TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan, Nov. 27 (PIA) - - The landslide that claimed 10 lives at Barangay Ruruno in Quezon Nueva Vizcaya during the typhoon “Ulysses” was attributed to the saturation of the soil caused by the excessive water brought by the series of typhoons, not of the small scale mining, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) region 2 said.
Based from the joint geohazard assessment and inspection conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and MGB, sitios Bit-ang, Balcony, Compound, and Kinalabasa are highly and critically susceptible to natural hazards such as flooding and landslide.
MGB Regional Director Mario Ancheta said regardless of the mining activity, the areas have very high susceptibility to landslide.
In September 2018, the MGB has already conducted a geohazard assessment in the areas in which the results showed that sitio Bit-Ang is highly susceptible to hazard being highly critical to flooding and landslide.
“The fatal landside was triggered by the inclement weather conditions resulting to ground saturation and eventual landslide and not due to small scale mining activity as earlier reported. The result of the assessment was presented to the community including the residents of sitio Bit-ang, Compound, Balcony, and Kinalabasa,” Ancheta said.
Ancheta was joined by DENR Regional Executive Director Gwendolyn C. Bambalan in the site inspection where the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) area of the Gold-Molybdenum Project of FCF Minerals Corporation was located.
He also added that “evacuation of the illegal settlers within the landslide prone areas should be strictly implemented.”
Ancheta also reported that despite the compensation offered by FCF, some families refused to vacate as they are not satisfied to the amount that the company offers.
The MGB geohazard study recommends for evacuation of the illegal dwellers and settlers as the area has very high susceptibility to natural hazards.
Aside from the ten casualties in the landslides which include a two-month old baby, there were also two others that were injured. – (MDCT/OTB/PIA-Cagayan with reports from Lyndee Rose S. Basilio/PIA-2)
Source: Philippines Information Agency (pia.gov.ph)
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