AN INITIAL of 900 families living in barangays near the landslide area in the City of Naga are expected to evacuate from their homes immediately.
That, after the City Government of Naga found that these families are living in areas considered by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to be “red zones” or areas not allowed for habitation due to threats that they could move after the landslide.
Aside from the 900 families, another 2,800 families were also found to be living in “green zones” or areas considered closed to settlement and relocation until a detailed hazard study has been conducted there.
The survey on the affected residents was conducted by the City Government of Naga following the MGB’s release of a second assessment of landslide-affected areas in the City last month.
To seek a “second opinion” on the MGB’s assessment, City of Naga Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong has sought the assistance of a third-party geologist who will conduct an independent assessment on the post-landslide reports provided by the MGB.
In a press conference held on Monday, November 12, Chiong said that until now, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has not released an updated assessment on all households that could be affected by the landslide.
The updated assessment could have helped determine who among the 1,700 families living in 10 evacuation centers in the city could return home.
But even without the DENR’s updated assessment, the city government, armed with two MGB reports on the landslide, conducted their own survey to determine if there are still households living within the no habitation and green zones.
During their survey last month, the City found that a total of 1,700 families are living within the no habitation zone.
Chiong said that out of 1,700, only 100 have been relocated to evacuation centers, Chiong said.
But Chiong said she won’t conduct an evacuation until the DENR releases the assessment that they promised on the households affected by the landslide.
She, however, have tasked city personnel to conduct information dissemination on all affected households within the red zone that have not been evacuated.
“We will not make any move until the DENR says so,” Chiong said.
But Chiong said they also want to two post-landslide studies conducted by MGB to be assessed by another geologist as a way to get a second opinion.
Chiong said they already secured the services of Dr. Mahar Lagmay of the University of the Philippines-Diliman campus to conduct an independent study on MGB’s reports.
Lagmay is a professor of UP Diliman’s National Institute of Geological Sciences and was former executive director of Project NOAH.
Chiong hopes that Lagmay’s report could create a more clearer picture on whether areas in the city that are near the landslide area in Barangay Tina-an should be marked as danger zones.
As to those still living in the evacuation centers, the City has started processing their relocation. As of yesterday, at least 250 out of 444 families living within the “maroon zone” or areas in close proximity to the landslide have accepted their offer of relocation at the Balili Property.
Aside from the Balili property, the city is also offering another relocation site provided by the National Housing Authority in Barangay Valencia, Carcar City which has 242 available units.
For those who opt not to, the city will provide an additional P50,000 relocation assistance on top of the P50,000 humanitarian financial assistance and another P50,000 if the evacuee’s home was destroyed during the search and retrieval operations, or P20,000 if partially damaged. (JKV)