be released to the media.

“Kinahanglan pod among ipasabot sa mga residente, opisyales sa barangay, ni mayor ang findings para dili maka-cause og undue alarm,” he told The FREEMAN.

CCDRRMO Operations Chief Harold Alcontin led the inspection yesterday.

When asked on the feedback of the inspection team, Bañacia said Alcontin felt “relieved” upon seeing the site.

Bañacia said the office will send its findings and recommendations to MGB as soon as possible to act on the matter.

He said he has to wait for the findings of MGB if it will still concur to its 2013 report asking the officials of Barangay Buhisan to relocate the affected residents.

"After sa landslide sa Naga City, daghan napod ang sa barangay nato diri nga ni-request og pa-site inspection maong atong i-inspect gyud," he said, adding that the vigilance of the people would be of help in preventing disasters. 

As this developed, over 300 residents of Sitio Sandayong will be relocated to a “safer” 6,000-square-meter area in Sitio Dulhugan within the same barangay.

While the Barangay Buhisan has over P600,000 under its calamity fund, Barangay Captain Gremar Barete said they have not allocated funds for the relocation of the families that are living below the slope of the mountain where the cracks are found.

“Kahibaw naman gyud mi nga ipa-evacuate gyud sila maong nangita mi og kabalhinan sa mga apektadong pamilya. Nisugot na ang tag-iya dinha sa Sitio Dulhugan para ma-relocate ning taga Sitio Sandayong,” he told The FREEMAN.

Barete said the private owner in Sitio Dulhugan agreed to accept the P700 per month per 50 square meter that will be awarded each to the affected households.

The P700 per month will be settled in 25 years.  The area can accommodate at least 120 households.

The proposed relocation site has an established road network already and that electricity and water supply are being prepared.

Barete said the barangay has prepared all these in anticipation for the pre-emptive evacuation they eyed for the 300 residents in Sitio Sandayong living in danger zone because of the visible cracks on top of the mountain.

Fearing for a massive landslide that will hit the area, he said the barangay has to do something to order these affected families to be relocated for safer ground.

He is still waiting for the re-assessment of the MGB-7, Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCENRO), and the CCDRRMO.

To recall, Barete said the barangay already got the geo-hazard assessment with the recommendation to relocate the families from MGB-7 after the 7.2-magnitude quake that hit Central Visayas.

Since then, he said the visible cracks in the mountain caused rocks and debris to damage houses located below the slope of the mountain.

MGB-7 already identified 19 upland barangays that are highly-susceptible to landslides that include Lusaran, Binaliw, Guba, Budlaan, Malubog, Boot, Busay, Sirao, Taptap, Tagbao, Tabunan, Pung-ol Sibugay, Sudlon I, Sudlon II, Sinsin, Buhisan, Pamutan, Sapangdako, and Adlaon.

Barete admitted that he fears the same massive landslide that hit Barangay Tinaan in Naga City, Cebu that killed 78 people will happen in his barangay. — GAN (FREEMAN)