DISASTER responders in the City of Naga, Cebu, are looking for at least 59 residents who remain missing as rescue operations continue after a landslide hit early morning Thursday, September 20, in Barangay Tina-an.
Earlier Thursday, five bodies were retrieved. They were identified as those of Beatriz Hope Chavez, 4; Olivia Meneses Moral, 63; Ariel Lobiano, 52; and Romeo Javanilla, 50; and an unidentified minor.
Baltazar Tribunalo, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management chief, said 59 residents of Barangay Tina-an remained missing as of 6 p.m.
READ: 15 dead, dozens buried in Naga, Cebu landslide
Tribunalo said immediate evacuation has been implemented in Barangay Tina-an and the neighboring villages of Inoburan and Naalad while search, rescue and retrieval operation continues.
The City Government of Naga declared the barangays of Tina-an, Naalad, Mainit, Pangdan Cabungahan under a state of calamity.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in a report said the manifestation of the assessed cracks/fissures in Sitio Tagaytay, Barangay Tina-an, City of Naga, Cebu, is a natural phenomenon and is not related to the mining operation within the Apo Land and Quarry Corporation Tenement.
The report added that under the present nature, the number and the distribution of cracks/fissures in the subject site are not considered critical and do not pose imminent danger to the neighboring community. The report was signed by lawyer Gerardo Mahusay of the MGB-Central Visayas.
Naga Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong admitted about the MGB report, but refuses to elaborate, saying she wanted to prioritize the search, rescue and retrieval operations, as well the evacuation of the other residents.
"We're really hoping we can still recover them alive," she said.
Chiong clarified that she issued a cease and desist order against the Apo Cemex quarry activity near the site where the landslide happened.
Rescuers were treading carefully in small groups on the unstable ground to avoid further casualties.
"We're running out of time. The ground in the area is still vibrating. We're striking a balance between intensifying our rescue efforts and ensuring the safety of our rescuers," Naga City Councilor Carmelino Cruz said by phone.
Cristita Villarba, a 53-year-old resident, told The Associated Press by phone that her husband and son were preparing to leave for work when the ground shook and they were overwhelmed by a roar.
"It was like an earthquake and there was this thundering, loud banging sound. All of us ran out," Villarba said, adding she, her husband and three children were shocked but unhurt.
Outside, she saw the house of her elderly brother, Lauro, and his family buried in the landslide.
"Many of our neighbors were crying and screaming for help. Some wanted to help those who got hit but there was too much earth covering the houses, including my brother's," she said.
More than a dozen people live in her brother's house, mostly his family and grandchildren, she said, adding that many small houses in her community got hit.
It's not clear what set off the landslide, but some residents blamed limestone quarries, which they suspect may have damaged and caused cracks in the mountainside facing their villages.
Villarba said a light rain stopped when the landslide hit and there was no rain on Wednesday, September 19. (JKV/With AP)