MANIPIS landSLIDE:
A “habal-habal”
(passenger motorcycle) with four persons on board navigates through two huge rocks that tumbled down in a landslide that closed for several hours on Saturday the Manipis Road, which connects Barangay Don Andres Soriano in Toledo City and Barangay Manipis in Talisay City. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
A downpour on Friday evening triggered a small avalanche of rocks and soil in Talisay City’s landslide-prone Manipis Road stalling commuters for about an hour in southern Cebu.
The landslide once again brought to the fore fears on the safety of taking this road link, considered to be the shortest yet most perilous between the cities of Cebu and Toledo due to its very steep precipice.
Talisay City public information officer, Hazel Sevillano, yesterday issued a call to motorists to take extra caution in passing Manipis Road especially at night and even more so during heavy rains in order to prevent accidents from happening.
A photo was posted on Facebook by Cebu Flash Report, a citizen’s journalism group, showing several motorcycles-for-hire stranded along the road due to the landslide.
The affected area was immediately cleared yesterday morning to allow passage even while several piles of rocks and soil still stood at the road side.
Alfredo Panonce Jr., a barangay tanod who headed the clearing operations said that they started work to clear the road at about 8 a.m. following reports that debris blocking the narrow road had delayed commuters. There were no reports of casualties.
Stranded motorists also reported that aside from the landslide, an ongoing road-widening project had made some parts of Manipis impassable.
Cebu Daily News visited the area and saw that vehicles coming from Talisay City, on one side and Toledo on the other, needed to take turns as only one part of the road remained open for passage.
In 2014, Talisay City Mayor Johnny delos Reyes ordered the automatic closure of Manipis Road whenever there was a heavy downpour to prevent fatal accidents from happening due to landslides. He also pleaded with families to move out of the area which was considered unsafe.
Talisay City Mayor Eduardo Gullas could not be reached for comment by CDN on the recent landslide.
Manipis Road was the only passable link between Cebu City and Toledo City after the Second World War gaining its name “Manipis” which means narrow. In the 80’s the Naga-Uling Road which is longer than the Manipis link by about 10 kilometers served as the second link to Toledo City. In the 90’s then Cebu Governor Lito Osmeña opened up a third avenue connecting the cities of Cebu and Toledo via the town of Balamban by building the now famous, Transcentral Highway.