Quezon City Mayor Herbert “Bistek” Bautista has welcomed the investigation that is being conducted by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) into the recent landslide which claimed nine lives at the height of the heavy downpour last Tuesday.
“I welcome this investigation in order for us to determine the people who should be held accountable for this tragedy,” the mayor said, adding “surely, heads will roll.”
Records from the Quezon City Police District show nine persons, including a newborn infant, were killed when the landslide buried three houses along Litex Road, Barangay Commonwealth during the continuous rains that started last Sunday.
The mayor, who went to the site to oversee the rescue operations, said the houses of the victims were built near the foot of a hilly portion in the area where the soil, soaked by the incessant rains, caved in on their houses.
Bautista told reporters he issued a stern warning to barangay officials who are unable to control the influx of informal settler families within their respective areas.      
According to him, DILG Secretary Jessie Robredo has already declared the 7,000-square meter landslide area as danger zone and intends to pull out at the soonest possible time the residents occupying the area so as not to further endanger their lives.
He, however, reiterated that the planned resettlement of the affected families should not be misconstrued as demolition but rather shall be undertaken as a rescue effort by the   government.
Bautista pressed the DILG for support to the much-needed relocation of QC informal settler families living in danger areas considering the risk they constantly face, especially during calamities, be it man-made or natural.
He also urged the National Housing Authority to generate more housing units quickly because of the urgency of moving these families to safer areas.    
In a related development, the city chief executive  ordered a massive clean-up of post-storm debris along the city’s major roads and thoroughfares.
The city’s special clean-up operation will formally kick off in Barangay Damayang Lagi along E. Rodriguez Avenue, G. Araneta Avenue and along West Riverside Street in Barangay Don Antonio, all of which were submerged in floodwaters at the height of the southwest monsoon or ”habagat.”     
The city’s environmental protection and waste management department, headed by Frederika Rentoy, will field 200 dump trucks and around 700 personnel for the clean-up operation which will mostly involve removal of thick mud and mounds formed when floodwaters receded.     
Rentoy is asking the mayor to give the EPWMD at least two weeks to complete the clean-up.
The mayor appealed to the local residents for cooperation in the drive, saying everyone has to help the city recover from the floods.