ILOILO CITY—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Western Visayas has warned residents of San Remigio town in Antique of possible landslides in at least five villages due to signs of movements of land mass.

The DENR’s Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) recommended the relocation of residents of two villages in the town because of imminent danger of landslides, and also put to close monitoring three others, according to a statement of the DENR Western Visayas office on Monday.

The MGB had conducted an evaluation of five villages of San Remigio, 21 kilometers northeast of the capital town of San Jose, upon the request of Mayor Elizabeth Coloso to validate signs of landslides along the Maninila River.

The MGB team found five villages prone to landslides and considered as danger zones. These are Barangays Panpanan I, Panpanan II, Sumaray, Walker and Insubuan.

It recommended that the residents, houses, schools and other structures, especially the elementary school in Barangay Panpanan I and Sitio Libudon in the village of Insubuan, to be relocated to safer places and far from creeks, rivers and mountain slopes.

The residents and structures face real danger of landslides, the DENR said.

MGB geologists also advised communities along the rivers of Maninila, Sibalom, Tipulu-an and other large creeks to prepare for evacuation in the event of heavy rains or storms.

The MGB recommended that town officials conduct continuous disaster preparedness trainings for village officials and residents.

The geologists noted that the areas considered as danger zones are rugged and mountainous with a steep slope angle and is about 4 kilometers from the West Panay Fault. This makes the area vulnerable to landslides when earthquakes occur.

The land mass of most of the town is also made of soft and porous soil and stone materials, which are prone to erosion.

The MGB has monitored landslides in September and early October this year at the headwaters of Maninila River measuring 70 meters and with debris reaching about 7,000 cubic meters.

DENR Regional Executive Director Benjamin Tumaliuan has called on all provincial and municipal government officials to review the geohazard maps provided by the MGB-DENR so that they could include these in their disaster preparedness plan.

“The experience of flooding and landslides in Quezon and Leyte were the awakeners for all of us and it would be futile to blame any agency in case of disaster because of our unconcerned attitude to the havoc of nature,” Tumaliuan said in a statement.