CEBU ranks eighth in the list of top 10 provinces in the country that are prone to landslide, according to the environment agency’s Geohazard Mapping and Assessment Program.
The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) released the list of landslide-prone provinces as early as 2011, pursuant to the Philippine Development Plan during the Aquino administration.
So what did local government officials do to address the issue seven years ago before the landslide in Barangay Tina-an, City of Naga, Cebu?
Environmental lawyer Gloria Estenzo-Ramos said the Department of the Interior and Local Government has issued step-by-step guidelines for the local officials to comply with precautionary measures.
“The DILG code carries protocols and guidelines for the disaster management program. It also contains prohibited acts and penalties for any negligence,” Ramos told SunStar Cebu.
The DILG code also mandates both the public officials and stakeholders to abide by the provision of the disaster management law to prevent the loss of lives, said Ramos.
The lawyer said they have conducted countless forums and proposed various programs and initiatives on environmental laws for the local government units to implement.
Ramos, the former coordinator of the Philippine Earth Justice Center Inc., said that Cebu is actually an “accident waiting to happen” because its topography is “rugged and mountainous.”
Ramos said that Cebu Capitol and municipal officials should seriously revisit compliance to the disaster management law.
More than two hectares of lots at Sitio Tagaytay collapsed last Sept. 20 and caused a massive landslide that buried the neighboring sitio of Sindulan.
In his memo-report to Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong, lawyer Gerardo Mahusay, MGB-7 Finance and Administrative Division chief, told the mayor that the manifestation of cracks within the quarry site being operated by Apo Land Quarry Corp. (ALQC) is a “natural phenomenon and is not related to the mining operation.”
“Further, the present nature, the number and the distribution of cracks/fissures in the subject site are not considered critical and do not pose imminent danger to the neighboring community,” read Mahusay’s memo-reply dated Aug. 29, 2018.
Mahusay issued the memo after an assessment on the cracks based on the “technical report.” Mahusay and three other MGB-7 officials have been relieved from their posts while the investigation is ongoing.
Chiong said the MGB 7 could have committed negligence for clearing Apo Land Quarry despite the visible cracks found in some parts of Sitio Tagaytay, Barangay Tina-an.
Another province in the Visayas, Southern Leyte, ranked fifth on the list of landslide-prone areas in the country.
“Landslides are believed to be caused by, among others, heavy rains, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and by man-made causes like mining, commercial developments, and the like,” the report said.
Meanwhile, Cemex clarified that Apo Land and Quarry Corp. is not part of the Cemex Group. ALQC is a major supplier of Apo Cement. GMD