Residents from the landslide-hit Barangay Masara of Maco, Davao de Oro now live in a tent city near the Immaculate Conception Quasi-Parish in Barangay Elizalde in the same town in this photo taken on Monday, 18 March 2024. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
MACO, Davao de Oro (MindaNews / 19 March) – At least 86 families displaced by the tragic February 6 landslide in the mining village of Masara here have been enduring the heat at the tent city evacuation site due to the El Niño dry spell.
The February 6 landslide in Barangay Masara, which happened early evening as heavy rains poured in the area, killed 98 individuals, with eight others still missing, data from the local government unit showed.
Called G-Works Campo Uno, or simply Campo Uno, the tent city, located near the Immaculate Conception Quasi-Parish in Barangay Elizalde here, hosts evacuees formerly residing at Zones 1 and 2 in Barangay Masara.
Eduardo L. Año, Campo Uno vice president, said they have been enduring the heat due to the dry spell triggered by the El Niño phenomenon since occupying the tent city on March 15.
“Antuson usa namo ang kainit, kaigang, hangtod sa ma-relocate mi (We will bear the heat until we are relocated),” he told MindaNews Monday morning.
The evacuees elected their officers to lead the community.
Año said the officers were elected to focus on various concerns, including health, peace and order, education, environment, house rules, ways and means, and interfaith.
“Nag-elect gyud mi og tao, ang mga taga-Maco ang nagtugot sa amoa nga mag-election ug officers para mag-lead diri (We elected the officers to lead the community here with the go signal from the Maco local government),” Año said.
He said the local government and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau – Davao Region are still assessing the potential permanent relocation sites in barangays Panibasan, Kinuban, and Calabcab.
The tent city near the Immaculate Conception Quasi-Parish in Barangay Elizalde, Maco, Davao de Oro in this photo taken on Monday, 18 March 2024. MindaNews photo by MANMAN DEJETO
Ledafe Antonette Aico, one of the camp managers assigned at Campo Uno, told MindaNews that three tents have not been occupied as the families assigned to them chose to either live with their relatives or in the other evacuation site.
She was referring to the Elizalde National High School (NHS) evacuation center here, where at least 178 families with 602 members have sought refuge.
The evacuees now living at the tent city and the Elizalde NHS came from the evacuation centers earlier established at the Andili National High School, Mawab Central Elementary School, Nuevo Iloco Elementary School, Nueva Visayas Barangay Hall, Nueva Visayas Elementary School, and Lorenzo National High School, all in Mawab municipality.
The school started accommodating the evacuees on March 15. They will be relocated eventually to Barangay Malamodao, where 160 tents have been initially prepared.
Robert Elecora, evacuation management team leader at the Elizalde NHS, told MindaNews that the evacuees might stay in the school for 15 days, or until March 30.
“We continue to feed them. We also try to provide their other needs,” he said in Cebuano.
Elecora cited Department of Education (DepEd) Order No. 37 series of 2022, which states that “schools may be used as an immediate evacuation site but should not last for more than 15 days”.
When asked about the possible extension for the evacuees to stay in the school, he said it would “depend on the readiness of the relocation site.”
He also added that starting Tuesday, March 19, high school student evacuees will be absorbed by some of the classes at the Elizalde NHS.
Other nearby schools were also tasked by DepEd to accomodate student evacuees to sit-in at their classes. (Ian Carl Espinosa/MindaNews)
