Malacanang urged: Help relocate Benguet folk; Thousands in danger of being buried alive

By Dexter A. See

MANKAYAN, Benguet — Thousands of people are in danger of being buried alive in a wide area at Poblacion here due to recent landslides continuous sinking of grounds.

This prompted various sectors and government agencies to urged Malacanang in providing immediate assistance to relocate affected folk.

This was reported by Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan during the recent launching of the month-long activities marking the 22nd anniversary of the Cordillera Administrative Region.

The assistance by the Office of the President was also sought by Benguet officials and multi-sectoral leaders to resolve a long overdue conflict over the cause of the subsidence in Mankayan.

The gradual sinking of Poblacion poses danger especially to lives of thousands of students and pupils of the Mankayan Central School and Mankayan National High School and people residing in the place.

Studies conducted by the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Geological Science in 1975 and 1984 showed mining operation underneath the Poblacion as primary cause of the subsidence which has been going the past ecades.

But the Cordillera office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau said an existing fault line in the area, aggravated by loose rock and soil formation which allows seepage of huge volume of water is the principal cause of the sinking.

Fongwan said it is urgent for President Arroyo to step in and resolve the issue by providing funding and creating an independent technical team that would be tasked to determine the root cause of the subsidence.

It was reported that the subsidence has drastically increased to 10 meters this year.

Meanwhile, Olivia Losis, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense said OCD has already provided emergency assistance to the affected individuals and has assessed the situation in the sinking area.

These were done so people in the area could be evacuated in the coming months, she said.

She supports a move of the Benguet provincial government to seek presidential intervention in the resolution of the problem.

She also endorses the creation of an independent, fact-finding team that would resolve the controversy over the conflicting reports of the two offices on the cause of the subsidence.

Geologists here said the buildings of the public elementary and secondary schools are in danger of collapsing once the earth sinks deeper.

They cited the urgent need for the concerned government offices to provide funding for the immediate relocation of the schools.

Fongwan said the provincial and municipal governments have no sufficient fund for the commissioning of an independent study group, noting that such geological study is expensive.

He appealed to Malacanang and the concerned government agencies to provide immediate assistance in the relocation and evacuation of the thousands of people in the Poblacion.