by Lovely A. Carillo
The fact that super typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng have spared the Davao Region from widespread devastation, deaths and injuries, Dabawenyos have been warned not to be too complacent from hereon, and to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
The warning came from Mines and Geo-Sciences Bureau (MGB) regional director Edilberto Arreza and Davao city council committee on cnvironment chairman Leonardo Avila III. Despite the fact that the Davao Region is out of the so-called “typhoon belt” the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) based in Davao City is on a round-the-clock monitoring of Pepeng which has maximum sustained winds of 175 kph near its center and gustiness of up to 210 kph at this writing.
There are three categories of typhoons: (a) tropical depression, which has a wind strength of 30 to 60 kilometers per hour ; (b) tropical storm, with a wind strength of 60 to 100 kph; and (c) those with a wind strength of over 100 kph. The worst that Mindanao and, in effect, the Davao Region could experience under the PAGASA advisory, are cloudy skies and scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.
Warning
The MGB has warned all geohazard-prone areas as a result of the disastrous effects of typhoon Ondoy and previous ones other new typhoons like Milenyo in 2006 and Frank in 2008.
On the other hand, Arreza said, “There are 402 landslide-prone and 503 flood-prone barangays in the Davao Region,” and that the DENR/MGB is pursuing continued awareness and preparedness by all communities on the negative impacts of natural hazards.
In line with this, MGB is urging all barangay and municipal disaster coordinating councils to develop an early warning device and system, identify evacuation areas, constantly communicate and update all pertinent agencies and communities.
“We also encourage active and community-level monitoring of flood water levels and signs of imminent mass ground movement,” Arreza said. Among the signs of that include saturated ground and seepages in areas that are not typically wet, tilted structures and trees on sloping areas and the presence of tension cracks and other mass movement signs.
Vigilance
Arreza said there is no better defense against landslides and floodings than awareness and preparedness on the part of officials as well as ordinary citizens. Thus, long-term land use planning efforts are strongly encouraged in order to eradicate the potential negative effects of natural hazards in the future.
Councilor Avila said that while the extent of the Marikina City flooding brought about by Ondoy is farfetched in so far as Davao City is concerned, Dabawenyos should not be overly complacent and must watch out for heavy and prolonged downpours which can cause floodings. “Take note of the areas where floodings occur regularly, most probably yan ang matatamaan,” he said.
Avila said Dabawenyos should be especially wary of wetlands since these are rain catchment areas. “This is nature’s way of preventing floods, but tinabunan natin ng lupa, then built houses and infrastructures on them, so, kung malakas ang ulan siyempre na hahanapin ng tubig ang natural catchment areas. Kaya babaha. Then we blame drainage etc,” he said.
Avila cited the fact that Marikina Valley had been declared unsuitable for development 32 years ago in a study; but it was set aside and Ondoy took advantage of this lapse in human judgement for all the world to see.
Avila said the city should revisit its land use plan and take the negative effects of climate change seriously as factors in development. The city’s land use plan, or the lack of it, has been blamed for incongruous results where we see restaurants at one end of a street and a funeral home on the other. The city council committee concerned is still at the stage of tweaking the land use plan to make it responsive to the city’s development needs.
“We must act now. It is urgent. We cannot be complacent and believe that we will be typhoon-free forever,” Avila added, referring to the need for a more comprehensive study of the city’s land use plan vis-a-vis climate change and the natural disasters that the country has experienced.
Avila’s committee on environment is aware of the dangers posed by climate change and has proposed several resolutions to prepare for that, including the creation of a Task Force on Climate Change. The resolution, which was proposed as long as a year ago, involves a plan of action awaiting the approval of council and the city mayor.
“The committee is supposed to meet with different sectors to improve our disaster preparedness and risk reduction in the context of climate change; the sector that will be most affected will be agriculture,” he said.
Among the most vulnerable to the immediate effects of climate change are the poor people living in risky areas like coastlines, river banks and former wetlands and rain water catchment areas. But most urgent, Avila said, is the implementation of adaptation measures.
“Climate change is here. The question is no longer when it is coming, the question is how ready are we for it,” he said.
Flood prone areas
Records obtained by Edge Davao from the council’s environment committee identified major flood prone areas in Davao City which include the following:
Low lying areas near the 61 km. coastline of the city from Lasang to Binugao;
Areas near the banks and immediate boundaries of Davao River, Talomo River, Lipadas River, Lasang River, Sasa Creek, Matina River and Bunawan River;
The lower sections of Buhangin-Cabantian area due to its basin-like topography;
The built-up areas in the Poblacion-Talomo area;
The low-lying areas and flashflood prone areas of Calinan and the steeply sloping areas in the Carmen and Marilog district areas.
Vulnerability
The documents said the vulnerability of these areas to flooding is primarily due to:
The location of subdivisions and settlements in the floodplains and near coastal zones;
Reduction in the absorptive capacity of the land due to changing land uses resulting to increased runoff;
Non-resistant structures and foundations, mostly of informal settlers in urban areas;
Loss of vegetation/concreting such as the case of the Sasa Creek flooding after the Davao International Airport development;
Erosion of sloping areas; and
Improper infrastructures like houses over canals and drainage, fences driveways which impede or constrict waterflow.
Disaster preparedness
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has directed concerned city agencies to refurbish the emergency equipment of the city as a result of global warming and the devastation of the ecology. Duterte said it is all right to spend for the equipment if only to prepare for disaster.
Duterte admitted that the city is experiencing problems in its drainage system and the city has addressed this through its waste management efforts. He said Davao has a sanitary landfill for waste disposal because it is difficult to force people to change their ways. However, he said the main problem is climate change and garbage is just an inconvenience.
Admittedly, he said, even an efficient drainage system cannot drain the city’s waters considering the bulk of garbage around.
Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc, president Simeon Marfori II, however, said what happened to Marikina and other areas cannot be entirely characterized as a result of an abnormal or freak act of nature.
“Poor drainage systems—a result of poor urban planning—have greatly contributed to the seemingly unstoppable rise in the water levels in the already water-logged residential and commercial areas,” he said. Marfori said the chamber is pushing for the improvement of the city’s drainage system to include upgrading works and the transfer of existing power and telecommunications lines underground.
But while the city council has authorized the release of P10 million to the victims of typhoon Ondoy in Manila, there is as yet no concrete move from both the executive and the legislative departments of the city to actually prepare for possible disasters in the city. Talks of buying disaster equipment have been floating around but there is as yet no paperwork for this.
The approval by Duterte last September 22 of Executive Order 22 which paved the creation of bodies that will seek protection of the watershed areas in the city is considered a step in the right direction. EO 22 allots a P5 million budget for the creation of the Watershed Multi-Partite Monitoring Teams (WMMT), the Barangay Watershed Management Council (BWMC) and the Watershed Management Council (WMC).
While the Davao Region has been spared from the wrath of Ondoy and Pepeng Dabawenyos should not leave their defenses down but should prepare for any eventuality considering that the phenomenon called climate change is expected to wipe out cities in the future if it is not understood and arrested.
