Joint inspection set on quake-hit Guihulngan City

DUMAGUETE CITY , Philippines — Three government agencies have acceded to the request of the Guihulngan City government to conduct a joint comprehensive inspection of the devastation left behind by the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck last month.

Guihulngan City Councilor Jessica Villarmente said these are the Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau of the DENR, Phivolcs and the PAG-ASA, adding that the Office of Civil Defense was also invited to participate in the survey tentatively scheduled by the end of March.

Villarmente said a comprehensive site inspection of the ravaged areas in Guihulngan is imperative because more ground movements, tension cracks and landslips were noted in the weeks that followed the earthquake.

Some areas that are believed to be now “critical” are the sub-villages of Tuko, Datongbuang and Busay in Brgy. Hilaitan, Lag-asan in Brgy. Tacpao, Moog in Brgy. Planas, Ilayas in Tinayunan Beach, and in Brgy. Upper McKinley, said Villarmente.

She said cracks have also been reported in the sub-villages of Bakid, Mabunga and Kagawasan in Brgy. Pitogo, where a long stretch of road has become a “baffling phenomena” for Guihulngan residents after a portion of it was dislocated.

Half of that road portion had risen while the other half collapsed, several meters apart from the other, and many believed this was the result of the blind thrust fault in the northern part of Negros Oriental, she said.

Barangay officials in these areas have expressed concern over the continuing ground movement even a month after the quake struck Negros Oriental, Cebu and other nearby areas in the Visayas.

The coming inspection or survey is expected to verify these latest discoveries of ground movement while at the same time providing Guihulngan LGU with a basis in identifying danger zones and safe evacuation centers as temporary housing, said Villarmente.

She added that barangay officials of these “critical” areas have been asked to advise their constituents to relocate temporarily until these are declared safe by the surveying government agencies.  (FREEMAN)