An official of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau 11 (MGB 11) on Tuesday disclosed that the agency has assessed the two relocation sites for the Masara landslide victims in Maco, Davao de Oro.
On February 6, 2024, a landslide struck Barangay Masara in Maco wherein the death toll reached almost a hundred and thousands of residents were affected.
Beverly Mae Brebante, Regional Director of MGB 11, said the identified sites were located in Barangay Panibasan and Barangay Calabcab of the said municipality.
“Regarding the two relocation sites in Maco, specifically in Panibasan and Calabcab, eto na po yung dalawang sites that were assessed to be potential during our initial assessment. When we say potential, puwede siyang i-develop, subject to further assessment in the conduct of an engineering, geological and geohazard assessment para po malaman natin kung ano pa ang kailangan na i-implement na mitigating measures kasi these areas are prone to flooding,” Brebante said during the Kapihan sa Bagong Pilipinas on July 16, 2024.
Brebante said that the two sites were assessed as low to high susceptibility to flooding and low susceptibility to landslides.
She also said that the geohazards can be mitigated.
“Hindi po natin maiiwasan here in Davao Region (ang flooding). Ang ating region has vast plains, maraming patag, but it is dissected by several creeks and rivers. So naturally po ang ating region ay bahain talaga. It is just classified into different categories from low to very high. Ito pong dalawa, these are between low to high susceptibility to flooding but low to landslides, so puwede naman po nating mamitigate itong mga geohazard na ito,” Brebante said.
Based on the MGB report, the local government unit has proposed 28 sites for assessment, and of which, 14 were already assessed as potential sites for development.
