A TEAM of geologists from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Central Office were at the landslide scene in Sitio Sindulan and, I guess, Tagaytay for a week to conduct ground penetrating radar (GPR) and georesistivity surveys (GRS).
Apparently, these tests would determine what really caused the fatal landslide that struck the area in the early morning of Sept. 20 and killed 78 persons and injured countless others.
While I was writing this the MGB 7 was supposed to reveal the results of the surveys, which sounded really geological and serious, although I don’t think the families of the victims would give a hoot. But at least, the City Government of Naga and the agency can finally stop blaming each other for the incident.
Anyway, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened that fateful day.
It had been raining for days on end. The cracks that residents and personnel of the Apo Land and Quarry Corp. had noticed had been getting bigger. The ground had already been made unstable by nearby quarry activities. Oh, and let’s not forget the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Cebu and Bohol in 2013, and its many aftershocks.
The landslide was a ticking time bomb.
Again, residents had known all along the danger they were in. They had been told to evacuate as early as 2009, but they went to then mayor Val Chiong to ask for his help to intercede on their behalf. And, because Chiong has a soft heart for people in need, he did. He asked Apo Land not to push through with its plan to demolish the houses in the area.
I know this is an exercise in futility. It won’t bring back all those people who perished, but it might save the lives of residents of Sitio Sandayong in Barangay Buhisan, Cebu City, who, as we all know, have been living under a mountain with a visible crack by its side.
Mind you, like residents of Sitio Sindulan, they’ve been told about the danger they’re in, but they refuse to budge.
Cebu City Attorney Joseph Bernaldez made it quite clear. “If people are ordered to evacuate and they refuse to obey, then it’s their fault,” he said.
A geohazard assessment that came out two months after the 2013 earthquake revealed that the MGB 7 had submitted a landslide threat advisory to Buhisan Barangay Captain Gremar Barete.
Barete has said he would meet with affected residents once the follow-up inspection is finished to discuss their next move.
In the meantime, the fissure is going nowhere. It might have even gotten bigger while everyone’s talking about it. We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess.
Tick. Tock.