LGUs should have own rain monitoring system —MGB official

Local government units should have separate rain monitoring gauges to allow them to implement necessary measures and protect their constituents from landslides, a Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) official said Wednesday.

Guillermo  Molina Jr, chief science research specialist of MGB Region V, said the areas where landslides happened have already been identified as landslide-prone and most of them have ongoing road construction.

"Yes, merong silang rating na moderately to high. If you will observe, karamihan sa landslide nangyari sa mga may road openings like itong sa Sorsogon City may ginagawang kalsada and sa baba niyan ay dagat," he said in an interview with GMA News TV's Balitanghali.

"The same thing dito sa Tiwi, Albay, bundok po yan, nagkaroon ng road cut, ang sa baba po ay dagat and that road network tuloy tuloy patungo sa Sangay, dun na' yung barangay Patutian sa Sangay, dun din yung nagkaroon ng maraming landslide," he added.

He said the soil condition was worsened by the high amount of rainfall.

"High ang susceptibility sa landslide, mataas na mataas po 'yan. Compounded by the fact na itong nangyari napakataas ng rainfall. Sa Legazpi City, in a matter of two days, inulan, yung record na rainfall for December ng Legazpi, mga 88 percent ang inulan, a total of 462 millimeters rainfall in a matter of two days, December 28 and 29. So, malaking bagay yung rainfall na nangyari," he said.

He said local officials did not order a force evacuation because PAGASA had downgraded the typhoon warning signal.

"Ang nangyayari kasi iba ang response na ginagawa when it comes to typhoon. Kasi alam na ng tao yung typhoon signal number 1 to 4 etc. pero nag issue ang PAGASA ng yellow rainfall warning. Although nung December 29 binaba na ang typhoon signal pero malakas na malakas pa rin ang ulan. Karamihan sa nangyaring landslide is on the 29th, during the time na ibinaba na ang typhoon signal," he said.

Molina said this should prompt local government units to have their own rain monitoring system.

"Dapat ang LGU magkaroon ng separate rain monitoring per watershed kaya dapat alam na nila paano gamitin ang rain gauges na ito at sila mismo makagawa ng paraan or measures para magkaroon ng appropriate na evacuation procedure in case magkaroon ng ganitong warning," he said.

He said, at present, there were only five rainfall collecting stations in Bicol and which may give different results as what was happening in other areas.
 
"Mahirap talagang i-predict ang rainfall because kami sa Bicol we have siguro lima lang na rainfall collecting stations, so malayo ang location ng rain gauges na ito. Kasi halimbawa nangyari dito sa Legazpi, 462 millimeters ang recorded for two days, iba po yung record sa Daet, sa Sorsogon, o sa Pili, or dyan sa Sangay area. Iba po yung kondisyon d'yan," he said.

The MGB official said the rainfall monitoring system would complement the data  given to the local government units.

"'Yung ina-identify namin technically areas that are hazardous pero na-magnify 'yan nitong mga weather conditions na nangyayari, pagbabago sa weather conditions. 'Yang mga information na 'yan were already given to the LGUs," he said.

"Sila na po ang bahala na gamitin ang information from the MGB para magkaroon sila ng appropriate disaster management plans and dapat ma-implement din talaga itong management plans na ito," he added.

He said MGB teams are now going to areas affected by landslides such as in Sorsogon City; Bulan, Sorsogon; San Francisco, Legaspi; and Tiwi, Albay.

"As of now andun ang team sa Sangay, Camarines Sur, inaccesible pa pero nagkaroon na ng aerial verification with the help of Philippine Air Force. 'Yung mga tao going all around Bicol region, marami ang identified na casualties, more than 80 na," he said.

Latest tally from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council showed 85 people have been reported dead due to the onslaught of Tropical Depression Usman.