THE OFFICE of the Civil Defense (OCD) XI calls for the national government to push for a law concerning land use dispositions to mitigate the danger brought by landslides in some parts of the country due to disaster.
During the Kapihan forum on Feb. 19, Ednar Dayanghirang, OCD XI regional director, said the risk associated with landslides is now a national concern and scientific studies of land given by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) must be enforced legally.
“I think we should be moving forward towards strategic solutions to local issues, kay national man ang scope ani. That will sustain the resiliency, we are recommending a law to put teeth in these scientific data provided to us by our partner MGB,” Dayanghirang said.
Republic Act no. 10121 is an act “strengthening the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System,” which boosts “the country’s institutional capacity for disaster risk reduction and management and building the resilience of local communities to disasters including climate change impacts.”
However, Dayanghirang revealed the law did not specifically cover the prevention and mitigation of landslide-caused activities, as it only focuses more on the community’s resilience.
“This landslide agenda, wala siya’y ngipon nga naa sa RA no. 10121 o ginasulti nato nga penalty. If it is a national law, then anyone could file a case, kung agrabyado ang usa ka tao, mag-file og kaso, then the court will decide, and then who gets penalized. Mahadlok ang tao, then mulikay nata ana,” he said.
According to him, one of the reasons why people reside in one place is “not because of the habitat, but usually because of the livelihood in the area. “
We have to have a law. Labi na karon nga dagha’g namatay. We are not living towards resilience kung mag-ordinance lang ta. We have to look at it as a national agenda,” he added.
Capter John Tubo, MGB XI senior supervising geologist, said the country needs a law that mandates land use utilization, particularly those identified as “danger zones.”
“This is a challenge for us in the Philippines, especially because the country is tectonically and climatologically active, so lisod jud siya. This is a land use problem, so there is really a need for a law in terms of land use disposition and how to utilize it. I think isa na siya sa way para ma-resolve ang kini nga issue,” Tubo said.
Dayanghirang added the Masara landslide in Maco, Davao de Oro, is now in the early recovery stage.
