3 Bulacan relocation site homes collapse as ground under them crumbles away

Some three homes located near a creek at the Phase 1 of the San Jose del Monte Heights relocation site in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan were destroyed on Friday after the ground they were built on crumbled away.

A section of the riprap along the creek was also damaged and an electric post fell over.

According to resident Aileen Capillan, the floor of their home had started to sink last Thursday. The house's walls cracked open soon after.

Early Friday morning, the nearby electric post fell over. "Narinig nalang po namin tumutunog siya e, 'yung bubong. Nagmadali na lang po kaming lumipat. Gumuho na lang po bigla," Capillan recounted.

Capillan and her family are now staying at another project home further down the street.

The two other destroyed homes were unoccupied.

Meanwhile, other residents in the housing project were worried. According to Eden Majinay, she was in her bathroom when the floor of her home started to sink.

Another resident, who asked not to be identified, alleged that their houses were badly made. “Pabahay ito para sa tao, tao ang titira. Ayusin naman ang pagkagawa," the resident complained.

However, the housing project developer Lak-K Builders Co., denied that their houses were substandard. They also explained that the ground under the destroyed houses had crumbled because of the recent near continuous rain.

Nevertheless, the developer would reexamine the area. They could either rebuild the riprap or rebuild it higher.

They could also condemn the two blocks nearest the creek as unsafe for habitation. The affected residents would then be relocated to the housing project's Phase 2.

The local government had also promised residents that they would be relocated to another place less dangerous. — Tricia Zafra/DVM, GMA News