DENR To Mayors, Barangay Chiefs: Implement Geohazard Maps

Environment officials are calling on local chief executives to implement the geohazard maps for disaster management.

In the recent Kapihan sa PIA held at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-7), the department’s geologists announced that they had already completed geohazard maps of all local governemnt units (LGUs) in Central Visayas.

it is now up to the mayors and barangay captains to put these into use as reference on their disaster risk reduction management program, said Ma. Elena Lupo, Supervising Geologist of the Mines and Geo Sciences Bureau of DENR-7.

“We call on them to use these for disaster mitigation other than their Comprehensive Land Use Plan,” Lupo said.

She said they are already done with all the landslide and flood hazard maps of LGUs down to the barangay level in Region 7.

She said these maps are already detailed in the 1:1000 scale.

“The 1:10000 scale is more accurate and specific compared with the 1:50000 scale we released in 2014,” Lupo said.

On the other hand, Al Emil Berador, Chief Geologist of Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB-7), said they are also starting with the Coastal and Subsidence Coastal Mapping.

Coastal Geohazard mapping include close assessment of terrains and land formations within the coasts while subsidence maps determines presence and degrees of sinkholes.

“The local chief executives are already informed about the hazard areas, so it is now up to them to disseminate and implement these,” Berador said.

In fact, they said that part of the program is also the Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) campaign where exit conferences are conducted upon the furnishing of the geohazard maps.

As of press time, MGB-7 already made IEC activities in 375 barangays in the municipalities including the 19 Yolanda-affected towns in Cebu.

IEC include the exit conference and the distribution of collateral such as brochures, posters and videos.

In 2010, President Benigno Aquino III signed into law the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act which include the conduct and completion of hazard maps in all LGUs.

The geohazard maps are now accessible and downloadable from four government websites, namely: DENR (www.denr.gov.ph), MGB (www.mgb.gov.ph), Philippine Information Agency (www.pia.gov.ph), and Environmental Science for Social Change (www.essc.org.ph). (rmn/fcc/PIA7-Cebu)