Residents of gold-rush brgy. informed of geo-hazard risks

MONKAYO, Compostela Valley, June 22 (PIA) – Residents of gold-rush Brgy. Mt. Diwata in this town were warned Thursday (June 21) of the vulnerability of the area to landslide and earthquake in a forum on geo-hazard conducted by the Directorate on Information of the National Task Force Diwalwal (NTFD).

The Program Monitoring Coordination Center (PMCC) of NTFD through the Philippine Information Agency XI endeavored to take on such activity to emphasize the risks that residents were facing while staying at the 729-hectare Brgy. Mt. Diwata declared by the government as small scale mining area.

Present during the forum were high school students and their advisers, presidents of parents-teachers association, small mining operators, wives of mining workers locally known as abanteros and barangay community workers.

Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) Information Officer Cordelia Ea discussed during the forum the vulnerability of Mt. Diwata to landslde while Science Research Assistant Eleazar Jorgio of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) discussed the vulnerability of the area to earthquake.

Interior and Local Government Regional Director Francisco Jose, 25th Infantry Battalion commanding officer Lt. Col. Cesar Molina and from Provincial Board Member Moran Tacasan also joined PIA-11 in waging the disaster mitigation campaign.

They conveyed their common concern for barangay residents to be mindful of the hazard in Mt. Diwata where most of the areas have been declared by MGB to be in high risk condition.

Mt. Diwata Punong Barangay Rodolfo Boyles in the forum expressed common sentiment of residents of their hesitance to leave the area despite constant reminders of national government agencies of the risks they are facing.

“They view it as a way of getting rid of the small scale miners and their families so that large scale miners will take their place,” he said in the vernacular.

PIA XI Regional Director Efren F. Elbanbuena  made it clear that the PMCC , the Information Directorate in particular, had no intention to cast fear among residents of Mt. Diwata nor it wanted to drive them away.

He conveyed the deep concern of the government to keep residents fully aware of the situation in their area, especially about the geo-hazards risks.

Aside from the geo-hazard risks, Elbanbuena also called the attention of barangay officials and the residents as well of the fire risk as more shanties are sprouting in the mountainous gold-rush barangay.  (PIA-11/Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)