Families in Cebu town ordered to leave danger zone

Saturday, February 11, 2012

CEBU CITY -- After massive cracks were found in a mountain in Ronda town, authorities said the residents should be evacuated to safer ground.

The cracks -- about three kilometers long -- found in Sitio Langin, Barangay Vive were caused by the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that hit the provinces of Cebu and Negros Oriental last Monday, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-Central Visayas Director Loreto Alburo said in a television report.

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“We mapped this area before as susceptible to landslides,” Alburo said. “(It is a) permanent danger zone.”

A representative of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD)-Central Visayas suggested that the Ronda Municipal Government conduct “pre-emptive evacuation” to keep anyone from getting hurt.

At the foot of the mountain, there are about 150 families living in 85 households and a school with a population of over 300 students.

Engr. Ver Neil Balaba, OCD-Central Visayas operations officer, said there is a possibility a landslide would occur during a heavy downpour.

“The cracks are a warning from nature,” he said in a phone interview with Sun.Star Cebu.

Balaba said a team from MGB-Central Visayas will conduct a geological survey to assess the extent of the damage in the area.

Ronda’s Municipal Engineer Oscar Pilapil said some of the cracks were old and the mountain is connected to a mountain in Kan-actol in Dumanjug town, where a fault line is located.

The official said Barangay Vive was declared a danger zone in 1996.

During the earthquake, Pilapil said, five houses were destroyed, while five others were damaged. Residents noticed smoke rising from the ground during the tremor.

A high school student, Mary Ann Tejas, said their house was destroyed after it was hit by a boulder.

Chief Inspector Bonifacio Tecson, in a phone interview, said personnel from the town’s disaster team and social workers checked Friday Barangay Vive, which is about 15 to 20 kilometers from the town proper.

“We already advised residents not to go near the mountain,” he said in Cebuano.

Tecson, Ronda police head, said he assigned two policemen to monitor the area. The barangay watchmen were also tapped to help the police.

He said residents can temporarily stay in a school in the barangay.

Residents said in a television interview that they wanted to leave their place, but they hesitated because it would mean leaving their livelihood, which is primarily farming.

“Pag-ampo aron maluwas mi dili madayon kay ang Ginoo ra ang makatabang nato (I will pray for our safety because God is the only one who can help us),” said Jenny Langunis, a student. (KAL/Sun.Star Cebu)