Talisay mayor urges families to move out of landslide-prone Manipis road
Residents of barangay Camp 4 are starting to lose sleep after part of their homes have been destroyed because of the landslide. The road construction was suspended following continued landslide. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
Talisay City Mayor Johnny V. delos Reyes yesterday pleaded with families to move out of Manipis road where a landslide left the road impassable for seven hours after Thursday’s downpour.
He said residents could stay at the Langtad public market as a temporary site . Government vehicles will be provided, said Vince Monterde, head of the city’s disaster office.
Rocks and loose soil were cleared from the area by 6 a.m. yesterday.
About 100 families need to be evacuated.
“It’s not safe here anymore but some of them decided not to move because it will affect their livelihood,” said barangay Councilor Danilo Caballero.
No one was injured in the landslide.
Part of a toilet fell of the edge of cliff where bit by bit the kitchen area of a house is also being eroded in along Manipis road in barangay Camp 4.
Housewife Littie Labitad, 67, told Cebu Daily News she was unsure about relocation.
“For now we will stay put. If we evacuate, how happens to our livelihood?”
Labtiad owns a small store while her husband is a farmer-tenant. Their house is located atop a slope along Manipis road.
Three steps from their door, cracks in the soil are getting visible everyday because of recent heavy rains.
“We can’t sleep at night especially when rains continue. If we hear the ground cracking, we just run outside,” she added.
She put up rope guards by the cliff near the damaged rip-rap out of fear that her seven grandchildren may accidentally fall.
A neighbor San Nicolas Briones was also uncertain of whether to stay or evacuate.
“Dugay na sad kaayo me diri nag puyo. Ganahan sad me diri,” Briones told Cebu Daily News.
Briones said that his family hasn’t been sleeping well either, worrying about the rain and its effect.
Their house was built more than 50 years ago on land they rent for P3,000 a month.
Road widening and rehabilitation of Manipis road in Camp 5 and 6 was suspended on Thursday.
CDN was able to witness that day a mudflow in Manipis road and zero visibility in the area as heavy rains fell.
QM Builders project supervisor Willie Abatyo said they could not continue roadwork with families there at risk of a landslide.
“We can’t tell when a landslide will happen. That is why we are asking them to temporarily evacuate.”
Part of the road work involves “benching” by carving out stair-like structures to prevent rock falls and landslides.
Thirty trees in the area also need to be cut. He said they are applying for cutting permits from the Dept. of Environment and Natural Resources.
Abatayo said work will resume in both areas only if all vulnerable families are evacuated.
Other landslide mountain barangays are in Candulawan, Lagtang, Jaclupan, Tapul and Maghaway.
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