Bontoc folk told to leave risk area

BAGUIO CITY—An upland community has been told to leave the slopes of an unstable hill in Mountain Province capital, Bontoc, after it was classified by government geologists as a potential danger zone.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) informed Mountain Province Gov. Leonard Mayaen on Thursday that he must find a relocation site for over 100 households of Sitio Khefa in Samoki village which reside below a hill where rockfall has become frequent.

Benigno Cesar Espejo, MGB Cordillera supervising geologist, said the rocks alone have become a danger to the houses below the hill. An examination of the area detected “tension cracks” and other signs of a “progressive complex landslide.”

The MGB, an attached agency of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, was asked by the Mountain Province government to determine the extent of the instabilities in the area.

“Active rockfall was noted directly above the residential areas,” the MGB report said, stressing “the possible occurrence of debris avalanches is not a remote possibility since the basic factors [attending ground instability] such as active landslides, gullying (a deep hole created by run-off rainwater), [and] slide deposits…are [observed] in the area.”

Espejo said relocation is his agency’s proposal to Mayaen, “although we have no power to enforce this. The decision is solely made by the local government.”

He said the sitio must be properly informed about the risks they take living below the unstable hill. “As a precaution, the families must leave their homes each time strong rain falls in the area,” he said.

Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon

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