MORE than 60 families in Talisay and Cebu cities will need to be relocated to keep them safe from possible landslides.
Sixty families have been asked to leave their homes in Sitio Tiguib, Barangay Lagtang, Talisay City. They live near a quarry site of QM Builders.
Engineer Allan Quirante, owner of QM Builders, promised to provide a relocation site for 29 families, after attending a dialogue yesterday at the Tabunok Sports Complex with affected residents and Gov. Hilario Davide III, together with department heads of Capitol and the Talisay City Council. But Quirante said not all 60 families need to be relocated as some houses are located far from the quarry site.
Quirante said his company has given aid to residents who have relocated to the Tabunok Sports Complex, such as bed foams, rice, canned goods and water.
“Dili ko ni sila talikdan, pero kato rang naa sa among listahan nga 29 ka bubong (We won’t turn our backs on the affected families, but only those 29 households who are in our list),” Quirante said.
He said his firm doesn’t have a business permit in Talisay as he applied for a permit directly from the regional office. QM Builders’ main office is in Dumanjug. The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office gave them a permit to quarry on a five-hectare lot.
Meanwhile, in Cebu City, the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CCDRRMO) will install early warning signs in the danger zone in Sitio Sandayong, Barangay Buhisan after cracks in a mountain were seen in the area.
CCDRRMO Chief Nagiel Bañacia said they identified two areas in Sitio Sandayong that are landslide prone.
Last Tuesday, a mining engineer from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) 7 went to the mountaintop to check the situation.
Last Monday, the MGB 7 submitted a landslide threat advisory to the barangay, urging residents to be extra careful because heavy rain might wash down rocks from the top of the mountain.
Part of the recommendation of geologists Josephine Aleta and Joh Christopher Santos is to relocate the residents along the foot slope as a long-term solution; or, at the very least, evacuate them during rainy periods, they said.
In an interview yesterday, Bañacia said they are assisting the barangay in finding a suitable relocation site for the families living in the danger zone.
Bañacia said the City can use a portion of its disaster fund to help the barangay in developing the relocation site.
“We can use our disaster fund. We have enough funds because we still have savings in the last five years,” he said.
Barangay Captain Gremar Barete said they are looking at two possible sites—one in Sitio Dulhogan and the other in Sitio Tubod--to relocate the close to 40 families that will be affected.
However, the barangay is still negotiating with the lot owners. (RVC, GPL)