DOST to help CAR folk mitigate impact of rain-induced landslides

The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will start this month a P3.2-million project that would help residents in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) mitigate the impact of rain-induced landslides.

Daniel Peckley Jr., a recipient of the DOST’s Balik Scientist Program, said the project would not make use of sophisticated equipment but simple tests that would involve locals in assessing the susceptibility of their areas to landslides.

He said they would also distribute manuals to residents which contain information about soil and rock formation, among other things.

“The idea is to make the language of geologists simple enough to be understood by ordinary people,” he said.

Peckley said the project is different from the multi-hazard mapping being conducted nationwide by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“This is more site-specific,” he said.

He said the one-year project would also introduced the “Swedish weight sounding test” to local officials.

According to research, this test measures the static resistance of soil penetration, and decides the hardness and tightness of soil. It also helps understand soil profiles.

In a 2007 study, government experts identified 27 provinces, four of them in Eastern Visayas, as high-risk areas for landslides and flooding during the rainy season.

Salvador Estudillo, Eastern Visayas director of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), earlier said they considered the provinces of Leyte, Southern Leyte, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar as disaster-prone areas.

Estudillo said the other provinces with disaster-prone areas are Surigao del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Bohol, Aurora, Pampanga, Cavite, Catanduanes, Zambales, Antique, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Zamboanga del Sur, Laguna, Quirino, the Agusan provinces, Nueva Vizcaya, Cagayan, Isabela, Zamboanga Sibugay, Rizal, Iloilo, Ilocos Norte and Benguet.