20 Cagayan Valley towns identified as geo-hazard zones

TUGUEGARAO CITY — At least 20 towns in the region and in this city have been declared geoological hazard zones and are up for assessment by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

Jerrysal Mangaoang, MGB director for Cagayan Valley, said yesterday that these towns, most of which are in Cagayan and Isabela, will be subjected to further geological assessment after they were identified as prone to natural disasters.

The identified landslide- and flashfloods-prone areas, include the towns of Baggao, Solana, Tuao and Aparri and Tuguegarao City, all in Cagayan; and the towns of Ramon, San Mateo, Ilagan and those in the northern areas of Isabela.

In Nueva Vizcaya, identified as geological hazards were the towns of Kayapa, Santa Fe, Dupax Del Norte and Dupax Del Sur.

Based on history, experiences and geographical tendencies, these municipalities are prone to natural calamities.

Most prone to flashfloods are those towns lying near the region’s major rivers - Magat River in Nueva Vizcaya, Pinacanauan River in Isabela and the mighty Cagayan River, which is the country’s longest river.

Nueva Vizcaya, he said, was categorized more as earthquake- and landslide-prone, as this landlocked province, especially its mountainous areas, is part of the active Digdig faultline, which straddles Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija and Benguet in the Cordilleras.

"Recent calamities prove that these municipalities are really prone to natural calamities," he said.

The MGB said that an earthquake in 1990 buried some 36 villagers in remote Sitio Aw-awa, Barangay Pinayag, Kayapa, Nueva Vizcaya.

In the ’70s, some 20 residents in Ilagan, Isabela were also buried after a mudslide hit their village following days of continuous rains.

"To lessen the impact of flashfloods or flooding, there is an urgent need to dredge the heavily-silted rivers from the Magat Dam in Nueva Vizcaya all the way down to Cagayan River," Mangaoang said.

The MGB also advised villagers living in the geo-hazard zones to be always vigilant for any eventuality, especially now that the country is experiencing the onslaught of the La Niña phenomenon.