By Alpine L. Killa
BONTOC, Mountain Province – Mountain “cracks”
and landslides along the Digdig Fault here threaten to bury alive villagers and
69 houses, including a “dap-ay or ato” (sacred huts), newly constructed
barangay hall and waiting shed at Barangay Gonogon.
Gov. Leonard G. Mayaen had ordered the
Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to inspect the site
following report of Sally Cherwaken of the Provincial Planning and Development
Office that Digdig Fault line traverses the village and is susceptible to
rain-induced landslide.
Data presented by Cherwaken during a Provincial
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council meeting was downloaded from the
website of Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
PDRRMO personnel led by PDRRM officer
Anacleto B. Tangilag, Sally Cherwaken and Bontoc Councilor John Tay-og Peleo recently
checked the site after Gonogon barangay captain Rudy Guitalao told them
cracks could be seen above the national road.
Below the national
road is Sitio Simbugan.
Gonogon folks said
they feared they could be buried alive if the crack widens and the landslide
continues.
Guitalao said
villagers constructed a drainage canal above all cracks to divert water flow and
prevent erosion especially during rainy
season.
However, the slope
above the national road eroded even without heavy rain.
Tangilag said the
provincial government is now coordinating with Mines and Geosciences Bureau –
Cordillera Administrative Region to conduct studies in the area to determine
cause of cracks and landslides.
He said the MGB could recommend action to prevent loss
of lives and properties if the cracks will widen and erode,
burying the houses below the national road.
Five municipalities of this province are
traversed by faultlines and epicenters with barangays susceptible to erosion as
well as flood prone areas.
This was indicated by the geo-hazard map
which bared most roads in the 10 towns of the province, except the eastern
municipality of Paracelis, were susceptible to rain- induced landslides.
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