Antipolo halts building construction

after deadly landslide

Raphael Bosano, ABS-CBN News
Posted at Mar 11 2016 01:59 PM
MANILA - The Antipolo City Engineer's Office has issued a work suspension order for the
construction of a two-storey building following a landslide that killed three workers
Thursday.

City Administrator Robert Nacianceno on Friday said investigations are ongoing. He said it is
still too early to say whether administrative and criminal cases will be filed against the
building's contractor.

The local government has declared the perimeter of the construction site a danger zone,
resulting in the forced evacuation of six families living beside it.

Three construction workers were buried alive following the landslide in the construction site
in Cogeo.

Engineer Frederick Del Rosario said the workers may have been buried at around 7 feet,
while the amount of soil that eroded was estimated to be 12 cubic meters, or equivalent to the
size of one dump truck.

Del Rosario said they did not notice that the state of the soil in the area was softer than usual.
3 dead in collapsed Antipolo
construction site

(UPDATED) The workers are part of the crew constructing a residential building in Cogeo,
Antipolo

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Three people were killed after a construction site in
Antipolo City caved in on Thursday morning, March 10, authorities said.

Three workers were buried under soil and building materials – sand and steel bars – after
their construction site collapsed.

One body was initially recovered. Dong Malonzo, Rizal Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Council officer, confirmed that the third body was retrieved at 2:30 pm.

The two-storey residential building is being constructed in Cogeo, Antipolo. – with a report
from Lou Gepuela/Rappler.com
3 workers buried alive as excavated
soil collapses at a construction site in
Antipolo

 Three workers were buried alive at a construction site in Antipolo City

 Twelve cubic meters of soil, equivalent to a truckload, collapsed on the victims
 The construction company vows to assist the victims’ families

Three construction workers were killed after they were buried alive when an estimated 12 cubic
meters of excavated soil, equivalent to a truckload of soil, collapsed on them at a construction
site in Antipolo City.

InterAksyon said the three victims were with two other workers when the retaining wall of a
30-foot pit they were working on collapsed at around 8:00 a.m., near the part of the construction
site where the excavated soil were earlier dumped.

The two other workers were able to run to safety. One of them, identified as Jessie Lorica,
sustained a minor injury. He was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

The fatalities were identified as brothers Darwin and Teten Villegas and their cousin Reiny
Villegas.

Rescuers were able to retrieve the body of the first victim around noon. The second body was
recovered after more than an hour later, while the last victim’s body was pulled at around 2:30
in the afternoon.
An ABS-CBN News Channel report said that according to Engineer Frederick del Rosario of
Mheric Construction, the contractor for the building’s retaining wall, they did not notice that
the state of the soil was softer than usual.

William Mirabueno, an official from the Antipolo City Hall, said the investigation showed the
soil collapsed because they were loosened by waste water flowing from nearby houses.

Officials from the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Rizal provincial office
noted that the workers had no personal protective equipment and that the contractor had no
health and safety program for the workers.

“Because some people have died, we will issue a work stoppage order upon approval of our
regional office,” Marivic Martinez, OIC of DOLE’s Rizal provincial office, said, adding
“appropriate sanctions, if necessary, will be imposed.”

The construction company promised to shoulder the funeral and other expenses incurred by the
victims’ families.