Planners urged to study maps of geohazards

Senator Loren Legarda INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Senate climate change chairperson Loren Legarda urged the government to require the inclusion of geohazard maps in the assessment or community planning of barangay (village), towns and provinces nationwide as part of preventive measures against disasters.

“Typhoon ‘Pablo’ has unveiled the vulnerability of our Mindanao communities to typhoons, landslides and flashfloods. Our local leaders, therefore need to appreciate how disasters are linked inextricably to the vicious cycle of poverty, socioeconomic inequality and environmental degradation,” she said in a privilege speech Wednesday afternoon.

Legarda said the use of geohazard maps would help community planners determine for example, which areas to avoid constructing houses in.

The senator warned that recurring disasters lead to economic losses.

“It is estimated that in every destructive typhoon season, we lose as much as two percent of our (gross domestic product) and further costs the country two percent for reconstruction or a combined economic setback of almost five percent a year,” she pointed out.