Dozens of families in Barangay Virac, Itogon, Benguet were forced to evacuate overnight as a landslide destroyed a hanging bridge and threatened homes near a mountain slope.

Residents of Sitio Acupan, Camp 3, said they could not sleep due to fear that their houses might be swept away by rocks sliding down the mountain during heavy rain.

“Nag-nerbyos kami. Hindi kami nakatulog kasi nag-start hapon na, malapit na dumilim. Kaya nag-evacuate kami lahat,” Rosemarie Cho-oy, a resident, said.

The landslide caused major damage to a hanging bridge used daily by more than 80 families. Early morning on Friday, another landslide was reported in the same area.

Manual clearing operations began right away to prevent more damage to homes and a nearby school. However, officials said the work would be faster if heavy equipment could enter the site.

The problem: there is no access road for large machinery like backhoes.

Barangay officials and police are guarding the site to stop over 1,000 small-scale miners from entering nearby tunnels due to the high risk of more landslides.

“Talagang may nagbabantay kasi talagang ipinagbabawal natin na magmina sila. Mahirap. Hindi na puwede kasi sila din ang kawawa,” Barangay Councilman Teodoro Balanza said.

According to the Office of Civil Defense in the Cordillera region (OCD-CAR), no other landslide incidents have been reported so far. All major roads in the region remain passable.

Still, authorities remain on high alert due to the ongoing threat of rain from the southwest monsoon and Tropical Depression #BisingPH.

“Isa ang binabantayan dito ay ang probinsya ng Abra at Apayao dahil sila ang mas malapit sa rainbands ng Bagyong Bising,” Frankie Cortez, Chief of the Operations Section of OCD-CAR, said.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) identified over 100 barangays in Cordillera as landslide-prone.