Teams sent to assess Lagtang erosion

Teams from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) and the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources (PENRO) have been deployed to assess the reported soil erosion in Sitio Taguib in Barangay Lagtang, Talisay City.

Julius Regner, PDRRMO information officer, said the teams will look into the hazards posed by the soil movements in the area.

Regner said that the area was earlier identified by City DRRMO Alvin Santillana as susceptible to landslides.

“We will look into the cause of the erosion since there is also a quarry operation in the area. We will also look into the situation of the residents living near the area,” Regner said in Cebuano.

He said there were at least 60 households that were temporarily evacuated to the barangay covered court after rocks and soil started to slide since the last week of September.

Regner added that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB-7) has also inspected the area but no assessment has been submitted yet.

More areas in Naga to be assessed

Meanwhile, the Naga City government is planning to have more areas in the city to be assessed by the MGB to determine their susceptability to landslides.

This after Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said on Monday during an ambush interview that they are looking into two quarry sites in Barangays Cogon and Tagjaguimit.

“There are two quarry operators somewhere… Papupuntahin ko ang MGB to (conduct a) test. There is a possibility sssss(the landslide),” said Cimatu.

Naga City Mayor Kristine Vanessa Chiong has tagged the two operators as Quarry Ventures Philippines Inc., (QVPI), in Barangay Tagjaguimit, and JLR Construction and Aggregates Inc., (JLR) in Barangay Cogon.

These two quarry firms reportedly resumed their operations after the MGB central office lifted the ban on quarrying operations.

“Further assessment just to side of caution and safety,” Chiong clarified.

Marian Codilla, information officer of MGB-7, said that they have yet to receive a directive from the central office to conduct another assessment for the two quarry sites.

During Monday’s geological assessment, geologist Liza Manzano characterized Naga city’s soils as made up mostly of highly porous and water soluble limestones.

It also found three new subsurface flows, which may cause further instability and downsloping of the landslide debris, with its directions leading to the Apo Land and Quarry Corp., and portions of Barangays Pangdan and Naalad.

Manzano added that man-made activities like diverting natural drainages and changing natural land formations may have also contributed to the weakening of Naga City’s landscape.