As of 12 noon on Wednesday (September 26), the Incident Management Team (IMT) has recorded at least 63 casualties, 18 injured, and 28 missing persons due to the landslide that hit Barangay Tinaan, City of Naga, Cebu.
Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) head Baltazar Tribunalo Jr., who acted as ground commander, said there are no signs of life in the landslide site after conducting the third round of assessment.
In a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Tribunalo recommended to Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong to shift to a search and retrieval operations.
The mayor agreed to the recommendations of the IMT.
“But we’re still not losing hope that we can find signs of life,” Tribunalo said.
Chiong said that two teams from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Central Office were assigned in the city to investigate the landslide and assess the two possible locations for a relocation site.
Meanwhile, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau in Central Visayas (MGB-7) will make a reassessment and review of their geohazard maps in the region.
In the same press conference, representatives from the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Central Visayas (DSWD-7) expressed difficulty in determining which of the evacuees are legitimate residents affected by the landslide.
They have yet to receive the official list of residents and are now validating reports of fake evacuees.