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MANILA - The disaster office in Naga City, Cebu said Tuesday that it was considering ending the search for bodies in a landslide that buried a residential area there nearly 2 weeks ago.

The landslide struck Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tinaan after heavy rains on September 20, burying some 60 houses near a quarry site.

Authorities have recovered 77 fatalities while 8 others remain missing, said Baltazar Tribunalo, head of the Cebu Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction & Management Office (PDRRMO).

Searchers, however, have not pulled out any bodies in the last 2 days, he told radio DZMM.

If the search continues to yield no results, the PDRRMO may urge the local government to suspend the operation on Wednesday or Thursday, said Tribunalo.

He also noted that the last recovered fatalities were in an advanced state of decomposition, which may pose a health hazard for rescuers.

"Sana hindi ito umulan para at least, for the last 24 or 30 hours, makakuha pa tayo ng bangkay," he said.

(We hope that it doesn't so that for the last 24 to 30 hours of the search, we could recover more bodies.)

Local officials are also searching for a permanent relocation site for hundreds of residents from the landslide-hit areas, Tribunalo added.

Cebu was not directly hit last month by typhoon Ompong, but it has been pounded by heavy monsoon rain for days.



In the northern province of Itogon, Benguet, landslides unleashed by Ompong killed at least 91 people, said Senior Supt. Lyndon Mencio, head of the provincial police.

Among the worst-hit areas there is Barangay Ucab, where mounds of soil and rock buried the bunkhouse and chapel of dozens of miners and their families.

"Dalawang beses na pong napaikutan ng mga equipment doon, talagang wala na pong mahanap kaya temporarily ini-halt [ang paghuhukay]," Mencio said in a separate DZMM interview, adding that only 1 person remains missing from the Ucab landslide.

(Our heavy equipment have combed the area twice, but we have not found any additional bodies so we've temporarily halted the search.)



Ompong left at least 95 people killed across Luzon and destroyed some P26.7 billion worth of crops and livestock, authorities earlier said.</s>NAGA, Philippines (AP) — A massive landslide buried dozens of homes near a central Philippine mountain Thursday, killing at least 21 people and sending rescuers scrambling to find survivors after some sent text messages pleading…

NAGA, Philippines (AP) — A massive landslide buried dozens of homes near a central Philippine mountain Thursday, killing at least 21 people and sending rescuers scrambling to find survivors after some sent text messages pleading for help.

The slide surged down on about 30 houses in two rural villages after daybreak in Naga city in Cebu province, city police chief Roderick Gonzales said by telephone as he helped supervise the search and rescue. Seven injured villagers were rescued from the huge mound of earth and debris.

Some victims managed to send messages after the landslide hit, Gonzales said, adding that elderly women and a child were among the dead.

Nimrod Parba, a 26-year-old resident, said a relative trapped in a house beneath the rubble managed to call Thursday morning and begged to be rescued. The calls stopped, however, and the relative could not be reached hours later, Parba said.

Naga city Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong said at least 64 people remained missing.

“We’re really hoping we can still recover them alive,” she said.

The landslide hit while several northern Philippine provinces are still dealing with deaths and widespread damage wrought by Typhoon Mangkhut, which pummeled the agricultural region Saturday and left at least 88 people dead and more than 60 missing. A massive search is still underway for dozens of people feared dead after landslides in the gold-mining town of Itogon in the north.

Cebu province was not directly hit by Mangkhut but the massive typhoon intensified monsoon rains across a large part of the archipelago, including the central region where Naga city lies about 570 kilometers (355 miles) southeast of Manila.

Rescuers were treading carefully in small groups on the unstable ground to avoid further casualties.

“We’re running out of time. The ground in the area is still vibrating. We’re striking a balance between intensifying our rescue efforts and ensuring the safety of our rescuers,” Naga city Councilor Carmelino Cruz said by phone.

Cristita Villarba, a 53-year-old resident, said her husband and son were preparing to leave for work when the ground shook and they were overwhelmed by a roar.

“It was like an earthquake and there was this thundering, loud banging sound. All of us ran out,” Villarba said, adding that she, her husband and three children were shocked but unhurt.

Outside, she saw the house of her older brother, Lauro, and his family buried in the landslide.

“Many of our neighbors were crying and screaming for help. Some wanted to help those who got hit but there was too much earth covering the houses, including my brother’s,” she said.

Nearly 20 people lived in her brother’s home, mostly his family and grandchildren, she said.

Villarba said she had felt sorry a few days earlier for the landslide victims in the country’s north.

“I had no idea we would be the next,” she said.

Elsewhere in the landslide-hit community, a father and his young daughter were found dead in each other’s embrace in a house, volunteer rescuer Vic Santillan said.

It’s not clear what set off the landslide, but some residents blamed limestone quarries, which they suspect may have caused cracks in the mountainside facing their villages. Villarba said a light rain stopped when the landslide hit and there was no rain on Wednesday.

The nearest quarry was abandoned about a year ago, but another government-authorized quarry is still being operated not far away, and villagers also profit from the limestone business, said Angeline Templo, an assistant to the mayor.

The Philippines is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. It is lashed by about 20 storms each year and is located in the Pacific “Ring of Fire” that is vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Poverty has forced many to live on or near volcanoes, steep mountains and storm-vulnerable coasts, often leading to disasters.

Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.</s>
• At 6:00 AM, a landslide incident occurred at Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tinaan, Naga City, Cebu.
• As of 4:30 PM, Search and Rescue Operation of the LGU Responders and Uniformed Personnel's are on site to continue the operation.
• As of 6:30 PM, Search and Rescue operations has been temporarily suspended due to continues rain.
• President Rodrigo Roa Duterte visited the affected families and distributed financial assistance at Naga City Gymnasium.
• At 10:30 AM, Search and Rescue operations was suspended by the local Incident Commander due to heavy rains. Residents were allowed an hour to get their belongings while SRR operations was suspended.
• At 11:20 AM, an Operational Briefing was held at the Incident Command Post (ICP) and was presided by Mr. Baltazar Tribunalo, the designated Incident Commander.
• At 3:00 PM, Carmen Coppers Engineers together with 53rd EBDE conducted risk assessment to ensure that the area is safe prior to resumption of operations at 3:16 PM, of the same day.
• A total of 1,739 families / 7,500 persons were affected in 6 barangays in Naga City and San Fernando who are currently being served. Of which, a total of 1,669 families 7,223 persons were evacuated to eleven (11) evacuation centers:</s>OTHER popular tourism areas like Cebu and Bohol are encouraged to step up their rehabilitation efforts, as the reopening of Boracay Island to tourists draws near.

Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa (Cebu City south district), chairperson of the House committee on natural resources, gave this advice after he together with Cabinet officials last week checked on the progress of the cleanup of the popular island destination.

“We are glad that the horrendous problems that led to the closure of Boracay have led to tremendous hopes and opportunities for people,” Abellanosa said in a statement on Sunday.

He said that he hoped that efforts would also be done in other tourism hubs in the country like Mactan and Oslob in Cebu, Panglao in Bohol, and El Nido and Coron in Palawan.

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered a six-month closure of Boracay Island last April 26 after calling it a “cesspool” upon discovering problems on drainage and sewage from establishments that have crowded the island’s beachfront.

Members of the Boracay Inter-Agency Rehabilitation Task Force were also present during the inspection last week.

Shortly after Boracay’s closure, some local government units in Cebu also implemented their own cleanup efforts.

The town of Oslob decided to close Sumilon Island’s sandbar for a week and the Tumalog Falls for another week to clean them up.

Lapu-Lapu City has also started a crackdown on establishments found encroaching on the shoreline easement.

If he would be asked, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said Boracay would be ready for a “soft opening” next month.

“I can categorically state that Boracay is no longer a cesspool. And that we will be reopening Boracay in October,” said Cimatu who is the head of the task force.

The task force, who presented their report during last week’s Boracay inspection, also said that they planned to protect the resources of the island, regulate the coastal and marine reserve and restore the beach front.

They also planned to impose prohibitions on the island including bans on the famed beach parties, regulation of fire dancing and sand castle making, as well as the strict implementation of easement laws on the beachfront.</s>Some inmates have already been segregated for close monitoring especially the foreign detainees, who are believed to be drug lords.

Director General Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) said this in an interview on Sunday in Cebu after he revealed that someone from the jail facility in Muntinlupa City (New Bilibid Prison) was behind the proliferation of drugs in Cebu province.

“Kahibalo ko ug dili gikan sa Bilibid kundi ang nag-control naa sa Bilibid (I am aware that the drugs are not from the Bilibid, but the person controlling the drug operation is someone inside the jail),” said Dela Rosa, who was appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte for the top position in BuCor last April 30.

Dela Rosa, however, refused to reveal the names of the inmates that he was referring to.

“Siya nag- control pero dili didto gikan physically ang drugs, naa sa gawas na. Sila lay nag-control together kon kinsay mo-deliver, modawat hangtod karon (He is the one controlling the operation. The drugs do not come from the prison but outside the prison. They control the operation until now together with the person who would deliver and receive the drugs),” he said.

Dela Rosa was invited to Cebu on Sunday to be one of the guest speakers during the celebration of the second anniversary of the Anti Crime and Community Emergency Response Team (Accert) at the Hoopsdome in Lapu-Lapu City.

Senior Supt. Lemuel Obon, Lapu-Lapu City Police chief, said that there were at least 500 people, mostly Accert volunteers and officials, at the event.

According to Obon, Accert is a a non-government organization that is recognized by the Philippine National Police as force multipliers, whose primary function is to assist authorities in their anti criminality programs and help the communities in times of emergency needs brought by calamities and disasters.

Meanwhile, Dela Rosa also laid out his senatorial seat plans.

He announced early this month to run as senator under the PDP-Laban party for the mid-term elections next year.

He said in an interview yesterday that if he would be elected as senator, he would push for the passage of the death penalty.

He, however, said that maintaining peace and order in the country would remain his top priority.
The death toll of the landslide in Cebu, Philippines rise to 77. Eight others are still missing and presumed dead.