B’laan natives advised to vacate Mt. Takilay

Koronadal City — B’laan natives living near the hinterland parts of Sitio Takilay in Barangay Saravia here have been advised by the city government to temporarily abandon the area due to several "big cracks" noticed on the grounds of Mt. Takilay.

Mt. Takilay is a dead mountain and some eight kilometers away from the city proper.

City Mayor Fernando Miguel said he advised the B’laan natives to evacuate because he wants to prevent a disaster similar to the landslide in St. Bernard to happen in this city.

"Mas mabuti yung hindi pa nangyayari ang landslide wala na sila sa area (It is better that before even a landslide occur, they are no longer in the area)," Miguel said during a press conference yesterday morning.

Miguel sees the possible occurrence of a landslide in Sitio Takilay, saying that the city has been experiencing heavy rainfall in the fast few days.

Koronadal is the component city of the province of South Cotabato and two of its towns have been declared by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) in Central Mindanao as "geo-hazard areas."

Geo-hazard areas are those localities with recorded incidents of landslides and flashfloods in previous years.

Miguel said the chief of the city environment and natural resources office has informed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) regarding the matter.

"We requested the office of DENR-Central Mindanao regional executive director Jim Sampulna to deploy some of the geologists of the MGB to the area to make a ground investigation," Miguel said.

In a long distance interview this morning, Sampulna said he already instructed MGB regional director Jose Madrona to make an appropriate action about the request of Miguel.

"Madrona told me that he will send a team of geologists and mining engineers to investigate the reported cracks in Mt. Takilay’s grounds," Sampulna said.

The team is expected to arrive today.