Local government’s preparedness during disasters remains a lingering issue in the Cordillera.

BY ACE ALEGRE
Contributed to Bulatlat
Vol. VII, No. 43, December 2-8, 2007

BAGUIO CITY (246 kms north of Manila) – Local government’s preparedness during disasters remains a lingering issue in the Cordillera.

This after the Intensity 6 earthquake at noon on Nov. 27 that shook Luzon including Baguio City, one of the most ravaged cities during the 1990 killer earthquake literally bringing this highland resort city unto its knees.

Disaster expert Engr. Jojo Valera, operations chief of the Office of Civil Defense-Cordillera admitted that Baguio and the rest of the six provinces in the highland Cordillera region are not yet that prepared.

“That is why we need more support from local government units especially local chief executives,” he said, while explaining that “mayors and governors should mind their towns’ and provinces’ disaster management
programs.”

Valera who have been into the thick and thin of disaster management in the Cordillera for the past several years now feels that chief executives support to disaster management programs of their towns and provinces are still lacking. He said that Cordillera provinces must have “working disaster coordinating councils,” not disaster coordinating councils that “exist on paper only.” These councils, Valera added, should have the proper equipment and their personnel must have good training to mitigate the effects of disasters.

However, Baguio City Mayor Reinaldo Bautista, Jr. claimed the city government was well-prepared, saying that even Metro Manila was amused with how swift the CDCC’s action in suspending classes and mobilizing its fire and police departments minutes after Tuesday’s quake happened.

Bautista also claimed that well-trained personnel of the Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers here went around city schools also on Tuesday afternoon to check and assess buildings in the city.

There is already a protocol at the CDCC, that hospitals, then schools, then government buildings and buildings with banks are checked in that order immediately after earthquakes, Bautista said. “We followed that strictly,” the mayor said.

Coun. Nicasio Aliping, chairman of the city’s Public Order and Safety committee also said that the police responded well with the situation although he said he will propose a measure at the local legislature here to include disaster preparedness as a subject or elective in schools. Seminars and trainings must also be launched, Aliping said, as he invoked that getting prepared is a collective effort among Baguio constituents and is a concern of all.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-Cordillera chief Engr. Neoman dela Cruz also said that with or without the earthquake on Tuesday, it is everybody’s concern to take extra precautions in areas identified to be geohazard prone.

MGB reports that Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province are among the top 10 provinces in the country that are prone to landslides and floods.

Benguet, added the MGB, is the most affected province in the region with over 90 percent of its total land area that are landslide-prone.

The Cordillera offices of the MGB has earlier furnished updated geo-hazard mapping all local government units even as Engr. Dela Cruz has appealed to them to integrate the geo-hazard map into their
zoning plans.

40 geo-hazard areas

There are at least 40 government-identified geologically hazardous areas: City Camp, Rock Quarry and Crystal Cave where ground sinking is reported earlier; Km 3 in San Luis Village, where there is a slope failure; La Trinidad Valley, where flooding and ground settlement liquefaction are possible; Balacbac, Kapangan town, in Benguet where the ground is unstable; Colalo in Mankayan town, also in Benguet where landslides are common; Let-angan and Aurora st., Poblacion, also in Mankayan town, Benguet which have an “active ground subsidence”; and Sapid and Pacda, again in Mankayan, Benguet, where “pipe-outs” are reported.

Ground subsidence is also noted in Padcal, Tuba, where the Philex Mining Corp. operates.

Landslide-prone sites include portions of Mankayan, Abatan to Buguias toward the road going to Natubleng down to Kabayan; Daclan going to Bokod toward Nueva Vizcaya; portions of the road going to the Ambuklao Dam; parts of the Halsema Highway traversing the towns of Buguias, Atok, Tublay and La Trinidad; the areas toward Itogon town; and the Naguilian and Kennon Roads.

Gacad noted that all major road networks in the Cordillera are landslide-prone.

In 2001, continuous rains brought by typhoon “Feria” triggered landslides in these areas, claiming the lives of at least four dozen people.

Landslides are also possible in Tangadan, San Quintin, Abra; Taga, Pinukpuk, Kalinga; and Tuyangan, Cabugao, Apayao; and flooding in Lamut, Ifugao; Lagangilang, Abra; Samoki, Bontoc, Mt. Province; Capagaypayan, Luyon, Luna and in Imelda, Alem and San Antonio in Pudtol, Apayao.

Ground subsidence and unstable ground hazards have also been reported in Pantikian, Balbalan, Kalinga and Butac, Natonin, Poblacion and Angkileng in Sagada, Mt. Province.

More than half of the Cordillera region, the MGB said, is classified as very steep and prone to landslides and other ground movements.

Authorities also fear that the presence of major faults crisscrossing the region, although most of them are classified as “non-earthquake generators,” could trigger weak points that could eventually result in ground instability or landslides. They said the Digdig fault, an extension of the Philippine fault zone extending toward the Abra River fault, could cause substantial damage, along with the San Manuel, Tuba and Tebu faults, among others.

In Baguio, the major faults include the ones in Mirador, Burnham, Bued River and the area in Loakan.

Baguio City, the vacation capital of the country, is considered by the World Bank as one of the seven disaster-prone cities in the world in its findings in 2004.

Inspections

Last year, the Cordillera Regional Development Council (RDC) approved two resolutions encouraging the 72 Cordillera towns to conduct geological inspections in all proposed building sites to avoid disasters in the future. Contributed to Bulatlat

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