ILOILO CITY – Fifty-one families in Sitio Boro-Boro, Barangay Dagsaan in Buenavista, Guimaras are staying either in an evacuation center or with their relatives as a precautionary measure after a rockslide occurred in the area close to midnight Monday.
In a phone interview on Wednesday, Dagsaan barangay chairman William Eslao said the continuous rains brought about by Tropical Depression Lannie softened the soil foundation that caused a big rock to slide down the mountain slope.
A house owned by Juvylee Talaron was damaged while the house of Sandy Jimenez was partially destroyed. He estimated the rock to be as big as four carabaos combined.
“From the top of the mountain, the rock slid about 10 to 15 meters reaching the houses and slid further towards the lower part of the area,” he said.
He added that he would wait for the decision of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) or the municipal DRRMO on what to do with the situation when the weather gets fine.
Of the 51 families, 21 households are staying at the Dagsaan Elementary School and the rest are with their relatives.
They were also provided with food packs coming from provincial and municipal government units.
Meantime, Buenavista MDRRMO officer Myrna Guillen said that there are seven big rocks left in the mountain slopes with the possibility to roll down as the surrounding ground has sunk.
“We will request for the MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau) to inspect the area and what will be their possible recommendation,” Guillen said in a phone interview.
She added that they would ask authorities if they could blast the big rocks into pieces.
Meanwhile, one classroom holds only one or two evacuated families depending on their number to ensure minimum health standards will be followed, and face masks were also provided to them.