A house collapsed in Barangay Cupang, Muntinlupa City, and two nearby houses also suffered damage, believed to have been due to ground subsidence or weakened foundation that was initially blamed on the excavation work being undertaken by a sewerage contractor.
According to Juanita Alipid, it was raining through Sunday night, which could have turned the ground to mush where the sewerage excavation work was being carried out near the house she was staying in.
Juanita recalled that at about 3:00 a.m. or so, there was loud snapping noise, or what may have also sounded like the cracking of a rock, loud enough to rouse them from their sleep: “Nagulat nga ako at napabangon kami. Binuhay ko ang ilaw namin.
Pagkabuhay ko ng ilaw, sabay bagsak na ang bahay namin (We were startled. When I switched on the light, that was the moment the house came down).”
Initial observations pointed to the possibility of ground subsidence as the sewerage project was removing soil nearby. Then followed several days of raining that may have caused softening and mobility of the foundation soil.
The work was being undertaken by a contractor of Maynilad Water Services, Dragon Health Corporation, which assured that they would shoulder the consequences of the unintended incidence.
The Barangay Chairman deemed it the better part of wisdom to halt the excavation work for the meantime, to give way to technical assessments and rule out the possibility of a repeat occurrence in this project.
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