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9 killed in Benguet landslides; major roads to Baguio City impassable

GMANews.TV - Friday, October 9

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Nine people were killed, including a one-year-old child and a pregnant woman, in two separate landslides in Brgy. Ambassador in Tublay town, Benguet, the Office of Civil Defense in the Cordillera Administrative Region (OCD-CAR) said Wednesday.

OCD-CAR officer-in-charge Olive Luces said continuous heavy rains brought by typhoon “Pepeng," now degraded into a tropical depression, caused a landslide in Sitio Sto. Nino in the said barangay, killing a still unidentified child and a pregnant woman in the area.

Another landslide occurred in nearby Kilometer 16 of the barangay, which killed seven more residents, Luces said.

“Kahapon pa malakas ang ulan dito. Saturated na ‘yung lupa kaya nagkakaroon ng landslides (It has been raining hard here since yesterday. The soil is already saturated, so landslides take place)," she said.

Luces also advised people from nearby provinces to refrain from going to Benguet and Baguio City as of the moment, since several of the major roads leading to these areas have become impassable due to landslides and falling rocks.

She said two of the major roads leading to Baguio City—Kennon and Naguilian Roads—are closed due to landslides.

According to other radio reports, Marcos Highway remains intermittently open as road crews fight to clear landslides. Marcos Highway is the most important artery from Metro Manila and Central Luzon into the mountain resort city.

“Our highways are very critical. Pahupain muna natin ang ulan bago pumunta dito sa amin (Wait for the rain to stop before going here)," Luces said.

Based on the latest weather bulletin from the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), Public Storm Signal No. 1 is still hoisted over all six provinces in CAR – Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province—as Pepeng made its third landfall in Northern Luzon on Wednesday morning. - Andreo C. Calonzo, GMANews.TV