Cebu City Council places Sirao under state of calamity

WITH continued ground movement in the mountain barangay of Sirao in Cebu City, the City Council has declared the barangay under a state of calamity.

The declaration was also recommended by the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (CCDRRMC) which pointed out that the situation in the barangay has affected at least 100 families already.

“There is a need to declare Barangay Sirao in a state of calamity due to the continuous mass movement which posed danger to the residents of the said barangay and for purposes of facilitating the release of funds for additional assistance to those affected families,” read the resolution authored by Councilor Margarita Osmeña.

The declaration was made during the Cebu City Council’s regular session last week.

Cebu City’s Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) has already identified at least 121 landslide-affected families in Barangay Sirao from January to August this year.

To recall, the city government already declared all mountain barangays of the city under a state of calamity last January after series of landslide and severe road damages in the hinterlands due to heavy rainfall.

During their regular meeting last August 14, the CCDRRMC recommended to the Cebu City Council the declaration of the state of calamity for the barangay “in order to facilitate the use of resources to help the affected families and rehabilitate the landslide affected areas.”

The Mines and Geoscience Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 have also “strongly recommended” for the immediate relocation of housing units in the deep red zone of the barangay.