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[av_heading heading=’Ground cracks displace Tapaz IPs ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY GLENDA SOLOGASTOA
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ILOILO City – Huge cracks on the ground prompted 64 families, mostly indigenous peoples (IPs), in Sitio Laugan, Barangay Aglinab, Tapaz, Capiz to abandon their houses.
The local government of Tapaz ordered the evacuation upon the recommendation of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and the provincial and municipal disaster risk reduction and management offices.
The cracks were as wide as 8 feet, with a depth of 4 feet and stretched to some 100 feet.
According to Teresita “Nay Angging” Gayas, an IP leader in Sitio Laugan, the ground cracks started appearing last month.
In September, villagers felt two pronounced ground tremors, Gayas revealed. She also recalled heavy rains battering the area beginning Oct. 16.
Two months before the cracks appeared, a 5.4-magnitude earthquake struck Panay Island. The Aug. 15 tremor’s epicenter was in Valderrama town in adjacent Antique province. The tremor was generated by the active West Panay fault line.
Sitio Laugan, an ancestral domain of the IPs, is estimated to be just 15 kilometers from the active known fault.
Gayas, however, believed drilling activities near their village may have contributed, too, to the ground movement.
The National Irrigation Administration (NIA) plans to build a dam at Pan-ay River, specifically in Sitio Garo, Barangay Acuña which is several kilometers away from Sitio Laugan.
The drillings were part of the feasibility study of NIA for the dam.
The IPs strongly oppose the proposed dam, according to Gayas.
HOUSES, FARMS AFFECTED
The ground cracks affected their farming activities on some 10 hectares of land and caused the tilting of houses, said Gayas.
Displaced villagers set up makeshift houses on the boundary of Sitio Laugan and the barangay proper.
No relocation site was provided to the families, said Gayas.
As leader of the IP families in their village, Gayas said she already brought their concern to Tapaz’s Mayor Roberto Palomar, who in return promised to give P5,000 cash assistance to each family affected.
FROM MODERATE TO VERY HIGH
MGB regional director Leo Van Juguan said a team led by a geologist from Phivolcs recently went to Sitio Laugan to conduct an assessment.
MGB previously classified Sitio Laugan as moderately susceptible to landslides but Juguan said they may have to revise the classification.
“Basta may reported landslide, we do a reassessment of concerned areas. In the case of Sitio Laugan, we may need to update our geohazard map of the area due to these recent ground movements,” said Juguan.
From moderately susceptible, the area may be reclassified to either having high or very high susceptibility to landslides, he said.
The whole Tapaz town itself is considered “highly prone to landslides”, according to an MGB report.
According to MGB, areas classified as “highly and moderately susceptible to landslides” should be vacated especially during the rainy season.
NOT FIT FOR DAM, MINING?
“It is clear now that indeed our area is not fit for mega dams and mining. We also don’t want our lands submerged in water. This will cost us our lives and livelihood,” said Marevic Aguirre, chairperson of TUMANDUK, an organization of IPs in Panay.
She warned that “the situation in Sition Laugan could just be the tip of the iceberg.”
“When the drillings continue and the dam is erected, many more communities shall suffer the same,” Aguirre said.
The entry of mining activities will also adversely affect IP lands, she added.
“Mining itself will directly wipe out our villages and will contaminate our water sources,” said Aguirre./PN
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