Over the past few days, the deadly landslide in Davao de Oro has hogged the headlines. Rescue teams extended their efforts to find survivors, while preparing to shift gears to the retrieval of the remains of those who were killed. According to the DENR-MGB, the site of the latest lethal landslide is a no-build zone. Evidently, it was a disaster in the offing, considering that human settlements were allowed to thrive despite the inherent perils. The “lure of gold” has been cited as the magnet that has attracted giant mining firms and small-scale miners. The irony is, “As they dig gold, they are also digging their own graves.”
Who’s responsible for seeing to it that such deplorable situation would not materialize or recur?
In discharging its primary responsibility, the DENR has established an Environmental Law Enforcement and Protection Service (ELEPS). A quick review of DENR Administrative Order 2021-28 issued by then Secretary Roy Cimatu shows that the ELEPS is tasked with enforcing 14 terrestrial laws, including the Mining Act and the Forestry Code; six Coastal Marine and Aquatic Resources laws; one Aerial Law; and five other Environment and Natural Resources Laws.
Clearly, there are not enough forest rangers and other environment law enforcement officers who could patrol and protect the country’s expanse of forests, mountains, and waterways. They need to be supported by the regular law enforcers namely, the men and women of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Yet, what is most crucial is effective governance at the municipal and barangay level.
This brings into focus an instructive case study provided on one of the world’s worst landslides that occurred in 2006 in Barangay Guinsaugon, St. Bernard, a fourth-class Southern Leyte municipality. A case study summary was published through the Strengthening Climate Resilience program for the 2010 SCR Regional Consultation in Bangkok, Thailand.
The disaster toll briefly: At least 1,000 people buried alive; 28 injured, and 410 registered survivors. Two out of three people residing in Guinsaugon perished. Guinsaugon and the adjacent Barangay Sug-angon have since been relocated near the coast.
Post-disaster hazard assessments conducted by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) and the MGB revealed that 70 percent of St. Bernard’s total land area is highly vulnerable to disasters.
St. Bernard strengthened its resilience through capacity building projects, regular flood- tsunami-landslide-earthquake drills, prioritizing disaster preparedness in the Executive-Legislative agenda, small-scale and non-structural mitigation projects, and installing Early Warning Systems, among many other interventions. Mobilizing support from a multi-sectoral coalition – including CARE Philippines; GTZ; the Philippine National Red Cross; and Plan Philippines, among others – St. Bernard implemented a comprehensive disaster risk reduction and mitigation program.
In 2008, barely two years after the disaster struck, St. Bernard received the Gawad Kalasag Award, an annual Presidential Award given to the LGU which has the most exemplary Disaster Coordinating Council and for having the best Contingency Plan and Disaster Preparedness/Disaster Risk Reduction Management Program in the country – a model truly worthy of emulation.