CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) has declared at least one community at the foot of Mt. Arayat as a “permanent danger zone.” It also started more studies to find out whether more areas should be similarly declared following a landslide that killed 12 people in the zone at the height of the recent storm Ondoy.
MGB geologist Orlando Pineda told Punto he has asked local officials in Arayat to alert residents living near creeks emanating from Mt. Arayat on the danger of landslide amid unusually heavy rains being observed recently in various parts of Central Luzon.
He noted that the landslide during storm Ondoy took the path of the creek called Sapang Mayagat on the slopes of Mt. Arayat.
Mt. Arayat is a volcano whose highest peak is about 1,030 meters above sea level. However, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said it has no historical record of eruption.
“I have recommended that Purok 7 in Barangay San Juan Banyo be made a permanent danger zone,” he said, after inspected the area where a landslide buried homes and killed 12 residents in the area at about 2:30 p.m. amid heavy rains dumped by Ondoy last Sept. 26.
He said that local officials in Arayat told him that about 87 families live in Purok 7, although as much as 300 families were evacuated from the foot of Mt. Arayat after the landslide. “We will see if there is a need to consider more areas as permanent danger zones,” he added.
Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao presided the other day over a public hearing held at the provincial capitol here on the landslide tragedy. He asked the MGB to conduct further and more extensive studies on the dangers that could be posed by Mt. Arayat to areas not only in the municipality of Arayat, but also in neighboring Magalang town.
Pineda said that the provincial board which Guiao heads has asked him to finish the study by Oct. 20.
Both Pineda and volcanologist July Sabit of the Phivolcs debunked initial reports that the landslide was triggered by illegal mining on Mt. Arayat amid the claim of local folk that they heard a loud explosion before the descent of tons of earth materials.
Sabit said that the explosive sound could have been produced by descending rocks or the breakage of earth materials from a portion of Mt. Arayat.
For his part, Pineda said that mining was improbable on Mt. Arayat which, he noted, is a government protected area where guards are posted. “I think the earth on Mt. Arayat was already too water-logged and the extraordinary heavy rains dumped by Ondoy triggered the landslide,” he said.
He noted reports that water gauges in the area indicated 10 millimeters of rainfall at the time of the landslide. Seven millimeters of rainfall is already considered “heavy”, he added.
Arayat Mayor Chito Espino was reported to have already recommended a permanent relocation site for the affected families, but Pineda said that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Office for Civil Defense (OCD) will not recommend any funding for any resettlement project without the approval of the MGB to make sure that the alternative site is safe.
This, even as Pineda also confirmed that Barangays Carael and Paco which continue to be the pathway of strong currents from the Bucao river in Botolan, Zambales since storm Ondoy used the natural channel of the river.
At least 900 families from the two barangays have remained in an evacuation center in Barangay Taugtog, also in Botolan, since the dike at the Bucao river was breached during the onslaught of Ondoy. It also diverted the flow of the river through their areas towards the South China Sea.
Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz said that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has decided not to repair the dike and allow the Bucao river to flow through the channel it has virtually reclaimed in Carael and Paco at the height of Ondoy.
MGB geologist Orlando Pineda told Punto he has asked local officials in Arayat to alert residents living near creeks emanating from Mt. Arayat on the danger of landslide amid unusually heavy rains being observed recently in various parts of Central Luzon.
He noted that the landslide during storm Ondoy took the path of the creek called Sapang Mayagat on the slopes of Mt. Arayat.
Mt. Arayat is a volcano whose highest peak is about 1,030 meters above sea level. However, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said it has no historical record of eruption.
“I have recommended that Purok 7 in Barangay San Juan Banyo be made a permanent danger zone,” he said, after inspected the area where a landslide buried homes and killed 12 residents in the area at about 2:30 p.m. amid heavy rains dumped by Ondoy last Sept. 26.
He said that local officials in Arayat told him that about 87 families live in Purok 7, although as much as 300 families were evacuated from the foot of Mt. Arayat after the landslide. “We will see if there is a need to consider more areas as permanent danger zones,” he added.
Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao presided the other day over a public hearing held at the provincial capitol here on the landslide tragedy. He asked the MGB to conduct further and more extensive studies on the dangers that could be posed by Mt. Arayat to areas not only in the municipality of Arayat, but also in neighboring Magalang town.
Pineda said that the provincial board which Guiao heads has asked him to finish the study by Oct. 20.
Both Pineda and volcanologist July Sabit of the Phivolcs debunked initial reports that the landslide was triggered by illegal mining on Mt. Arayat amid the claim of local folk that they heard a loud explosion before the descent of tons of earth materials.
Sabit said that the explosive sound could have been produced by descending rocks or the breakage of earth materials from a portion of Mt. Arayat.
For his part, Pineda said that mining was improbable on Mt. Arayat which, he noted, is a government protected area where guards are posted. “I think the earth on Mt. Arayat was already too water-logged and the extraordinary heavy rains dumped by Ondoy triggered the landslide,” he said.
He noted reports that water gauges in the area indicated 10 millimeters of rainfall at the time of the landslide. Seven millimeters of rainfall is already considered “heavy”, he added.
Arayat Mayor Chito Espino was reported to have already recommended a permanent relocation site for the affected families, but Pineda said that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Office for Civil Defense (OCD) will not recommend any funding for any resettlement project without the approval of the MGB to make sure that the alternative site is safe.
This, even as Pineda also confirmed that Barangays Carael and Paco which continue to be the pathway of strong currents from the Bucao river in Botolan, Zambales since storm Ondoy used the natural channel of the river.
At least 900 families from the two barangays have remained in an evacuation center in Barangay Taugtog, also in Botolan, since the dike at the Bucao river was breached during the onslaught of Ondoy. It also diverted the flow of the river through their areas towards the South China Sea.
Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Leon Nilo de la Cruz said that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has decided not to repair the dike and allow the Bucao river to flow through the channel it has virtually reclaimed in Carael and Paco at the height of Ondoy.
