ST. BERNARD, Southern Leyte - After about two weeks of unrelenting rains, the water saturation in Mt. Kan-abag basically triggered its soil to crumble down to Brgy. Guinsaugon last Friday.

This was the assessment of Geologist Amado Dupio Jr., of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in the region, in an interview with Leyte Samar Daily Express.

Dupio believes that excessive amount of rain that sipped through the said mountain softened its soil which resulted to landslide.

After his actual site inspection last Sunday, Dupio told reporters that he found “porous and crush” from the soil sample in the landslide site.

He said that it was a “slipping plane” or a slippery part of the mountain that cascaded down to the barangay of Guinsaugon.

According to him, Mt. Kan-abag has a slope of about 50-60 degrees which is very slippery or very dangerous especially during rainy season.

He even warned that if continuous rains continue to pour in the said mountain, “there is a big probability” that some other parts of it might also drop.

“But we should also consider that the mountain is a faultline area,” Dupio said.

He also confirmed that the town of St. Bernard is one of the risk areas or landslide prone areas in the province of Southern Leyte the reason why extra precautions should be made in this town.

Aside from St. Bernard, Dupio mentioned the whole of Panaon Island, Sogod area, and the town of Libagon as among those risk areas also which they are monitoring right now.

Dupio denied reports that illegal logging and some diggings caused the tragic landslide to occur in one of St. Bernard’s progressive barangays.

Though the vegetation of Mt. Kan-abag is not that thick, Dupio said the mountain would still not crumble down to the barangay had it not been for the rains.

“Vegetation brings only a minimal effect on the soil of the mountain,” Dupio said.

He said Mt. Kan-abag could be treacherous as it has a fractured and crushed soil profile. Technically, they are called andesites and pyroclastics, he added.