Loud Underground Blasts Heard in Manipis, Talisay

Residents of mountain barangay Manipis, Talisay City, complained of a loud blast in their area which started Monday morning.

Barangay captain Pedro Cabiluna said at around 8 am on Monday they heard the first earth-shaking blast that they had to suspend the classes of the nearby elementary school for fear it was another earthquake.

Cabiluna said the shake caused pandemonium to the entire Manipis.

City Councilor Danny Caballero, head of the council committee on Peace and Order, said after hearing Cabiluna’s complaint he immediately went to the site for an ocular inspection.

He said before he arrived, another blast was heard at around 10 am. But the area went quiet in the afternoon, the entire time that he was there, he said.

Caballero said Manipis has no mining firm which could have caused the explosion, raising speculations that the blasts could be from underground.

Allegedly the underground operations of Atlas Mining in Toledo City have reached Manipis. Caballero said Talisay and Toledo are several kilometers away, but they are not discounting that possibility, especially that they don’t see any other reason that could connect the blasting to.

Caballero said he is scheduled to visit the site again anytime on Wednesday in hope to find clue as to the cause of the explosion.