‘Release logs for Dingalan folk’s homes’

DINGALAN, Aurora — "Parang nakahain na sa amin, pero hindi naman makain (It’s like food already served, but we cannot eat it)."

This was how Dingalan Mayor Jaime Ylarde described the fate of his town amid the shortage of housing materials for relocating thousands of villagers still endangered by flash floods and landslides.

This, despite some two million board feet of logs being kept by the government-owned Natural Resources Development Corp. (NRDC) at a compound here.

Ylarde said all 11 barangays in his town, which was devastated by flash floods and landslides late last year, are still threatened by these natural calamities.

In fact, the provincial government has declared one of the barangays, Paltik, a "no man’s land."

Ylarde said the impounded logs were among those washed down from the Sierra Madre mountains in last year’s killer floods.

The NRDC stocked the logs at the privately owned Yama compound here and are now reportedly rotting, according to Ylarde.

He said the villagers could use the logs to build new homes in safer areas, adding that some 20,000 Dingalan residents live in areas exposed to flash floods and landslides.

"The local folk have become aware of the danger facing them this rainy season and scores have built makeshift houses on higher ground, but most of the structures are rather skeletal because of lack of materials," he said.

Last year’s flashfloods and landslides totally destroyed some 1,000 houses, he said.

"I have sent several appeals to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) so that local folk can make use of these logs possessed by the NRDC, but I have not received any response," Ylarde lamented.

Ylarde said the villagers were permitted to gather only the logs still scattered around.

"The problem is that only a few logs could still be gathered since most of them are buried deep in last year’s landslides," he said.

He said he has also personally sought the help of the National Disaster Coordinating Office (NDCC), which, in turn, merely referred the matter to the DENR.

"There is a need to relocate virtually all the (residents) of my town. This will take time and we cannot afford it on our own. We are still reeling from the effects of the devastation last year. Most of our farms remain buried by sand mixed with rocks," he said.

Ylarde echoed the findings of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) that all 11 barangays in his town, including the poblacion (town proper) where the municipal hall is located, face severe danger from flash floods and landslides since the surrounding rivers and creeks are now heavily silted.

MGB officials met with Ylarde last week and urged him to install rain gauges in his town.

"There should be immediate evacuation once the gauges indicate rainfall of 100 millimeters," MGB geologist Orlando Pineda said.

Heavily silted are Langawan, Paltik, and Waterpoint rivers in the north, and the Matawe, Malakanigas and Ibunas rivers in the south.

Last year’s flash floods also widened and heavily silted the Suksuk and Yapi creeks, he said.

Ylarde said most areas considered safe for relocation are privately owned, though.

He thanked some landowners who donated lands for resettlement projects.

He cited lawyer Romeo Roxas, who donated some 12.5 hectares in Barangay Karagsakan where some 67 "raw houses" for displaced folk are now being built.

Ylarde said he is eyeing some 100 hectares in the upland section of Barangay Tanauan for resettlement.

"We need a new community," he said, adding that he would seek the help of President Arroyo to fund relocation projects, including the purchase of privately owned lots in safe areas.

"If need be, I think that expropriation proceedings should be initiated if landowners refuse to help us in our relocation problem," he added.

Ylarde said the municipal government has been getting a lot of assistance from Sen. Eduardo Angara, his sister, Aurora Gov. Bellaflor Angara, the Kawad Kalinga Foundation, the Philippine National Red Cross, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, other government agencies, and private individuals and groups.

More help, however, is needed in terms of livelihood, he said.

"At present, farmers who have lost their farms resort to gathering forest materials washed down by the landslides so they can make them into charcoal. We have regular charcoal buyers," he said.

From this time of the year until February or March, he said fishermen usually cannot go fishing because their small boats cannot cope with the rough seas.