Barili fishponds, crops affected

CEBU, Philippines - More than the loss of a natural beauty, the drying up of the Mantayupan Falls could also cause famine, said Barili Mayor Teresito Mariñas.

Mariñas said that the water from Man-tayupan Falls is used to irrigate rice fields in Barangay Campangga and also provides for the fish ponds where tilapia are grown.

There is also a mini hydro-electric power plant that runs on water from the falls.

The drying up of the water falls is believed to be caused by the presence of a sinkhole about 300 meters upstream.

Restoration

The municipality is working closely with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to restore Mantayupan Falls.

They plan to divert the water away from the sink hole as proposed by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau-7.

Abraham Lucero Jr., Senior Science Research Specialist-Geologist of the MGB, said that if water in the falls will not be restored within a week, 50 hectares of rice fields in Barangay Campangga will die.

“Akong gitan-aw didto hapit na gyud ma-uga ang tubig sa rice fields,” (I checked and the water has almost dried at the rice fields) he said.

Tilapia farm owners in the said place will also lose income since their fish ponds use water from the falls.

The mini hydro-electric power plant of the town has also not been operating for the past three days and no more tourists have come to see the falls.

Lucero told The FREEMAN that water of the river fell into the sink hole exiting to the base of the second waterfall, which is about 70 meters away from the main one.

“The sink hole is estimated to be 4.5 meters deep but we do not know if duna pa’y liko-liko sa ilawom,” (…we do not know if it still goes deeper) he said.

Lucero said that he advised those who would be working on the diversion of the water not to use heavy equipment to avoid possible further collapse of land near the sink hole.He added that they cannot divert the flow of water from the second waterfall because it has a lower elevation which is not enough to support the irrigation system.

solution

The municipality will start the excavation for the detour of the river today.

Lucero said that a 40-meter canal is planned so that the water would be diverted away from the sink hole.They expect to finish the work in two to three days.

Private companies are also helping by providing equipment.

Mariñas said that residents are also pitching in by helping carry sacks containing soil.

“Nag-bayanihan na gani ang mga tao didto aron lang mahuman dayon kay ang kahumayan nila apektado,” (People there are helping out so that work will be finished quickly since their rice fields are affected) he said.

No quarry

Lucero denied reports that the area is a quarry site. He said that possible cause of the sink hole is the ongoing development of the site to an eco-tourism park.

Other factor was the earthquake last week and the continuous rain the past few days.

The mini hydro-electric power plant started operation in the 1990s making use of the water from the falls.

Operation of the power plant was only at night as water from the falls was dammed.

Security

The town has assigned two policemen to augment the barangay tanods in the area.

They have also fenced the sink hole using barbed wire.

“We do not know if unsa kadako ang cavity sa ilawom sa careful lang una especially sa mga tao nga mutan-aw gyud sa sink hole,” Lucero said.

Kawasan falls

Meanwhile, Governor Gwen Garcia commended the inclusion of Kawasan Falls in Badian as among the world’s most beautiful waterfalls.

Garcia described it as a great honor for Cebu, as the province did not lobby or campaign for it. For her it is a spontaneous outpouring admiration from photographer members of Traveland Leisure.com, the source of the listing.

“We are very, very happy about this development. To be counted as one amongst such a prestigious membership really brings great pride to Cebu,” she said.

Garcia said that the inclusion also justifies the action she made last April when she ordered the temporary closure of the Kawasan Falls to give way to the demolition of illegal structures and to restore the surroundings to its natural beauty.

“I guess that justifies the recent action that we have taken, where I personally went to Kawasan Falls and directed as well as implemented with my own hands the clearing of water wastes, because too much commercialization has set in and there were already illegal structures that were blocking the natural passage of water from the falls to the rivers,” Garcia said.

“We had cleared that and we will soon meet again with the stakeholders as well as the local government of Badian and the Department of Tourism and discuss ways on which we will be able to restore and to preserve the natural beauty of Kawasan Falls because that is our pride. We should not sell that pride by destroying it in order to make a pass back or in order to make money,” she added.

aGarcia also commended on the positive stories in the front page of local dailies that is also of public interest.

“Doesn’t that make every Cebuano proud? Front page stories like this chosen by our local dailies that gives us hope, and makes us smile that after all naa man diay positive stories nga ma-appreciate sa publiko,” she said. – with Marigold P. Lebumfacil/NLQ