ILOILO — Expect landslides. This was the warning from local officials as Miag-ao town entered the rainy season with several upland areas under heightened monitoring, acknowledging that road-blocking landslides have become an annual challenge in the municipality’s mountainous villages.
The local government has mobilized heavy equipment, intensified road maintenance, and activated barangay disaster response mechanisms as it prepares for what officials described as a recurring threat that could cut off access to remote communities and tourist destinations.
The municipality has been implementing road improvement projects in landslide-prone areas to reduce the impact of heavy rains and keep roads passable.
“Some roads have already been concreted to lessen the occurrence of landslides. However, there are still areas that have yet to be paved, so we continue to repair them by adding gravel, grading, compacting, and maintaining them to keep all barangays accessible,” said Mayor Richard Garin.
Landslides are expected every rainy season, he added, particularly along mountainous roads leading to upland attractions.
“Especially along the road leading to Tinagong Dagat. Since these roads were carved into the mountainside, soil from elevated slopes can easily slide down and block the road whenever there is heavy rain,” Garin explained.
Among the municipality’s priority areas is the road section before Barangay Tigmalapad, a key route to Tinagong Dagat that has historically been vulnerable to erosion and landslides.
To ensure roads can be cleared quickly, the municipality has positioned its own heavy equipment for immediate deployment – grader, backhoe, loader, and trucks.
Aside from maintaining barangay roads, these equipment allow local authorities to respond immediately whenever roads need to be cleared and made passable.
The municipal government has also activated disaster preparedness measures at the barangay level, with village officials undergoing annual training and maintaining close coordination with municipal authorities.
Barangay officials undergo training every year and are aware that they have to report incidents immediately so that we can act as soon as possible.
While the municipality coordinates with the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Iloilo provincial government during major incidents, Garin said local officials often undertake immediate clearing and response operations themselves.
“The good thing is that our people still have a strong bayanihan spirit. They help each other whenever there is a need, and that makes a big difference in our disaster response efforts,” he said./PN
