Shown in this handout photo from the Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera Administrative Region (OCD-CAR) is the sinkhole area in Sitio Batuang, Barangay Virac, Itogon, Benguet, just 18 kilometers outside of Baguio City.
Shown in this handout photo from the Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera Administrative Region (OCD-CAR) is the sinkhole area in Sitio Batuang, Barangay Virac, Itogon, Benguet, just 18 kilometers outside of Baguio City.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources' Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has launched a probe into the emergence of a suspected sinkhole in a village in Polomolok town in South Cotabato.

A team from the MGB in Region 12 conducted an inspection at the site in Purok Maunlad of Barangay Silway 8 in the said town on Monday to determine the status and the possible cause of the land subsidence, which initially emerged on Thursday last week.

Polomolok Vice Mayor Eliazar Jovero said they requested the MGB-12 to evaluate the suspected sinkhole, which forced some 134 families settled near the site to evacuate over the weekend.

He said the municipal government ordered the evacuation on Friday night due to safety concerns.

"Our main priority right now is to determine whether the area is still safe for our residents," he said in a radio interview.

A report from the Polomolok Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office said the suspected sinkhole is around 40 feet deep and has an estimated diameter of 50 feet.

It said local residence initially noticed the subsidence at dawn Thursday following the reported rumbling sounds underneath the site.

Nilo Gumbao, Silway 8 barangay chair, said the suspected sinkhole has continued to expand since it was first found by residents.

He said they earlier cordoned the area, which is adjacent to the Honeyville subdivision, and declared it as "off limits to local residents to prevent possible accidents.

The official said the evacuees are currently taking temporary shelter at the Silway 8 Elementary School.

Gumbao said the municipal government has already provided food and other relief goods to the affected residents.

Suspected sinkholes had also emerged these past years in this city and parts of Sarangani.

Last year, residents of Purok Tinago in Baragay Dadiangas South here were forced to evacuate after a huge hole appeared on its shoreline.

MGB-12 later declared it as a case of coastal erosion, and could have been caused by the degeneration of coralline limestones situated underneath the area's shoreline.

It said the breakdown of the limestones might have triggered the erosion of its sand covering that eventually appeared liked a sinkhole.

Source: Philippines News Agency