At the boundary of the municipalities of Datu Odin Sinsuat and Datu Blah Sinsuat in Maguindanao province lies a small coastal community called Barangay Kusiong – a home to around 1,700 people, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) of 2020.
But when Severe Tropical Storm (STS) “Paeng” brought rains in Maguindanao on Thursday, Oct. 28, a huge landslide buried the village in mud and rocks, and killed at least a dozen residents there, according the record of local officials.
“Ang nangyari sa area ng Maguindanao, malaking casualty ang cause ay landslide dito sa Kusiong area na boundary ng Datu Odin Sinsuat at Datu Blah Sinsuat. Coastal area ‘yan (What happened in Maguindanao is that majority of the casualties are caused by landslide in Kusiong area in the boundary of Datu Odin Sinsuat and Datu Blah Sinsuat,” said National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Raymundo Ferrer on Saturday, Oct. 29.
Based on the tally of NDRRMC, there were 45 people who died due to Paeng, and 40 of them came from Maguindanao in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). Three of them were recorded in Soccsksargen (Region 12) and two others in Western Visayas (Region 6).
In Brgy. Kusiong alone, the provincial disaster risk reduction and management office in Maguindanao counted 12 fatalities as of 9 p.m. of Oct. 28.
Around 60 houses were buried by the landslide, the extent of which spanned five to six hectares, according to military rescuers from the 6th Infantry Division.
“Kung titignan ‘yung track ng bagyo as reported by PAGASA, hindi talaga affected ang Mindanao. Mindanao is not in the direct path na tinatahak ng Paeng. But before pumasok ‘yung Paeng, LPA pa lang siya ay nagbigay na ito ng maraming ulan sa Maguindanao (If you look at the track of the typhoon as reported by the , Mindanao was supposed to be not affected. Mindanao is not in the direct path of Paeng. But before Paeng entered, it was still a low pressure area when it dumped rains over Maguindanao),” said NDRRMC Chairman and Department of National Defense (DND) Officer in Charge Jose Faustino Jr.
Faustino explained that Maguindanao is a catch basin province, which means that there are several low-lying municipalities that serve as a vault of water from the Liguasan Marsh, a wetland located in the Mindanao River basin that is water-clogged during the wet season.
“Ang nangyari is ‘yung hazard from highlands led to landslide and flood. Because of sobrang dami ng binuhos na ulan, nagkaroon ng landslide sa mga coastal areas na hindi dating binabaha. Hindi tayo nagkakaroon ng disasters sa mga lugar na ito (What happened is that the hazard from the highland led to landslide and flood. Because of the excessive rains, a landslide occurred in the coastal areas that were not flooded before),” Faustino said.
But Ferrer said this tragedy could have been avoided because the landslide area is naturally uninhabited.
It just so happened that the infrastructure development in Datu Odin Sinsuat paved the way for the creation of more houses at the foot of the mountains, exposing the people to hazards such as landslide.
“Noong na-pave na at napaganda ‘yung coastal road, maraming tao ang nagtayo ng bahay sa gilid ng bundok at saka sa kalsada (When the coastal road was paved, many people built their houses near the mountains and by the road),” Ferrer said.
The NDRRM executive director further stated that Barangay Kusiong is already denuded and the nature of soil there is limestone, which means that it is not that vegetated. Due to the lack of vegetation, the soil is loose because there are no roots that will hold them together.
“Noong may padating na bagyo, ulan na ng ulan sa Mindanao particularly sa Maguindanao so na-saturate ang lupa, lumambot (When the storm came, it was raining heavily in Mindanao particularly in Maguindanao so the soil was saturated, and it softened),” Ferrer said.
“Nagkaroon ng landslide at natabunan ang mga bahayan sa bandang Kusiong area (A landslide occurred and many houses were buried in Kusiong area),” he added.
So far, search and rescue operations were ongoing to determine if there are more casualties in Brgy. Kusion, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.