While a pall of smog enveloped much of Metro Manila on the first day of the year, rain poured over the Bicol Region and Leyte. In the Southern Leyte town of St. Bernard, the incessant downpour unleashed a torrent of mud the next day. The disaster inevitably evoked memories of the morning on Feb. 17, 2006, when 10 days of heavy rains and a series of mild earthquakes loosened the soil on a mountain slope. The mudslide erased much of St. Bernard’s Barangay Guinsaugon from the map and buried more than 1,100 villagers.
As of late yesterday afternoon, five children had been confirmed killed and three others reported missing in the latest landslide to hit St. Bernard. Geologists have said the town straddles an earthquake fault, making its surrounding mountains prone to mudslides. The mountains lack the old trees with roots deep enough to minimize soil erosion even during incessant rains. The 2006 killer mudslide compounded the problem, with a large chunk of the mountainside needing many more years before it can have a protective forest cover.
The latest landslide in St. Bernard highlights the urgent need for reforestation. Climate experts have warned that La Niña, the weather phenomenon that brings heavy rainfall in this part of the planet, will be particularly strong this year. Where reforestation is insufficient or still at an early stage, people should be discouraged from settling in areas lying along the likely path of a mudslide. Those paths are not impossible to pinpoint, and people can be made to understand the risks to their safety.
At the same time, the government should continue upgrading the nation’s capability to respond to natural catastrophes. The international community can be called upon to help in times of catastrophic flooding, earthquakes and other disasters, but local response is faster, and speed is crucial in saving more lives. The landslide in St. Bernard is an early warning to be prepared for what could lie ahead this year.