Rama signs EO on mechanism against landslides

Quarry, earth-moving activities in Cebu City suspended

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama signed during a press conference on Thursday, November 3, 2022, a new executive order, EO no. 13 series of 2022, called “Oplan Likay sa Landslide.”| Wenilyn B. Sabalo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government on Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, has ordered the suspension of quarry and other earth-moving activities in the city, particularly in its upland barangays.

This was after Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama signed his Executive Order (EO) No. 13 series of 2022 dubbed as the “Oplan Likay sa Landslide.”

The EO establishes a mechanism for the prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, rehabilitation, and management of landslide incident prone areas in the city.

It also creates a special task force to focus on the matter.

Rama’s issuance of the EO came days after massive landslide struck Sitio Garaje in Barangay Busay and Barangays Sirao, Bonbon, and Malubog resulting to damage to properties.

READ: Landslide displaces 39 individuals in Busay, Cebu City

Under the mayor’s EO, the Cebu City Mining Regulatory Board will enforce the suspension of permits and operation of quarry and earth-moving activities in the city’s upland areas.

“The lifting of the suspension is subject to the evaluation of the current geological condition of the city’s 30 upland barangays, and recommendation by the Special Task Force,” reads a portion of the EO.

In an emergency meeting called last Oct. 31 at the mayor’s office, initial geo-hazard studies presented by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau-Region 7 Office indicated that several upland barangays of the city were highly susceptible to landslides.

With this, the city government acknowledged that there was a pressing need for a comprehensive and focused approach to address the “persistent” landslides in the upland barangays.

Through the recently signed EO, the city government will adopt a “holistic” mechanism in addressing the hazards of landslides.

These solutions range from planning, engineering solutions, housing and resettlement solutions, disaster prevention, and mitigation and rehabilitation.

Under the Housing Resettlement Solutions, the city government maintained that a Local Shelter Plan and a Housing Resettlement Masterplan must be jointly formulated and implemented for the affected residents or structure owners, in consonance with the geo-hazard studies of mountain barangays highly susceptible to landslides.

While under the Disaster Prevention solution, the city will conduct an inventory of all structures/drainage systems built or erected within 30 upland barangays initially determined by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau-7 as highly susceptible to landslides.

These are barangays Banilad, Budlaan, Busay, Babag, Bonbon, Malubog, Pung-ol Sibugay, Sirao, Pulangbato, Guba, Mabini, Binaliw, Agsungot, and Sinsin.

The concerned agencies, such as the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office is also tasked to verify compliance of the National Building Code and other requirements, such as soil testing and/or geo-technical studies prior to construction.

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