TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte, Philippines - Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Regional Director Rolando M. Asis has instructed all DPWH district offices in Eastern Visayas to respond at any time of the day to any incident caused by the continuous downpour here since Dec. 31, 2010. Asis reiterated this directive which he had issued earlier, directing his people to have all available crew and equipment ready to respond to any emergency as incessant rains started to take their toll on life and property in various parts of the region.
Last January 2, Sunday, Brgy. Bolodbolod in St. Bernard town in Southern Leyte was hit by a killer landslide. Bolodbolod is just three kilometers away from Brgy. Guinsaugon in the same town, which, to recall, was buried by a catastrophic landslide nearly five years ago, on Feb. 17, 2006, killing over a thousand residents in the buried barangay. Last Sunday's mudslide totally damaged two houses and killed three children - Fatima Discayal, 5 years old; Jordan Lakipon, 3 years old; and Rodel Discayal, 1 year old. Along the coastal road passing Abuyog, Leyte to Hinonangan, Hinondayan, Anahawan and St. Bernard towns of Southern Leyte, sections of the road likewise suffered road slips and landslides. However, Asis informed that the road is now passable. Asis said the DPWH has assigned two dump trucks and one loader to clear obstructions along the 18-kilometer road from St. Bernard to Hinonangan. Also, a truck from the Office of Civil Defense and the DSWD was dispatched to help ferry relief goods to the landslide-stricken town of St. Bernard. In Samar province, rock slides and falling boulders closed portion of Daang Maharlika, in the area of Brgy. Pena, Tinambacan District of Calbayog City. Traffic along the Allen-Calbayog route and vice-versa - particularly buses carrying motorists bound for Luzon or Mindanao, were temporarily redirected to take the longer Allen-Catarman-Lope De Vega-Calbayog route while road repair and restoration is being done. Clearing is expected to be finished Friday.
