MGB declares Benguet village a danger zone

By Dexter A. See

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet — The municipal government here and the Cordillera office of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau declared Sitio Little Kibungan in Barangay Puguis here a danger zone after it claimed 75 lives during a huge mudslide that buried at least 34 structures at the height of the onslaught of Typhoon “Pepeng.”

The declaration of the village, which is located along the Pico-Lamtang road that connects to Naguilian road, as a danger zone is in compliance to order of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to forcibly relocate the residents in the community to prevent them from being put in danger to future landslides that might happen in the future.

Based on an earlier study, the MGB-CAR disclosed the Little Kibungan village was a former landslide deposit site, thus, the existence of highly fractured rock and soil formations in the area which is not advisable for habitation.

Experts revealed that the reason why the mudslide flowed to the right of the village where most of the multi-million structures were relocated was because it followed the flow of the huge volume of water that rushed from the mountain slope.

Mayor Artemio Galwan said the local government is closely working with the administration of the Benguet State University for the identification of a permanent relocation site for the affected families as well as the remaining residents so that they will be spared from whatever dangers of future landslides in the area.

BSU owns a major portion of this capital town which was declared as an area to be used for education purposes.

The remaining residents in the deadly village, Galwan said, must be relocated to a safer place because of the eminent danger caused by the declaration of the place as a danger zone.

At least 75 persons died, 11 were injured and 8 others are still missing when a huge mudslide from a barren mountain slope buried 34 structures in Little Kibungan, Puguis here at around 10 pm of October 8, 2009 which was the predicted height of Pepeng’s onslaught in Northern Luzon while it was moving to the South China Sea.