Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Guadalupe landslide displaces 12 families
By Linette C. Ramos & Rene H. Martel
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
CEBU City Hall came close to lifting the suspension of Landco Pacific Corp.’s development permit, but because of another landslide yesterday dawn, it will remain suspended.
City officials found some deficiencies in the flood mitigating measures of Landco in their development project in the hills of Barangay Guadalupe, which they believe caused the landslide in Sitio Dakit past midnight yesterday.
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Like the first incident last April 14, the landslide covered eight houses in thick mud and limestone. Twelve families were temporarily relocated to the barangay sports complex yesterday.
Although Landco already constructed eight water detention ponds to prevent flooding in the area, City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said these were not constructed properly and could not catch the water coming from the upland areas.
He also worries that the detention ponds would collapse during a heavy rain after seeing that there are no posts supporting it.
Carillo visited the Landco property yesterday and saw that after a heavy downpour, one of the detention ponds located in a low-lying area was not filled with water.
Instead of flowing to the pond, the water flowed beside it and washed downhill silt, rocks and limestone, leaving a one to five-meter deep waterway.
“I don’t know how you constructed your retention ponds because supposedly, it will catch the water but it turns out it’s not serving its purpose. The way I see it, it could collapse and would place residents at risk,” Carillo told Landco officials during an emergency meeting at City Hall yesterday afternoon.
After visiting the affected residents early yesterday morning, Acting Mayor Hilario Davide III called for a meeting to discuss remedial measures to address the problem in Sitio Dakit.
Landco officials were also asked to explain what they have done to prevent flooding and landslides in the area.
City Administrator Francisco Fernandez, City Planning and Development Coordinator Paul Villarete, officials from the Department of Engineering and Public Works, City Planning and Development Office and Guadalupe barangay officials attended the meeting.
Zenny Quibranza, operations manager of Landco, assured the City officials that they placed sandbags near the retention ponds to change the course of the floodwater so that it will flow into the pond, and not directly to the houses of informal settlers there.
Canal
In a separate press conference, a Landco official said the problem had always been there, and that people now have somebody to blame for it, with Monterrazas de Cebu being developed.
While the incident last April showed mud with silt from the development site, yesterday’s floodwaters were canal waters that carried so much garbage, said Michael Reyes, Landco vice president for Visayas and Mindanao.
“There was no silt. This is just the regular flooding,” added Lormilo Galo, Lando business development director.
Yet, they acknowledged that their development could have contributed to the problem, and asked the government and other groups to cooperate in the effort to solve the drainage problem in the area.
Dakit, they said, does not have proper drainage.
“Dakit is really a chokepoint for water in the area. We know the risk and we are willing to take the risk. But itom man to ang tubig, sa canal gyud ba,” Galo said.
Neighbors
Reyes said Landco could not also develop a comprehensive drainage system without the cooperation of neighboring subdivisions, the City Government, and the barangay.
The people, he added, must also be kept from building their homes near waterways, as Dakit sits in a gully where water from the upland areas flows down.
While they insisted that the silt and limestone did not come from their property, Landco officials said they provided food assistance to the affected families yesterday.
They are also willing to shoulder the cost of temporary and permanent solutions to the problem, saying that they have already committed to do so.
“That area in Sitio Dakit is a natural waterway, yet they insist on staying there. We have offered to relocate them because that is our commitment to the community. As a temporary solution, we have placed sandbags in that area so the water will go down to the retention pond,” said lawyer Dindo Perez, managing director of Genvi Development Corp., Landco’s partner in the Monterrazas de Cebu project.
Project
Monterrazas de Cebu, whose development started in April 2007, spans four kilometers and 200 hectares of land covering portions of Barangays Guadalupe, Tisa, Labangon, Buhisan and Sapangdaku, all in Cebu City.
Even if he is very good friends with the owner, Osmeńa cancelled the development permit of Landco last April when residents of Sitio Dakit blamed the development project for the landslide.
A cease and desist order was issued, which prevented the developer from undertaking any earth-moving activity until all the retention ponds are completed and other flood mitigating measures are in place.
City Planning and Development Coordinator Nigel Paul Villarete said yesterday that all the mayor’s requirements have been complied with, as shown in the results if the inspection of the DEPW and CPDO’s zoning section last September.
But because of yesterday’s incident, they will have to review the design of the retention ponds and the development permit will stay suspended.
Complete
“The inspection team said the flood mitigating measures are complete as far as the original plans are concerned. I was already planning to recommend to the mayor to lift the suspension order. But in view of today’s incident, we will have to review the findings and dig deeper into the problem,” he told reporters after their meeting with Landco.
Based on the initial findings of the inspection team that investigated the landslide yesterday, the volume of the water was the same as last April, but there was less siltation.
Villarete said he instructed the team to go back today to find out the exact source of the siltation is.
Perez and Quibranza also assured City officials that they will relocate the affected families to their socialized housing project in Barangay Sapangdaku as soon as possible.
But Jeffrey Magsayo, one of the affected residents, said many of them are hesitant to relocate because of the soil condition in the relocation site.
“Humok gyud kaayo ang yuta didto unya dili sad sila makahatag pg assurance nako na dili mudahilis ang yuta. Maayo pa diri, inig human sa uwan, mawala ra ang tubig,” he told reporters yesterday while cleaning his house filled with muck.For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Bacolod. (October 15, 2008 issue)
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