THE Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reiterated that certain sections of Mt. Arayat National Park remain "critical" and landslides may occur anytime with heavy downpour this rainy season.
More than 5,000 residents in Purok 6 and 7 in Barangay San Juan Baño are in harm's way, as huge rocks in the mountain were seen to have loosened and displaced. The areas had been declared "no habitation zones" and under "state of imminent danger."
With this, Governor Lilia Pineda asked the MGB-DENR to continuously monitor and closely conduct ground assessment on the reported loosening of rocks on top of Mount Arayat that might be "ready to go down" and may put thousands of people in danger.
"I want the residents to be safe from any disaster, that is why I want MGB to conduct regular ground assessment so we could plan ahead and implement immediate measures before the occurrence of any calamity," she said.
Engineer Noel Lacadin, MGB chief geologist, said they were instructed by Pineda to reiterate an advisory on rockslides in Arayat and Magalang, after the assessment on the state of the loosened rocks in Mount Arayat.
The MGB said the advisory aims to keep stakeholders on alert especially this coming rainy season. The bureau said heavy rains could cause rocks to roll down from the mountain, resulting in a repeat of the destructive landslide during the onslaught of Tropical Storm Ondoy in 2009.
Lacadin said these rocks are ready to go down via the active channels of Maeyagas, Takwi, Madalumdum and Oliva creeks.
It can also be recalled that the Arayat local government unit (LGU), led by Mayor Emmanuel Alejandrino, had built a deflector -- a row of sandbags placed along the path -- to slow down the flow of water and rocks going to Purok 6 and 7 of San Juan Baño.
In an interview with Alejandrino, he said the LGU is ready to replace the sandbags, but stressed that sandbagging is just a palliative measure. What is needed, he said, is an engineering intervention that would last long to avoid any untoward incidents in the future.
But he said their proposed engineering solutions had been turned down by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
Pineda had also instructed Alejandrino to move the residents during the rainy season to an evacuation center built in 2014 by the Provincial Government and located behind the town hall, said Angelina Blanco, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office executive director.
On September 26, 2009, a landslide claimed the lives of 12 residents in Barangay San Juan Baño, Arayat town.
The area was wiped out by strong mud flow and huge stones coming down from the mountain.
Last year, Pineda ordered the provincial engineer to draw up a design for a 10-hectare relocation site in Barangay Telapayong in Arayat town to serve as temporary shelter for residents in high-risk areas near Mount Arayat during strong rains and typhoons.
Pineda said the area would serve as temporary shelter for some 1,000 residents of San Juan Bano.
She added that residents would be able to return to their homes as soon as the threat of landslides is over.