MGB-7: Heavy rainfall triggered landslide

A NIGHTMARE IN
SINDULAN. Some landslide survivors point to the area where they say about eight houses were buried along with the owners. | CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA

Incessant rains brought by the prevailing southwest monsoon (locally known as habagat) may have caused the landslide in Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tina-an in Naga City that claimed, as of 5:10 p.m. yesterday, 10 lives and injured 12 more others.

In a statement released on its website, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas (DENR-7) said that they deployed a team of experts, consisting of two geologists, a mining engineer, and a geodetic engineer, to investigate the Sindulan landslide.

“Heavy rainfall on the night of September 19 and early morning of September 20 may have triggered the landslide in Sitio Sindulan. The area is underlain by limestone rocks and cracks and fissures are common in the area,” MGB-7 said.

The bureau also cautioned the public, especially the more than 300 responders doing search and rescue operations, to take precautionary measures as continuous movement in the landslide area is still expected.

Naga City, which has a population of over 115,000 as of 2015, is located 23 kilometers southeast of Cebu City.

The industries found in Naga City are power-generating plants and some of the country’s largest cement factories.

Data from MGB – 7 revealed that as of 2012, two mining firms are doing business in the city.

These are Apo Cement Corporation, one of the country’s biggest cement producers, located in Barangay Tina-an, and Toledo Aggregates and Construction Development Corporation, based in Barangay Inayagan, which distributes sand and gravel.

Apo’s mineral processing permit was granted by MGB-7 on July 2009. Toledo Aggregates and Construction Development Corporation’s permit was approved in September 2010.