BAGUIO CITY, Philippines — A road leading to two major tourist sites in the country’s summer capital has been reduced to a single lane after a retaining wall at a construction site collapsed, taking part of the thoroughfare with it.
Residents near the construction site of Suntrust 888 said the retaining wall collapsed around 3 a.m. Thursday.
Sister Mary Guadalupe Bautista of the Good Shepherd congregation, whose convent is one of the tourist sites — the other is Mines View Park — said the retaining wall had actually collapsed four times before.
On October 2016, Bautista said she herself called the attention of the Department of Public Workers and Highways. The wall also collapsed on April 5.
What makes the most recent collapse particularly bad is that a sewer line was damaged, blanketing the area with a foul odor.
In 2015, residents of the Tower Condominiums filed their opposition to the construction and expansion project of Suntrust 888, telling the city government that there had been no prior consultation with residents of Barangay Gibraltar.
Sunstar acquired an Environmental Compliance Certificate, which requires consultation with and the concurrence of the affected community, for the project in 2014.
The Baguio City Engineer’s Office has yet to issue a statement on the incident.