CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews / 14 Aug)—Overnight clearing operations conducted by the Department of Public Works and Highways – Region 10 in the municipality of Kitaotao in Bukidnon have made the Bukidnon-Davao City highway passable for all types of vehicles on Wednesday afternoon.
One of the landslide sites after the DPWH’s clearing operations. Photo from the Faceboko page of DPWH-Northern Mindanao
The vital highway linking Davao City to Bukidnon and the rest of Northern Mindanao was closed after two landslides hit the area Tuesday night, according to the Office of Civil Defense in Region 10 (OCD-10).
The DPWH posted the travel advisory on its Facebook page advising the public that it is already safe to travel between Davao City and Bukidnon.
Maybelle Galvez, OCD-10 spokesperson, said engineers managed to clear one lane of the highway in Sitio Manalong, Barangay Kahusayan in Kitaotao, making it passable for all types of vehicles starting Wednesday afternoon.
“The first landslide hit around 7 p.m. and the second landslide around 9 p.m. The road was impassable to all vehicles after the two landslides,” Galvez told MindaNews by phone.
Staff Sgt. Ronron Libongcogon, of Kitaotao police, said they estimated that more than 500 trucks, cars and buses were stranded on both sides after mud and debris covered most of the highway.
Libongcogon said it was only Wednesday morning that the DPWH engineers started the clearing operations for fear that more landslides will occur on Tuesday night.
He said the scene where most vehicles were left stranded was chaotic as drivers cooked their meals on the roadside waiting for the highway to clear.
By morning, Libongcogon said many bus passengers braved the mud and crossed the landslide area with the help of local guides.
The OCD-10 said no one was hurt during the incident. (Froilan Gallardo / MindaNews)
