HUNDREDS of residents of Purok Colilisi, Barangay Tagabakid, Mati City are still being displaced taking shelter at evacuation centers as they are advised not to return to their respective residences yet due to successive heavy rains and ground movement detected in the area.
The preventive measure came following the huge cracks observed and massive soil erosion in Munoz-Colilisi road, a national highway between the municipality of Tarragona and Mati City on Thursday morning, February 22, this year, which further halted the travel of all types of vehicles, including motorcycles, passing through the road.
Based on the tally provided by the local government unit of Mati City (LGU-Mati City), around 63 houses equivalent to 73 families from the barangay are temporarily evacuated in chapels and schools nearby.
“Wala pa mamalik (ang mga residente) kay delikado pa man gud, sige’g ulan. Unya (naay) advice pud nga dili gyud sila pabalikon. Karon nga ni-landslide naman hinuon. Samot na nga dili gyud sila kabalik,” Jonathan Dolotina, official of Mati City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MCDRRMO) said in a media interview earlier this week.
(The (residents) haven't returned yet because it's still dangerous, it's still raining. Then (there is) advice for them not to return to their places. Now, that there is a landslide, it will be more so dangerous for them to return)
As of press writing, the Provincial Local Government of Davao Oriental (PLGU-Davao Oriental) alongside the Provincial and Mati City Engineer’s Office, Mati City DRMMO, Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Davao Oriental (MGB-Davao Oriental) and the provincial and city’s Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have set a strategized alternative route while the clearing, rehabilitation, and assessment operation in the area is ongoing.
This means that any type of transportation and vehicles are advised to pass through Barangay Bogakan in Tarragona or take the Compostela road in Davao de Oro to reach Cateel, Davao Oriental.
Rehabilitation efforts for the road might take three days according to the Provincial Engineering Office. DEF
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