Taguig residents near shaky wall defy order
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
By Jonathan M. Hicap, Reporter
DESPITE threats to their lives, residents of Pallar Village, Western Bicutan, Taguig City, refused to heed the order to evacuate issued by the local government.
Mayor Sigfrido Tinga of Taguig on Monday had declared the area a danger zone after a landslide left 23 houses in knee-deep mud. He noted that a 20-meter perimeter wall is threatening to fall over the houses after the landslide undermined its foundation. Part of the wall has already collapsed, he added.
The wall encloses McKinley Hills Village, a high-end property owned by Megaworld Corp., Tinga said, adding that it is showing cracks in places, and there is a strong possibility that it would collapse.
“It is imperative that the residents leave the area to give way to the repair or, if necessary, the demolition of the wall,” Taguig engineer Marcelo Serpajuan said.
Megaworld said it is an old wall that happens to be between its property and Pallar Village.
It was the floodwaters rushing in at the height of the storm that weakened the wall, said John Hao, the firm’s investor relations officer. It could not have been caused by the property’s drainage system, he added, which is working properly.
Hao said Megaworld will extend assistance to the dislocated families. He did not say what help the company had in mind.
Tinga is trying to convince the families to vacate their houses, promising that low-cost houses will be constructed and awarded to them.
By Jonathan M. Hicap, Reporter
DESPITE threats to their lives, residents of Pallar Village, Western Bicutan, Taguig City, refused to heed the order to evacuate issued by the local government.
Mayor Sigfrido Tinga of Taguig on Monday had declared the area a danger zone after a landslide left 23 houses in knee-deep mud. He noted that a 20-meter perimeter wall is threatening to fall over the houses after the landslide undermined its foundation. Part of the wall has already collapsed, he added.
The wall encloses McKinley Hills Village, a high-end property owned by Megaworld Corp., Tinga said, adding that it is showing cracks in places, and there is a strong possibility that it would collapse.
“It is imperative that the residents leave the area to give way to the repair or, if necessary, the demolition of the wall,” Taguig engineer Marcelo Serpajuan said.
Megaworld said it is an old wall that happens to be between its property and Pallar Village.
It was the floodwaters rushing in at the height of the storm that weakened the wall, said John Hao, the firm’s investor relations officer. It could not have been caused by the property’s drainage system, he added, which is working properly.
Hao said Megaworld will extend assistance to the dislocated families. He did not say what help the company had in mind.
Tinga is trying to convince the families to vacate their houses, promising that low-cost houses will be constructed and awarded to them.
posted by Jonah | 3:28 PM
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