The effects of El Niño may be felt in November or not at all.
But what’s certain is that there will be strong typhoons until December, said Engr. Oscar Tabada, PAGASA Mactan director.
“We experienced that before. Remember Ondoy? It happened at the end of the year. These typhoons will be strong. I can’t say that it will be like Yolanda but the storms will be more than 150 kilometers per hour,” said Tabada, in yesterday’s forum on Climate Change at the Marcelo B. Fernan Cebu Press center.
Tabada said the public and disaster councils should prepare for this, and that the media should be quick to inform the public when a strong storm is coming.
The forum was jointly mounted by the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas Cebu chapter and government agencies.
To help guide people about flood-prone sites, local governments are given hazard maps by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7.
DENR 7 spokesman Eddie Llamedo commended the Cebu City Government’s efforts to pressure business establishments which were sent notices of violating the three-meter easement along waterways.
“We can provide technical assistance like the actual conduct of a survey. We can delineate the contested areas along riverbanks, creeks and rivers,” Llamedo said during the forum.
The survey coordinates can be compared to the city’s approved land classification map to see whether the structures fall within the no-build, three-meter easement zone.
“Once we compare the survey results with our map, we can provide the results to the Cebu City Government showing which areas we have identified that encroached on the easement,” he added.
The DENR’s land classification map dates back to the 1970s when there were fewer establishments on the waterways.
Llamedo said this is enough basis for the local government unit to go after establishments for violating Presidential Decree No. 1067 or the Water Code of the Philippines.
If Cebu City asks their help, the DENR is ready to provide this service, he said.
The DENR, however, doesn’t have police power to go after the establishments, he sad.
“It’s up to the LGUs to determine how to use the information that we can give. This can be developed into an environment case wherein they can ask the court to issue an order to compel the establishments to demolish their encroaching structures,” Llamedo explained.
“This needs strong political will. The problem of flooding is a trans-boundary issue. Solutions should be integrated,” he added.
Llamedo said the DENR can also review the Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC) issued to business establishments.
Under Section 51 , the entire length of river banks and sea shores should remain for public use including a zone of three meters in urban areas, 20 meters in agricultural areas and 40 meters in forest areas.
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