Rescue teams of the Cebu City government retrieve the body of a 14-year-old boy, who was swept away by the floodwaters of the Kamputhaw River on Oct. 13. CDN Digital | Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The death of a 14-year-old boy in the Kamputhaw River and two others in the flash flood on Tuesday night prompted the Cebu City government to inspect all rivers and waterways for obstructions.
The family of 14-year-old Hansel Dayundon claimed that after being carried by the rushing water, he hit his head on the foundation of a hotel, which constructed its parking lot right above the Kamputhaw River. This caused Dayundon to go under and had not been seen since until today.
Dayundon’s body was found this afternoon amid the garbage and debris under the Rahmann Bridge along General Maxilom Avenue in Cebu City.
His body was found on October 15, 2020, after more than 30 hours of retreival operations.
Read: Body of 14-year-old flash flood victim found among garbage in river
According to City Hall records the hotel had a permit to construct the structure in the 1970s, which is why the city government wants to study on how to go about such kinds of obstruction.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) conducted a walkthrough on Thursday to check all establishments that might have encroached on the major waterways in the city.
They have identified some structures that not only violated the three-meter easement but effectively encroached on the waterways.
With this, Mayor Labella is calling on all establishments along waterways to a meeting.
They will be asked to cooperate in the removal of the obstructions.
“Ato silang ipatawag together with DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways), unsaon nato paghinay-hinay tangtang anang mga obstructions. Dili nato dalion kay kini sila naa man ni silay permit sa DPWH,” said Labella.
(We have called the establishments together with DPWH on how we can slowly remove these obstructions. We will not rush the removal since they have permits from DPWH.)
Labella said he was hoping for the cooperation of the establishments because these structures had effectively reduced the size of the waterways, causing floods during the rainy days.
Councilor Jerry Guardo, who checked the portion of the Kamputhaw River where the boy was found, saiod the collection of debris and garbage in the river was the reason the water failed to flow on Tuesday night.
Guardo said this caused an unprecedented waist-deep flooding in General Maxilom Avenue (Mango Avenue).
A slab of concrete underneath the hotel’s parking lot right above the river also contributed to collection of the garbage in the area during the heavy rain.
Read: DPS collects 140 tons of garbage since Oct. 13 flood
Guardo said there was a need to clean the area of the river should the city want to avoid a repeat of what netizens labeled as “Mango Float” incident, a word play of the samely named dessert and the famous Avenue.
The councilor said he would raise the matter to the City Council to address the long term solution of the worsening flood situation of the city.
/dbs