CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Governor Lilia ‘Nanay’ Pineda recently urged the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and other partner agencies for the immediate inspection and assessment of quake-hit areas in the province.
Pineda personally asked MGB Chief Geologist Noel Lacadin to conduct a ground assessment of the Aeta community settlements in the upland areas in Floridablanca and Porac town.
“We should know the state of our lands in the province so that we would know what immediate actions can be done,” Pineda said.
Based on the findings of DENR-MGB, the quake has left two landslide high-risk areas under their radar.
MGB disclosed that at least two barangays – Sitio Tagak, Barangay Nabuclod in Floridablanca and Brgy. Dias in Porac town – were placed under ‘no habitation zone’.
Lacadin furthered that these areas were placed under ‘no habitation zone’ due to very high risk to landslides.
According to Lacadin, landslide and geohazards threat advisories were already given to the respective barangay officials and Local Disaster and Risk Reduction and Management (LDRRM) officers of the concerned areas for immediate action and compliance.
“We are not depriving the Aetas from their right to stay in their ancestral lands. We reminded them that these areas were identified as no habitation zone, but they can still be used for cultivation,” Lacadin clarified.
Governor-elect Dennis ‘Delta’ Pineda, meanwhile, said he already tapped the help of the national housing agency, other partner agencies, private sectors, and stakeholders for the construction of the evacuation site for the Aetas.
Lacadin also asked officials to maximize the use of the geohazard maps for disaster management and mitigation.