EDITORIAL - Recipe for disaster

As far back as 2006, according to environment officials, warnings were already issued to local government units about areas that are at high risk for landslides and floods. Among the areas are those where small-scale mining is widespread, notably Mt. Diwalwal, and neighboring communities such as the municipality of New Bataan in Compostela Valley.

New Bataan has run out of coffins, and many of the bodies pulled out of a massive pile of mud, logs and debris in the aftermath of typhoon “Pablo” remain unidentified. Before Pablo, many of the residents in the farming town had never experienced a powerful typhoon. They also felt safe from floods since the town lies far from any river. Yet early last Tuesday, incessant rain spawned by Pablo unleashed an avalanche of mud and rampaging floodwaters from the nearby mountains.

Apart from small-scale mining, which is largely unregulated in this country, authorities also blamed the denudation of the area where the landslide emanated. The disaster was a repeat of the tragedy that befell the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro in mid-December last year, when “Sendong” brought cataclysmic floods and illegally cut logs tumbling down from the mountains into the lowlands, destroying everything in their path. Sendong left over 1,000 people dead; the toll from Pablo could approach that number if the hundreds of missing are no longer found.

After Sendong, the people of Cagayan de Oro have learned the value of preparing for the worst. Other places in the country should not wait for grievous tragedy to strike before learning the same lesson. The high-risk areas of the country are delineated in geohazard maps that the environment department distributed to local government units six years ago. Local executives will not lose anything by studying those maps and acting accordingly. Allowing the degradation of the environment and ignoring risk warnings is always a recipe for disaster.