AROUND 20 families living in a Gawad Kalinga (GK) village in Barangay Tina-an, City of Naga, were forced to evacuate following the landslide that hit Sitio Sindulan last week.
GK officials said they have provided temporary homes for them until the National Government declares the area is safe.
Jessy Lapus, purok leader of the GK village in Sitio Tapon, said only her family and four others remain in the area to guard their homes from pilferage.
Lapus leads around 68 members in their purok, including other beneficiaries of GK living in an adjacent village.
Lapus and her family were one of those who availed of the relocation provided by Apo-Cemex and GK four years ago.
The GK village, however, was almost a ghost town when SunStar Cebu visited it yesterday.
Lapus said that majority of her neighbors fled to the evacuation center at the Apo-Cemex gym because of possible flood.
During the massive landslide in Sitio Tagaytay, the soil did not only bury homes in Sitio Sindulan but also created a dam at the Pangdan River, which serves as the boundary between Barangays Tina-an and Naalad.
Toby Florendo, GK Cebu Provincial head, said they already visited the GK village in Barangay Tina-an after last week’s landslide to check on the status of the 20 families living there.
Of the number, he said that 12 families are living in the evacuation center while at least three are staying with their relatives.
Some have also opted to temporarily live in a GK-sponsored village in Minglanilla.
The GK Village in Barangay Tina-an is just 800 meters away from Sitio Sindulan. (JKV)