Rama to issue EO on measures after landslide incident in Sitio Garaje, Busay

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is set to issue an executive order (EO) containing measures that the city will undertake and implement after the landslide in Sitio Garaje, Barangay Busay, over the weekend.

In an interview on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, Rama told reporters that the specifics of the EO will be announced in a press conference on Wednesday, November 2.

“We already had a meeting, and I have already a recommendation, and an executive order will be in the offing. We will have Jerone Castillo (Rama’s assistant for fiscal reforms) tomorrow. We will have our press con on the matter about these issues because signs are not that anymore good and political will is necessary,” he said.

“Be on the side of caution rather than to be worried. Right now, there should be no more rebuilding there, especially on the no-built zones,” he added.

The Cebu City government, earlier, announced that portions of sitios Garaje and Gilagila in Barangay Busay were declared danger zones and off-limits to building activities.

More than 30 individuals lost their homes in a landslide in Sitio Garaje last Saturday, October 29. At least eight houses were also completely destroyed and buried underneath the landslide debris. Authorities said non-stop rains brought by Tropical Storm Paeng (international name: Nalgae) have made the ground unstable.

READ: As soil continues to move in Busay, Cebu City asks intervention from nat’l govt

According to the Cebu City Public Information Office (PIO), the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Mitigation and Management Council (CDRRMC) specified a 2.5 hectare radius at Sitio Garaje in Busay and a wider 5-hectare radium at Sitio Gilagila in Bonbon as “danger” and no-build zones.

“This means evacuation is a must,” CDRRMC chair Atty. Gerardo Carillo said.

The declaration was implemented and announced to the Barangay Disaster Brigade of Busay and Bonbon and the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) through the precincts nearest to these areas.

The Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), according to Carillo, has been directed to attend to the immediate needs of residents who have no place to transfer to, especially if the danger zone will be made permanent.

In a PIO statement, Dr. Ester Concha, DSWS-Cebu City overseer, said some affected Busay residents chose to stay with their relatives, while some have temporarily taken shelter at the barangay’s public school.

The Cebu City Traffic Office currently disallows the passage of trucks, heavy equipment and other heavy vehicles through the road along Sitio Garaje, as one lane along the landslide portion has been closed.

/bmjo

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