‘Mushrooming communities’ inside Mega Dike not safe: Phivolcs (Sun.Star, Friday, November 02, 2007)

‘Mushrooming communities’ inside Mega Dike not safe: Phivolcs

By Ian Ocampo Flora

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has given a stern warning to local officials about the danger posed by “irregular” water flow within the dike area to “mushrooming communities” inside of the Mega Dike.

After the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo that devastated major areas of the province, there has been a steady return of former communities inside the Mega Dike, especially in Barangay San Antonio in Bacolor town and Manibaug-Pasig in Porac town.

According to Perla delos Reyes, officer-in-charge of the Phivolcs Geology Division, these areas may become potential “disaster areas” to be hit by lahar and flood coming from the Pinatubo slopes since the communities rest inside the direct route of the lahar flow.

“The Mega Dike was designed to hold enough spans for lahar flow. The direction of water inside the dike is irregular, if it had silted its previous route, it may change course and may hit the communities that are within the course of the water flow,” delos Reyes said during a recent briefing with deputized disaster officers from various towns of Pampanga.

Delos Reyes added that it would be difficult to relocate the people within these communities since they have already built permanent structures within the dike area.

“The only solution now that we see is for local government units in these areas to set up community-based Early Warning Devices (EWDs) so that communities inside the Mega Dike may take immediate action,” she said, adding that the local officials in the areas should set up their EWDs soon.

Reports from local officials show that the communities in Barangay San Antonio in Bacolor and Manibaug-Pasig in Porac have bounced back from their previous states with their populations deriving livelihood from sand-made products and farming along the banks of the dike. This provides easy access to sand that is turned into construction materials.

The “booming” quarry industry is also pointed out as one of the reasons in the fast population recovery in San Antonio with its populace building permanent structures and even reconstructing their church despite the eminent threat of disaster.

Bacolor Mayor Romeo Dungca raised earlier alarms on the massive silting of the Gugu dike, which may pose as potential problem on the safety of residents near the area. The Capitol conducted desilting operations but these methods would seem to prove as a temporary solution to a recurring problem.