CASE UNCLOSED: May 28 2009

  • 2 days ago
Arnold Clavio
Transcript
00:00It is the dream of every family to have their own home.
00:09That is why the world has gathered to buy land here in Cherry Hill Subdivision.
00:14Only this can be covered.
00:16And the residents will be able to survive until August of 1999.
00:30Has anyone responded to the creation of Cherry Hill Subdivision?
00:35This is something that nobody could have prevented or avoided.
00:41As far as I know, we are not legally liable.
00:44Good evening, I am Arnold Clavio.
00:46Yesterday's questions will be answered here in Case Unclosed.
01:01August of 1999
01:24Last night of August 3, 1999,
01:28the Marcos family rested peacefully in their house in Cherry Hill Subdivision in Antipolo, Rizal.
01:36Let's go.
01:54The residents did not agree to leave their house where the mountains were rolling.
02:00The post suddenly fell.
02:03It really became a mountain.
02:04It was like a cave that was even stronger.
02:07It was like the surroundings were getting higher and higher.
02:10The lights went off automatically.
02:12You couldn't see anything.
02:14You could only hear the people running and shouting.
02:17Then, the mountains of iron were falling,
02:20along with the rolling rocks and rocks.
02:23Ruel!
02:25What are you doing?
02:27Ruel!
02:29Let's run!
02:31Let's run!
02:33His mother ran to save himself, but the child did not move.
02:38Stop! Stop!
02:40Ruel's mother quickly entered the house to give her family good news.
02:45Ruel's mother even took money.
02:47Ruel saw his parents leaving their house, but in a blink of an eye.
02:54When I looked at them, they made me run first.
03:01Ruel even risked returning to his family to be saved,
03:06but he was caught in the act.
03:09Then, you would shout.
03:11There was no voice coming out of you.
03:13It was like you were crying, but no one could hear you.
03:18Because there were other people there, too.
03:21It was like his family was thinking about their own safety.
03:26Residents were rushing to other parts of the subdivision
03:31because this was the safest place at that time.
03:35It was like a herd of animals that could not be saved.
03:40If you can be saved, you will be saved,
03:45but you have to go back to your family because you don't know how they were saved.
03:55At the time of the earthquake, the earth was shaking.
03:59Within a few seconds, 400 houses were hit by the earthquake.
04:0450 residents lost their lives.
04:11A landslide occurred on the third day of the heavy rain
04:16following the Olca earthquake.
04:18Antipolo Rizal was in the center of the earthquake.
04:22Their walls were shattered.
04:25They didn't have a roof.
04:29They said they wouldn't leave.
04:31I said, let them use it.
04:33They ran downstairs.
04:35I only left for three minutes.
04:37That's what happened.
04:39At the time of the earthquake,
04:41the soldiers who were there to start the rescue operation
04:45were almost unable to save themselves.
04:48The houses that were built in the hope that someone would be saved.
04:54The chance of survival
04:57is here in the areas that were hit by the earthquake,
05:00iron, concrete, and cemented parts of the houses.
05:03Here in the areas that were hit by the earthquake,
05:07there were many debris.
05:10It was very nil.
05:12But here in this intact building,
05:14we still have hope that someone will survive.
05:25A few hours after the earthquake,
05:28Ruel returned to his family.
05:30It's enough.
05:32It's not just us.
05:34There are a lot of people who came back to ask for help.
05:37Everyone is asking for help.
05:39Even if it's dark.
05:41No matter who it is,
05:43if it's a family,
05:45you will ask for help.
05:47No matter what you do, you won't be able to save yourself.
05:50But Ruel was determined to find his family that night.
05:55The next day, Ruel's family was found.
05:57They hugged each other until the end.
05:59They saw each other's determination to be saved from death.
06:03But the acceptance,
06:05it's a very long process when you say that you will accept it.
06:10I really missed it.
06:12Until now, when I go to the cemetery.
06:19The one who was saved from the tragedy
06:22is Ruel's younger brother, Rowena.
06:24Brother!
06:26Brother!
06:28He was found by a neighbor
06:30while making a mess
06:32and was taken to a safe place.
06:34He gave me the strength inside my brother.
06:37Because I said,
06:39if I give up, we won't have a parent.
06:41If I give up, what will happen to my brother?
06:45Ruel's story gave a lot of good memories.
06:49His stay in Cherry Hills Subdivision.
06:52The subdivision is really nice.
06:54It's like your ideal living.
06:56It's really far from the city,
07:00and it's quiet.
07:02There's no chaos,
07:04there's no addicts.
07:07But all of this was erased
07:09when his loved ones were buried in the ground.
07:13He will never forget what happened that morning.
07:17His neighbors helped him
07:19by bringing water to their houses
07:22and taking care of the children.
07:25The houses,
07:27from the walls,
07:29from the top to the floor,
07:31there was a crack.
07:33His windows were broken.
07:35The other house,
07:37the one next to my husband's house,
07:39was also collapsed.
07:41It could collapse at any time.
07:43The homeowners were worried
07:45about what would happen.
07:47Brother,
07:49the children are safe.
07:51We should complain.
07:53These events
07:55are a sign
07:57of a tragic tragedy.
08:08Almost a decade has passed
08:10since the residents' dreams
08:12and lives were destroyed
08:14here in Cherry Hills Subdivision.
08:15But until now,
08:17it's still unclear
08:19who should be responsible
08:21for this tragedy.
08:23Your parents were worried
08:25and then they suddenly disappeared.
08:27They didn't pay attention
08:29to the contract,
08:31which is the pill jars.
08:33They didn't pay attention
08:35to the fact that these children
08:37and these people were abandoned.
08:39They didn't move to other houses.
08:42We don't know
08:43who will take care of us.
08:49Mom,
08:51I saw the children.
08:53Huh? Where?
08:55In Antipolo,
08:57in Cherry Hills Subdivision.
08:59The Marcos family
09:01has been dreaming of their own house for a long time.
09:03That's why when Ruel's father
09:05got a house in Cherry Hills Subdivision,
09:07he increased the rent
09:09to a monthly salary.
09:11Actually,
09:13the house wasn't that nice.
09:15When he got it,
09:17his father fixed the extension
09:19on the back and the top.
09:21They wanted to live there
09:23until they grew old.
09:25The developer of Philippine Japan
09:27Solidarity Corporation
09:29or PhilJAS
09:31bought this 6-hectare land
09:33in Barangay San Luis,
09:35Antipolo City.
09:37This is where the Cherry Hills Subdivision
09:39was built as a project
09:40for the locals.
09:43Ordinary employees
09:45are the ones who bought the land
09:47and house in Cherry Hills.
09:4960% of PhilJAS
09:51is owned by Filipinos.
09:5340%
09:55is owned by a Japanese company.
09:59According to Erwin Daga,
10:01the victim's lawyer,
10:03five months before the landslide happened,
10:05residents in PhilJAS
10:07were already complaining
10:08about the lack of housing
10:10and roads in the subdivision.
10:12They know that
10:14the house is defective,
10:16substandard,
10:18that's why they need to move
10:20to another unit.
10:22That's the problem.
10:24PhilJAS filed a press conference
10:26after the incident.
10:28Eight months ago,
10:30about 40 houses
10:32showed some random minor cracks
10:34on their walls.
10:36These were filled
10:38and were further reinforced
10:40with concrete.
10:42Engineer Laios
10:44and his engineers attempted
10:46but were unable to determine
10:48whether the cracks were formed
10:50due to lateral forces,
10:52lateral movements
10:54that is pushing sideways
10:56or to vertical movements
10:58pushing downwards.
11:00PhilJAS said that there are solutions
11:02but this is not enough
11:04to stop the tragedy.
11:06According to Dr. Sevilio David
11:08of the O.M.G.B.
11:10that conducted a thorough study
11:12in Cherry Hills
11:14after the tragedy happened,
11:16two types of landslides
11:18happened in Cherry Hills.
11:20First,
11:22the fall of a part of the mountain
11:24that is above the subdivision
11:26or the so-called vertical movement.
11:28PhilJAS ordered
11:30the part of the mountain
11:32to be flattened
11:34and the subdivision to be widened.
11:36The lateral support
11:38to stop the fall
11:40of the mountain
11:42was lost.
11:44As the rain continued
11:46before the fall,
11:48the flattened part
11:50of the mountain gave way.
11:53The O.M.G.B.
11:55also mentioned
11:57the subdivision
11:59near the fall.
12:01The fall is the movement
12:03of the land
12:05that affected the rocks
12:06and there were
12:08so-called fracturations.
12:10It means that the rocks
12:12that pass through
12:14are being broken.
12:16The foundation of the land
12:18in Cherry Hills
12:20is being broken
12:22and the rocks are being broken.
12:24Since August 1 to August 3,
12:26the rain was continuous.
12:28The rain was almost 500mm
12:30so it was quite heavy.
12:32The water
12:34due to the intense rainfall
12:36entered the spaces
12:38where there were fractures.
12:40It came to the point
12:42that it would really fall.
12:44This is called lateral movement
12:46that caused the landslide
12:48in the houses.
12:50If it was not moved,
12:52the risk of the landslide
12:54would be minimal.
12:58As far as I know,
13:00because
13:02in our
13:04opinion
13:06now
13:08is that this is caused
13:10by force majeure.
13:12This is something that
13:14nobody could have prevented
13:16or avoided.
13:18As far as I know,
13:20we are not legally liable.
13:22Something that the Senate
13:24did not accept
13:26in the investigation
13:28of October 1999.
13:30According to the Senate,
13:32the Housing and Land Use
13:34Regulatory Board
13:36is responsible for the construction
13:38of Cherry Hills.
13:40It is a misrepresentation.
13:42It is a fraud.
13:44We do not have the expertise.
13:46We do not have the geologists
13:48who can determine
13:50if there is a problem.
13:52And we just learned
13:54from the DNR
13:56that it is already finished.
13:58They issued also
14:00license to sell.
14:02Who is going to,
14:04can you fault
14:06who is going to be blamed?
14:10The HLURB did not conduct
14:12its own geological
14:14and geodetic studies
14:16to determine if there is a place
14:18for the construction
14:20of a subdivision.
14:22The HLURB just relied
14:24on the documents
14:26issued by Phil Jazz.
14:28Wait, wait, wait.
14:3040 meters inland
14:32means about...
14:34Despite the hearing
14:36that the HLURB
14:38cannot be punished,
14:41they just gave
14:43some recommendations.
14:45This is one of the inventory
14:47of the projects
14:49to determine
14:51which of these
14:53are in a critical situation.
14:57According to the HLURB,
14:59after their tragedy,
15:01they discovered
15:03that the subdivision
15:04that the HLURB
15:06thought
15:08was suitable
15:10because of the map
15:12that they bought.
15:14When they checked carefully,
15:16they went underground.
15:18But it turned out
15:20that it was just a cave.
15:22The HLURB just monitored
15:24the complaints
15:26of the buyers
15:28to their individual houses
15:30that had defects.
15:32I cannot believe that.
15:34It was their duty
15:36to inspect the whole project
15:38even before
15:40they issued
15:42all these licenses.
15:45It was late
15:47when the HLURB's visa was cancelled
15:49in 2002
15:51when all the permits
15:53were given to Phil Jazz.
15:55Two criminal cases
15:57were filed against the victims
15:59in the low court of Antipolo
16:01by Phil Jazz
16:03in 2000 and 2001
16:05for violations of
16:07Presidential Decree 957
16:09and the National Law No. 220
16:11which includes
16:13the sale of subdivisions
16:15and the construction of houses.
16:17They also filed
16:19reckless imprudence
16:21resulting to homicide.
16:24Among the victims
16:26was the general manager
16:28Hiroshi Ogawa
16:29who is a Japanese.
16:31Eleazar Rodriguez
16:33Assistant General Manager
16:35Tirso Santillan
16:37President
16:39and several engineers of the company.
16:41It is said that the run of the cases
16:43is slow because the accused
16:45have filed several times
16:47in the Court of Appeals
16:49and there are high sentences
16:51regarding the court
16:53where the cases should be filed.
16:55It took more than six years
16:57before the Supreme Court
16:59heard the two cases
17:01in the low court
17:03of Antipolo.
17:05A lot of people are angry.
17:08A lot.
17:10They are angry.
17:12They are not happy with what is happening
17:14especially with the criminal cases.
17:17The victims won the administrative case
17:19in 2006
17:21against Phil Jazz
17:23who was charged with HLURB.
17:25Phil Jazz was ordered
17:27to return the payment
17:29of the damages
17:31of the damaged property.
17:33We got a favorable judgment
17:35in the cases that I handled
17:37and there is a writ of execution.
17:39Well, it becomes a favorable judgment
17:41if the decision is not satisfied.
17:44It's a pity.
17:46The company has no property
17:48to satisfy.
17:50That's why
17:52no one accepted the victims
17:54of Cherry Hills
17:56from Phil Jazz.
17:57Aside from the loss
17:59of the company's property,
18:01the general manager
18:03Hiroshi Ogawa is also not in the country.
18:05According to the Bureau of Immigration,
18:07he left the country
18:09in 2003.
18:11We do not know
18:13where the guy is now.
18:15Even some of the
18:17respondents
18:19or defendants
18:21in the case,
18:23they wanted to know
18:25where the guy is.
18:28At the moment,
18:30the land in Cherry Hills
18:32is still inhabited
18:34by 135 families.
18:36According to the
18:38Mines and Geosciences Bureau,
18:40they need to study
18:42to ensure the safety
18:44of the residents here.
18:46Why did you decide
18:48to live here?
18:50Because there is no place to live.
18:52We cannot blame the people
18:54who came back.
18:55They have nowhere else to go
18:57and they came back
18:59to where they came from.
19:05The tragedy in Cherry Hills
19:07is possible to be repeated
19:09in other communities.
19:11A substantial portion
19:13of our areas
19:15in the Philippines
19:17are on steep slopes
19:19and the rocks are highly fractured.
19:21So, which are one of the
19:22characters
19:24of the landslide prone areas.
19:27We went to Los Baños, Laguna
19:29to investigate the Mines
19:31and Geosciences Bureau
19:33or MGB,
19:35which is the three barangays
19:37that are critical to landslides.
19:44We met Remy Agoncillo
19:46of Barangay Bambang.
19:48He told us that when it rains,
19:50his family cannot go out.
19:53At the same time as the water
19:55and the wind blows,
19:57the huge pile of rocks
19:59falls from the nearby mountains
20:01down to their house.
20:03We have been living here
20:05for about 10 years.
20:07We have experienced a lot of
20:09landslides here.
20:11We experienced it here.
20:13We were so scared,
20:15the children.
20:17The rocks are falling
20:19like they are going to fall.
20:23An investigation was conducted here
20:25in 2006
20:27by Salvio Lacerna.
20:31When it rains heavily,
20:33the water collects
20:35and goes to the rocks.
20:37When it enters the rocks,
20:39it creates pressure
20:41to push the rocks
20:43down.
20:47So, the rocks fall
20:49to the houses here.
20:50If you see the place
20:52where there is a fracture,
20:54it looks like it is going to fall.
20:58While we were on our way
21:00to the barangay,
21:02we passed by a house
21:04that serves as a reminder
21:06and a warning to other residents.
21:09The rocks fell
21:11from up there.
21:13The walls were damaged
21:15and it reached far away.
21:17These landslides are only
21:18coincidental.
21:20The residents here
21:22were forced to leave.
21:25The residents in this part
21:27of the barangay
21:29almost drowned
21:31in a flood in September 2006
21:33due to the Millenium Flood.
21:35One person died.
21:38He was in the middle
21:40of two mountains.
21:42It means he was in a valley.
21:44He was in a river
21:46that was claimed
21:48to be his home.
21:50When the flood came,
21:52the water level
21:54suddenly rose
21:56because he was in the middle
21:58of the river.
22:00Both barangay Bambang
22:02and Puto Tuntungin
22:04are affected by the flood.
22:06Most of the residents
22:08are in the foot of the mountain.
22:10When there is a flood,
22:12we go down to a safe place
22:14because the water level is high.
22:16We are afraid
22:18that people will climb the slope
22:20so that they can have
22:22a horizontal place
22:24to build a house.
22:26That is more dangerous
22:28because the slope
22:30is pushed down.
22:33The local government
22:35of Los Baños is
22:37trying to solve this problem.
22:39They are continuously
22:41rescuing residents
22:43who are in danger zones.
22:45Of the 121 families
22:46that were evacuated
22:48in 2006,
22:5048 were given
22:52a house and land.
22:54We are relocating
22:56the affected families
22:58from the danger zone
23:00to this relocation site.
23:04There needs to be
23:06a sweat equity
23:08or bayanihan system
23:10where they can build
23:12their houses.
23:14Remi and Selly
23:16are the only ones
23:18who have a place to stay.
23:20We have been wanting
23:22to leave this place for a long time.
23:24We don't have a place to stay.
23:26Now, we have a place.
23:28We are sure that
23:30we will find a place to stay.
23:32Evelyn is still hoping
23:34that they can join
23:36the families who will be given
23:38a place to stay.
23:40Of course, we are already
23:42afraid of this place.
23:44According to the local government
23:46and local authorities,
23:48they are very receptive
23:50in transferring them.
23:52That's why they are looking for
23:54a place to stay,
23:56although limited.
23:58What we will do
24:00to the families
24:02who are not on the master list
24:04is to evacuate them
24:06and give them a site.
24:08But we are not giving them
24:10a place to stay.
24:12This is also to avoid
24:13any harm to the residents.
24:18Many others have been victims
24:20of the landslides.
24:28Now is the rainy season.
24:30The authorities
24:32will be more strict
24:34in enforcing the laws.
24:37Gaseg will also be more alert
24:39to the residents
24:41so that the landslides
24:43won't affect
24:45their livelihood.
24:48Until next Thursday,
24:50I am Arnold Cravio.
24:52The questions of yesterday
24:54will be shared with us
24:56in Case Unclosed.
25:13Case Unclosed