DENR task force on geohazard & environmental assessment created

The heavy rains that have been pouring into the country, lately bring to mind the landslide tragedies in Panaon Island, Southern Leyte and other areas, that resulted in the death of hundreds of people and extensive damage to properties.

Rain-induced landslide is one of the natural hazards that the Philippines is prone to due to its geologic and geographic setting. The country is highly vulnerable to this disaster as it generally has a rugged terrain, with over 60 percent of its land consisting of slopes. Others include earthquakes as it is a very seismically active region and bounded by several faults, and volcanic eruptions as it has more than 200 volcanoes, of which at least 21 are active.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has been active in its deliberate efforts to address and mitigate the possible impacts of geologic hazards. One of these is requiring all private and government subdivisions and housing projects to undergo Engineering Geological and Geohazard Assessment (EGGA) as additional requirements for Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) applications. Further, each regional office of its Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has also created an Urban Geology Unit from its existing personnel.

In DENR-MGB Region 3, a task force was created recently to undertake geohazard and environmental assessment in critical areas, particularly in the province of Bulacan. Its team leader is director Arnulfo V. Cabantog with director Lormelyn E. Claudio of Reg. 3 Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) as deputy team leader.

It is expected that the task force will make necessary recommendations after having assessed the target areas. Results of evaluation would provide the local government units (LGUs) relevant information about the critical areas in their respective jurisdictions. These would help them (LGUs) to prepare disaster prevention measures that would ensure the protection and safety of the people and to prevent/mitigate another tragedies from natural and man-made factors.

Other members of the task force include Provincial and Natural Resource (PENR) officer of Bulacan Romeo Buenaventura and Community and Natural Resource (CENR) officers Martin Danao and Nelson Castro of San Rafael and Guiguinto, Bulacan, respectively.