The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has recommended that the areas in sitios Manaol and Santos-Santos in Barangay Quintin Remo, Moises Padilla, that were affected by slow moving landslides be declared high risk/danger zones and no build zones.
The MGB submitted their findings and recommendations to Mayor Ella Garcia-Yulo on Monday, October 10.
Yulo had asked Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. to send a geologist to the area to assess the extent of the danger posed by new fissures or cracks on the ground to guide them in their plans to ensure the safety of residents.
In the recommendation submitted by Leilanie Suerte, MGB supervising geologist in Western Visayas, she said movement in these areas are continuous at varying speed and no amount of engineering intervention could stop the slow moving landslides.
She said that warning signs and notices declaring the delineated areas as high risk/danger zones and no build zones must be placed at the access roads or strategic locations going to these sites.
She stressed that houses and all residents of these areas must be relocated away from these zones to safer areas.
The area may be declared and used as an agricultural zone, she added.
She said the ground movement in the two sitios can be considered as an active creeping, or slow moving, landslide, which is unnoticeable on a daily basis since it only moves a few millimeters per day during dry conditions and a few centimeters to a meter during saturated conditions.
There is a possibility that the flow could be rapid when triggered by a strong earthquake, like the Guihulngan landslide, or continuous heavy rainfall, she said.
At least 18 houses and structures were identified to be within the area of the moving mass, she added.
Earlier, the municipal government had asked the affected residents to preemptively evacuate for their safety.*