Lahar-risk villages in Albay need to be relocated

THE PHILIPPINE Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) has recommended the relocation of thousands of families living in lahar and mudflow paths around Mayon Volcano after completing its lahar risk assessment mapping. 

Paul Alanis, Phivolcs resident volcanologist, on Friday said recommended for relocations are residents of villages of Travesia (seven sub-villages), San Francisco (one sub-village), and San Rafael in Guinobatan; Tumpa (four sub-villages) in Camalig; Busay (three sub-villages) in Daraga; Bantayan (four sub-villages) and Quinastillohan (Purok 7) in Tabaco City.

Alanis, in an interview, added the recommendation was submitted to Albay Governor Al Francis Bichara for his consideration and appropriate action.

The agency risk assessment was to determine the magnitude of lahar and volcanic deposits after typhoons Quinta, Rolly, and Ulysses struck Bicol, leaving several people dead in Albay and hundreds of houses, agriculture, and infrastructure destroyed due to flooding and lahar avalanche.

Cedric Daep, Albay Public Safety Emergency and Management Office (APSEMO) chief, said he had consulted with the mayors of the affected towns and other local chief executives.

He said the mayors were agreeable to the relocation plan, however, other town executives have added other villages prone to lahar but not included in the Phivolcs recommendation.

In preparation for the relocation plan, Daep said the province has tapped the support of the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) to assist the province to do a digitalized satellite mapping to determine the suitable areas where thousands of families would be relocated and define medium and low-risk lahar and flood control structures.

Daep said the UNDP project, which would take six months to complete, would start after a signing of a memorandum of understanding.

Meanwhile, the province will coordinate with the National Housing Authority (NHA) and start scouting for ideal relocation sites.

Phivolcs assessment showed that as of March 2018, there are 65 million cubic meters of volcanic debris (lahar and rock boulders) emitted by Mayon Volcano in past eruptions still deposited at the volcano’s slopes.

Phivolcs Lahar data indicate 171 villages around the volcano’s slopes and river channel are high-risk areas for lahar and mudflows, 72 villages are prone to lava flow while 40 villages are threatened by pyroclastic blasts.

There are also houses in the 31 villages in the towns of Malilipot, Guinobatan, Camalig, Bacacay, and Sto. Domingo, and the cities of Legazpi and Tabaco situated within the six-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ).

After the last volcanic eruption in 2018, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Bicol was tasked to do a survey for purposes of relocating the number of houses and individuals engage in farming inside the PDZ.

Daep said the office is still waiting for the DENR survey and recommendation. (By Mar Serrano)