DENR targets completion of 314 geo-hazard maps this year

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) plans to complete geo-hazard maps for 314 municipalities this year as well as finish geo-hazard mapping of 1,300 municipalities all over the country by 2010.

DENR Secretary Angelo Reyes said they will prioritize the completion of geo-hazard maps for areas located on the eastern seaboard and other places across the country that have been identified as prone to landslides and floods. These areas are included in the 314 geo-hazard maps the agency plans to finish this year.

"We have intensified our mapping efforts," Reyes said as he announced that the DENR deployed last week a 35-member team from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to carry out geo-hazard mapping in Biliran island and Leyte.

"We are (prioritizing) areas located on the eastern seaboard and other places across the country that are identified as landslide and flood-prone in view of the La Niña," he added.

La Niña is a weather phenomenon that brings about heavy rains and thunderstorms and intensifies their effects. Weather experts said the La Niña is weakening but that it is too early to tell if it is over. The rainy season, which is associated with tropical cyclones, strong monsoon winds and scattered thunderstorms, is expected to start by the third or fourth week of May.

Biliran island and Leyte are among the 21 areas identified by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) as the "most vulnerable" to La Niña. Other areas categorized as "first priority" for geo-hazard mapping include Eastern Samar and Western Samar; Southern Leyte; Surigao del Sur and Surigao del Norte; and Agusan del Sur and Agusan del Norte.

Last month, the MGB completed the rapid geo-hazard mapping of 469 communities in Southern Leyte. All these communities are located at the "foot-slopes, mid-slopes, and mountain ridges" and are considered most prone to geologic hazards.

The MGB team found that only 15 out of 469 barangays in Southern Leyte are not susceptible to landslides. The rest have varying degrees of susceptibility to this geologic hazard.

During the Earth Day celebration at the Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila last April 22, President Arroyo ordered the DENR to complete the mapping of potential geological hazards in areas prone to landslide and flooding by this year.

The DENR’s efforts to rush geo-hazard mapping came after continuous rains triggered a landslide that buried a whole community in the town of Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte early this year.