Mandaue evacuees allowed to return home

Evacuees of Barangay Paknaan receive cooked meals from City Hall social welfare personnel prior to returning to their homes. (MANDAUE PIO FACEBOOK PAGE)

Five hundred families that were evacuated to covered courts and schools in four barangays in Mandaue City after the Butuanon River overflowed last Monday had returned to their homes yesterday morning.

Seventeen family evacuees from Riverside Barangay Canduman, 25 families from Barangay Tabok, 63 families from Barangay Alang-Alang and 300 families from Barangay Pakanaan went back to their homes as soon as the weather improved.

“Nagsugod sa pagpamalik sa ilang mga balay ang mga evacuees kay manglimpyo pa sila ug aron dili makawat ang ilang mga butang (The evacuees already went back to their houses to clean them and protect from being robbed),” said Felix Suico, head of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.

Suico said they are continually monitoring the weather and reminding settlers at the Butuanon River and Mahiga Creek to evacuate immediately.

Mandaue City Mayor Luigi Quisumbing said he is fast-tracking the acquisition of an amphibious dredger to dredge the mouth of Butuanon River and Mahiga Creek.

He said he ordered the City Engineering Office to continue building a riprap wall at Butuanon River in Barangay Paknaan.

Lawyer Elaine Bathan, Quisumbing’s chief of staff, said they will start the dredging in summer.

In the province, at least 10 towns and two cities experienced landslides due to the rains, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) said yesterday.

PDRRMO information officer Julius Regner said the towns of Pinamungajan, Sibonga, Barili, Alcantara, Sogod, Tabogon, Aloguinsan, Dumanjug, Balamban, Barili and cities of Bogo and Naga experienced landslides since last week.

“Gitan-aw na sa ilang tagsa-tagsa ka municipal engineer ang ilang area. Kung risgo dili na pabalikon (Each of the municipal engineers checked his area. If it is still risky, the residents should not be allowed to go back),” Regner said.

He said their office asked the mayors to request the regional Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB-7) for a risk assessment on their areas since they don’t have the technical capabilities to conduct the inspection.

In Barangay Lawaan, Alcantara town in southwest Cebu, local officials are verifying reports of a small sinkhole in the area.

Alcantara local disaster officer Cheryl Canitan said they found out about the sinkhole last Monday.

She said they have cordoned the area to prevent anyone from passing through it.

Canitan said the sinkhole was reportedly as big as a small pail.

She said her office asked the MGB-7 to inspect the area.