The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) called on all local government units (LGUs) to strictly enforce the “no man’s land” rule in permanent danger zones to prevent loss of human life during flashfloods and landslides.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said that local officials’ political will is crucial to disaster prevention.

“We really have a strong coordination with the LGUs, but we think the LGUs must have the political will to evacuate and, even at the worst scenario, force the evacuation in certain areas or communities that are within permanent danger zones,” Paje said.

Paje said that several portions of New Bataan town in Compostela Valley province, which was hardest hit by Typhoon Pablo (International codename: Bopha), are categorized as permanent danger zones, owing to widespread small-scale mining activities. These are also considered watershed areas.

The Environment chief noted that LGUs have been repeatedly requested to enforce the no man’s land policy within permanent danger zones despite the refusal by residents to vacate the mining site in fear of losing their livelihood.

“As I’ve mentioned, it’s not only an environment issue; it’s also a poverty issue. People would dismiss warnings and say ‘We’re fine here because we have something to eat or we have money to buy us food,’ even if it’s very risky,” Paje said.

“But we would like to protect their lives; and if possible give them other sources of livelihood so that we can take them out of these permanent danger zones. This is why we are making these maps. They are to be used not only for planning, but to save lives,” he added.

The massive devastation following the onslaught of Pablo, Paje said, should prompt LGUs to review and carefully study the geohazard maps.

Earlier, the department has distributed to 42,000 barangays nationwide close to 70,000 copies of the geohazard maps with a scale of 1:50,000.

The maps, Paje said, can also be viewed on the websites of the DENR (www.denr.gov.ph), the Mines and Geosciences Bureau ( www.mgb.gov.ph),  the Philippine Information Agency (www.pia.gov.ph) and the Environmental Science for Social Change (www.essc.org.ph). The Mines bureau is also completing maps on a more detailed scale of 1:10,000.

On the Mines bureau geohazard maps, landslide-prone areas are marked red and flood-prone areas are marked purple.

Paje said that the municipality of New Bataan, particularly Brgy. Andap, was inside the purple marking, meaning it was “highly susceptible to flashfloods.”

He said that the area of the village hall and gym, where evacuees were temporary sheltered when flashfloods swamped them, was actually marked purple on the geohazard map.

“Brgy. Andap, particularly the village hall and gym, is right beside the river. The people who were evacuated thought that area was safe and secure. However, these structures were washed away by the floods. That’s the reason why the casualty in Brgy. Andap is the highest,” Paje explained.

Mines Director Leo Jasareno said that based on the 2006 geohazard assessment, 25 percent of Compostela Valley was considered high risk for landslides, while 23 percent was high risk for flooding.

He said that in New Bataan, 38 percent of the barangays were highly prone to landslides and another 44 percent to flooding, while more than 60 villages in the province outside New Bataan are considered landslide-prone.