Press Release
September 11, 2008

Loren bats for creation, immediate dissemination of geo-hazards maps

Senator Loren Legarda yesterday batted for the creation of geo-hazards maps of the entire archipelago to identify areas exposed to potential danger in the face of stormy weather.

The geo-hazards maps, according to Legarda, will have to be disseminated at once all over the Philippines so that local governments could immediately put into action contingency measures to mitigate the effects of climate change.

"The urgency of the situation calls for all of us to exert concerted effort to avoid incident such as those that happened in Compostela Valley," Legarda said.

The government, through the Department of Enviroment and Natural Resources (DENR), has in the past already come up with the geo-hazards maps in some provinces, including areas in Brgy. Umingan, Alimondian in Panay, Southern Leyte, as well as Compostela Valley.

"With the weather in constant shifts, our country should have been ready for any eventuality, so much so that we have not tended our garden properly," Legarda lamented.

"How I wish that we don't return to complacency after every disaster, but I fear we will. Unless we get serious about our ways and dealings with Mother Earth, disasters will continue unabated," she warned.

The latest tropical storm to visit the country -- 'Marce' - did not actually hit the land, and yet it left a trail of devastation in agricultural products, while triggering heavy floods and mudslides.

The most horrible was that which happened in Compostela Valley where mud and boulders cascaded down on communities in barangays Masara and Maiinit.

As of yesterday, landslide death toll rose to 24, with scores more still missing, as the search and recovery operations continued in the affected areas in Maco.

According to Legarda, the authorities should not only identify dangerous areas, but should also force their dwellers to evacuate for good.

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