HOUSE Deputy Majority Leader Erwin Tulfo on Tuesday assailed the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and the local government unit (LGU) of Maco, Davao de Oro for alleged negligence in the landslide that killed 98 people and left nine missing.

In the hearing on the investigation into the tragedy, led by Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong of the 1st District of Lanao del Sur, Tulfo, of the ACT-CIS partylist, insisted that if the LGU and OCD did their job, the landslide could have been prevented.

“Maraming insidente ng landslide bago yung mismong landslide na marami ang namatay. Kung ginawa nila ang trabaho nila hindi ito mangyayari,” Tulfo said.

Tulfo revealed in the hearing that before the tragedy, a series of landslides had been recorded in Maco, Davao de Oro, based on reports from Indigenous People communities in the area.

Landslides occurred in January 12 and 13, 2023, in Purok Waling-Waling, Bgy. Mainit, and in March 2023, in Purok Durian, Bgy. Mainit.

Three more landslides were recorded in January 2024, resulting in one death in different areas of Maco, just a few days before the tragic landslide on February 6.

When Tulfo confronted Maco Mayor Voltaire Rimando and Warren Lucas of the Operations Service of the OCD, both admitted that they did not receive reports of these landslides.

Only the Mines and GeoSciences Bureau (MGB) of the DENR reported receiving landslide reports from the area.

“So gawa-gawa lamang ng mga IPs itong report sa akin na may mga landslide tayo,” an irate Tulfo said.

For his part, Adiong did not agree with the OCD’s response that they only receive reports when there are 10 or more deaths.

“I could not take that. I cannot believe that you only accept reports when there are 10 or more deaths. That is unacceptable,” Adiong said.

Meanwhile, the lawmakers seemed to find an ally in DSWD Usec. Diane Rose Cajipe, Disaster Risk Management Group, as she declared their support for the congressional inquiry.

She said their agency also believed that if the work in the area had been done properly, the incident could have been prevented.

“It could be prevented, so we are one with our lawmakers in this inquiry to prevent another incident like this,” Cajipe said.

Tulfo also criticized the local government and the MGB for allowing the construction of buildings in the town despite it being declared a “no build zone” as early as 2008.

“Why did you allow the LGU in 2017 to build a school mga estudyante ang andiyan?” Tulfo asked.