JOSE ABAD SANTOS, Davao Occidental (MindaNews/22 June 2026) – Emergency responders and troops from the 10th Infantry Division are frantically at work to clear soil and debris that has blocked a river between barangays San Isidro and Nuing, causing the upstream river to pool and now threatening at least four sitios of Barangay Nuing in Jose Abad Santos town, Davao Occidental.

In an interview, Provincial Disaster Risk Response and Management Office (PDRRMO) Head Harry Chester Camoro said a portion of the mountain slid into the river during the earthquake on 8 June 2026, creating a dam that, should it give way, may wash away four sitios of Barangay Nuing.

According to disaster officials, a sudden dam breach would directly inundate Sitio Nara, Sitio BMBB, Sitio Lambayong, and the Sitio Proper.

Residents of these sitios have been evacuated to the Ignacia A. Guillermo Central Elementary School.

According to Camoro, the landslide created two distinct debris dams and the immediate objective of the Incident Command Post was to clear the smaller dam downstream to help regulate the water flow.

The effort was supported by troops from the AFP, the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and the Philippine National Police (PNP), and emergency personnel from Davao City’s Central 911.

The team was initially hesitant to proceed, Sunday morning.

“The plan was, magpunta ngayon doon, i-clear ang sapa. Kaya lang the problem, umulan kasi this morning. So na-shelved ang plan (The plan was to go and clear the river but it rained in the morning),” said Punong Barangay Dr. Marjorie Guillermo.

“We will just wait for better weather,” she said.

MindaNews found the composite team jumping off into the staging ground, Sitio Cipadin in Nuing, with 10th ID troopers and equipment riding local habal-habals (motorcycle for rent), Sunday morning.

While there was a plan to bring a backhoe into the grounds, the agencies ultimately decided not to push through, for the safety of the operator. The ground was still unstable and could give way any time.

“The primary concern is the safety of the backhoe operator,” Nuing Barangay Captain Marjorie Guillermo explained.

Responders have already marked some progress in the lower zones, completing the first tier of clearing operations at Purok Manga, as well as addressing two earlier landslides further down in Sitio Vicente over the previous days, Camoro said.

The dedicated ‘pala brigade’ composed of personnel from the AFP, BFP, PNP, and PDRRMO has been tasked with managing logistics and clearing the blockages by hand.

Meanwhile, barangay officials managing the tent city set up for evacuees of a damming that occurred in upstream Nuing River are facing various challenges such as running water and sanitation facilities.

Speaking to MindaNews on Sunday, June 21, Barangay Nuing Chair Guillermo said the school was not designed to host that many individuals and families as it was, in the first place, a school and not an evacuation center.

The Ignacia A. Guillermo Central Elementary School currently hosts 205 families as of June 20. “If you multiply that number by four per family, that figure will increase to a population of around 800 individuals.

The number is expected to increase to up to 220 families as daily monitoring continues, she said.

The residents were forced into a preemptive evacuation following a massive June 8 landslide that triggered a river-damming threat upstream, endangering four low-lying riverside areas: Sitios Nara, BMBB, Lambayong, and Proper.

While the camp has running water for basic utilities, drinking water remains strictly limited.

Furthermore, the evacuation site’s water system is entirely dependent on the local electric grid.

“Ang problema pala namin is ito. Pag mag-brown out, wala namin source of water,” Dr. Guillermo said.

Guillermo said she was hoping there was a way for government to provide a generator set to help power their water supply.

That said, the current water supply is barely able to sustain the residents.

In classrooms, the existing toilets are either clogged or are already smelling bad or both. Guillermo said they already received donations of an additional PVC septic tank, but the barangay could not yet install it.

“So far, wala pa naman akong narinig na nag-diarrhea. Pero, we have to be prepared for that (There hasn’t been a case of diarrhea yet but we have to prepare for that),” Guillermo added.

The barangay is run by an annual budget of P5 million for fiscal year 2026. Translated by 5%, or the amount mandated by the Local Government Code, the barangay’s disaster budget is only around P250,000. Further, 30%, or the mandatory quick response funds, is only P75,000.

Guillermo said these amounts are barely sufficient to address the needs of bakwits.

Due to the ongoing threat, local officials are finalizing plans to establish a second evacuation site on a piece of land offered by a private citizen in Purok Lanaw, Sitio Katinggal, to accommodate other evacuees.

Local leaders emphasized that while immediate cash assistance provides short-term relief, the establishment of stable water purification logistics and portable toilets remain the highest priority to help prevent the spread of diseases and maintain health standards.

Earlier on Sunday, Vice President Sara Duterte visited the evacuees and distributed cash assistance of P2,000 per family, Guillermo said.

The Vice President also reportedly promised to deliver food packs by next week. (Yas D. Ocampo/MindaNews)