Mankayan residents ask to be relocated

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Mankayan Mayor Materno Luspian is seeking help for those displaced by recent storms.  

Luspian said recent storms have caused a relocation of residents living in high risk areas. “We are looking for a place not prone to landslides so we can relocate them.”

There are families in the area who need to be relocated according to Luspian. “We will be asking assistance from the National Government for them.”  

Luspian said the small town will be needing assistance on how to acquire an area for the affected families, there are both partially and totally damaged households from the past storms.  

During the last months it was Atok, Bakun, Buguias, and Mankayan towns which reported damage to foot trails, bridges and canals, waterworks and public properties. 

Luspian said the town is also giving assistance to the families. “We have been extending assistance to them,” he said adding coordination with the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) is also ongoing for the High Risk areas of the town.  

Aside from the relocation of the residents, Mankayan town is also facing the herculean task of relocating thousands from a sinking area.

MGB studies show ground instabilities within the Poblacion, Mankayan area were first observed in the 1970s and the area is very prone to mass movements due to physical and geological factors, the area is within a fault zone. 

It is recommended a canal has to be built to divert surface water to keep the area safe. 

In 2010, a relocation of over 3,000 residents and 2 school buildings from the sunken Poblacion has saddled the local government with disaster assessments pegged at P93 million needed to relocate residents and structures from the sunken areas to safer grounds.