Areas prone to flood, landslide identified

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department and Environment and Natural Resources has identified areas in Cebu City and the province that are prone to landslide and flooding.

MGB regional chief geologist Al Emil Berador said barangays Sirao, Malubog, Pung-ol Sibugay in Cebu City and the Cebu Transcentral Road, barangay Kan-actol in Dumanjug and barangay Vive in Ronda in the province are the areas that will possibly experience slope failure.

The bureau also identified parts of Cebu City like Colon Street, Guadalupe, Sudlon, Talamban, Pasil, Duljo-Fatima, Mambaling and the reclamation areas as prone to flooding.

According to the MGB, flood-prone areas in the province include the cities of Mandaue, Talisay, Danao and Toledo, and the towns of Argao, Carmen, Badian, Dumanjug, Barili, Balamban, Asturias, Tuburan, Pinamungajan, Compostela, Liloan, Consolascion, Minglanilla, Naga, Tuburan, Balamban, Asturias and Carcar.

Berador said residents in these areas should be vigilant, especially now that the country is experiencing La Niña, which is expected to end in June.

Berador said residents in landslide-prone areas, especially those in barangay Sirao where there is an active fault, should be ready to vacate whenever calamity strikes.

The soil constantly moving in these areas would trigger a landslide when an earthquake occurs. MGB recommends for the local government units to find relocation sites for the residents.

"After what had happened in November 1996 when houses school buildings and roads have collapsed, that place (Sirao) should be vacated as the lives of the residents are in great peril. We have already given an advisory since then but it seems that there are still more houses that are built there. Sirao Elementary School is still located in the area and DepEd could be liable if something will happen. We also have identified a relocation area for these residents," Berador said.

However, he said it would be unlikely for Cebu to experience such great damage as the one in the Southern Leyte landslide, which buried a whole barangay.

"We have faults here but not that active as those in Leyte and that the location of St. Bernard is in a very active fault in the Philippine fault zone," he said.

Berador said they would come up with a national geo-hazard mapping project that will identify all landslide-prone areas in the country. — Jasmin R. Uy/LPM