LEGAZPI CITY—HOW TO SUSTAIN the food supply in Manito, a town still isolated for the past six days by landslides from the rest of Albay, is enough reason for worry for Mayor Caesar Daep.
Several portions of the Legazpi-Manito road have been blocked by eight landslides on Thursday.
Gov. Joey Salceda said that without access to commodities that the town normally buys here, Daep had been asking for help to prevent looming hunger.
“Even the mayor admitted to eating cassava. That is why we have launched SOS Manito to address their immediate needs,” Salceda said.
Manito is a fourth-class municipality (annual income: P20 million-P30 million) with a population of 24,000.
On Saturday, the provincial government sent P1.2 million worth of relief goods, consisting of 600 sacks of rice, 250 boxes of sardines, and 600 boxes of noodles.
In a phone interview on Monday, Daep said food packs of five kilograms of rice, five cans of sardines, and seven packs of noodles had been distributed to the families.
Daep said he was worried about the food supply since prices of prime commodities had increased due to transport difficulties.
The products were being delivered by motor boat from the Legazpi port.
“This has drastically increased the prices of commodities, which the townspeople may no longer be able to afford. We really need to restore the road as soon as possible,” Daep said.
Disaster officials and engineers on Monday conducted an aerial inspection as part of their study on how to restore the damaged road network.
Salceda said it might take the government about P17 million to clear and reconstruct the washed-out road sections. “Restoring normal road transportation may take week or even months apart from fund sourcing and procurement,” he said.
Earth cracks
Daep said alternative boat rides for commuters are hardly available during low tide since the Manito port is heavily silted due to the landslides.
In Camalig town, 73 families were evacuated Monday morning after cracks were reported along a road in Barangay Baligang.
Although the cause of the cracks had yet to be identified by the Mining and Geosciences Bureau Bicol office pending area surveys, Salceda theorized that the road could have been saturated with water following a week of continuous rains and floods.
Cracks along a mountain in Barangay Ilawod, also in Camalig, were also sighted, causing the temporary relocation of the villagers, said provincial disaster coordinating council head Cedric Daep.
These incidents occurred in the calmer weather that followed after the nonstop rains, Daep said.
“These post-event hazards are indicative of geomorphological changes. The landscape of Albay is changing because of weather disturbances,” Salceda pointed out.
Aside from Camalig, the provincial government is also closely watching the town of Libon and Sta. Cruz village in Polangui, where aerial surveys showed wide expanses of rice fields still submerged in water.
With the exception of these areas, as well as Manito, decampment of evacuees were ongoing throughout the province.
All roads are now passable in Albay save for the Legazpi-Manito road, reports from the PDCC showed. Ephraim Aguilar and Jaymee T. Gamil, Inquirer Southern Luzon
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