Officials tell Diwalwal folk to evacuate risk area

Authorities near the gold rush site in Mt. Diwalwal in Compostela Valley have ordered residents in the area to evacuate following a landslide that killed five Monday night. Sun-Star Davao (www.sunstar.com.ph) reported Thursday that Mt. Diwata village chief Franco Tito also ordered a ban on sluice mining (banlas) in the area lest it trigger another landslide. Village officials met with Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Southern Mindanao officials Wednesday to map out plans on the evacuation of residents in high-risk areas. Tito said the people were informed what to do to prevent the same incident from happening again. “We advised residents to be extra careful and monitor their surroundings especially now that our weather condition are extreme from July to September," Tito said. Rescuers retrieved Tuesday evening the bodies of all five victims who were buried alive in Monday night’s landslide. The victims were identified as Ralph Soldia; couple Rosemarie Mamaril and Roderick Cabaluna; Marlito Bordios, and Tata Rosales. The 16-year-old Mamaril was said to be pregnant. Investigation showed the landslide hit their house at Purok 2 at around 7:30 p.m. on Monday. The mines bureau earlier identified Diwalwal as a high-risk area for landslides. In November 2005, 816 families living in high-risk areas in Diwalwal were scheduled for relocation but it was not clar if they were indeed transferred to safer areas as planned. The government earlier admitted that lack of funding is keeping them from relocating these families. The relocation plan was due to the caving in of the Sunshine Tunnel in Diwalwal almost two years ago where 11 people were confirmed dead and 13 still trapped inside. It was learned that the relocation took longer than expected since they have not yet signed a memorandum of agreement with the indigenous peoples living in the area. - GMANews.TV