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Wednesday, June 09, 2004
OCD raises warning on geo-hazard areas
By Harley F. Palangchao
TYPHOON "Frank" left Cordillera region Monday with no heavy damage to infrastructure and agriculture. But the house of a police officer in Kias barangay in Baguio was partially damaged.
The Office of the Civil Defense (OCD)-Cordillera however warned residents in identified geo-hazard areas anew to take precautionary measures like relocating to safer ground with the start of the rainy season.
Senior Police Officer 3 Roberto Cruz of the OCD-Cordillera reported that major routes going in and out of Baguio like the Halsema Highway, Marcos Highway, Naguilian Road and Kennon, remain open to vehicular traffic.
Cruz added that no reported massive landslides occurred in the six provinces of the region except for a landslide that partially damaged the house of Insp. George Benitez in Purok 8, Kias barangay.
"As of 12 noon today (Monday), the OCD also did not receive any reported missing person or casualty brought about by tropical storm Frank," Cruz said.
Pagasa hoisted public storm signal 1 was still in effect over Zambales, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Benguet, La Union and Ilocos Sur. Winds of 30 to 60 kph passed through the areas Monday.
Although Frank left no casualty, Cruz said the OCD-Cordillera briefed all provincial disaster coordinating offices to warn residents living in geo-hazard areas of possible disasters awaiting them.
Earlier, the DENR Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Cordillera identified some barangays in Baguio as geo-hazard areas in the region. These barangays include Crystal Cave, Dominican-Mirador Hill, a portion of Asin Road, Naguilian Road, Marcos Highway and the whole stretch of Kennon Road.
Baguio City was hit by a strong earthquake on July 16, 1990. Thousands were buried alive under collapsed buildings while millions of pesos worth of properties were destroyed.
The 1990 killer tremor led the World Bank to rank Baguio as one of the seven most disaster prone cities in the world. Baguio, which was designed for about 20,000 people, has a current population of almost 300,000.
The MGB already required building and subdivision developers to secure an Engineering Geological and Geo-hazard Assessment (Egga) before any infrastructure project can proceed, especially after the Cherry Hills tragedy on August 3, 1999.
In Benguet, MGB Regional Director Neoman dela Cruz reported that regular monitoring is being conducted in the three areas of Mankayan town, where ground sinking and landslides were reported.
(June 8, 2004 issue)
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