BAGUIO CITY — The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), still reeling from losing more than 20 of its personnel in a landslide in Natonin, Mountain Province last month, is looking for new technologies to make structures more resilient to avoid a repeat of the incident.
DPWH Secretary Mark Villar said this on Friday (Nov. 16) as he enjoined all district engineers in the country to make sure that the landslide incident which left them with a difficult lesson to learn, will not happen again.
“It’s a hard lesson for us that we have to be given the conditions na meron tayong global warming (We should take global warming into consideration) and we have to be even more aggressive in our engineering solutions kaya maghahanap po kami ng mga bagong technology para maiwasan yung mga instances ng landslide at rock slides, kailangan pa ng mas maraming engineering solutions (we will look for new technologies to avoid situations like landslides and rock slides. We need more engineering solutions),” said Villar to DPWH district engineers from all over the country during the 14th Annual National Convention of the District Engineers’ League of the Philippines at Cap Convention Center in Camp John Hay.
“What happened in Natonin is a very hard lesson for all of us and I hope it never happens again, but we should do everything in our power,” he said.
For engineers, a mistake will entail a high cost as people’s lives might be involved, Villar said. “What happened in Natonin, [the building] was constructed in hazard area, unfortunately, and there was a heavy price that was paid for that and it must never happen again,” he said.
“I ask you, for your support and vigilance to make sure that something of that nature will not happen especially under all of our watch,” Villar said, adding that they will do everything possible to prevent a repeat of the incident.
He recalled that the country was devastated by several typhoons, among them “Neneng”, “Ompong” and the most recent, “Rosita”, which have damaged thoroughfares and bridges, rendering them impassable even to pedestrians.
“We have closed five road sections to all types of vehicles due to falling rock debris, road slip, scarred bridge abutments, road collapse and mud flows. But Rosita did not only lead to 44 road closures in the Cordillera, Region 2 and 3, but caused the downfall of our engineering office in Natonin,” he noted.
Due to the tragedy, Villar said he issued a memorandum to all regional and district offices of the DPWH ordering an immediate check of all existing and future buildings with the hazard map generated by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to make sure that those still to be built would not be constructed on hazardous grounds.
He said the Mountain Province Second Engineering District Office (MPSDEO) was built on a hazardous area and he wants to know if there are other DPWH buildings in the same situation.
“I see this Natonin incident as a message to all of us and a lesson that we should all take to heart especially when it comes to natural calamities,” Villar said, adding, “it happened once, it should never happen again.”
He talked about the important role of the district engineers in making sure infrastructures in their jurisdiction are always safe and convenient for the public.
He relayed his experience when he visited Mountain Province to see the landslide site.
“Di ako nakapasok agad because there were more than 30 landslides before I can reach ground zero. It was impossible to get there by car. Nagulat nga ako paano nangyari yun 30 landslides (I was surprised how the 30 landslides happened [on the road leading to Natonin]. It was a really sad moment,” Villar said.
The DPWH had done well, done a lot of things but there remains a lot to be done, he pointed out.
“We will work with MGB (Mines and Geosciences Bureau) on hazard map,” he said.
Villar said the memorandum he issued was for the conduct of a review of all existing infrastructures and to make sure their safety is not compromised.
“I just want to reiterate to everyone how important it is to make our structures even more resilient,” he said.
“If it is discovered that the building is on a geohazard area, definitely kailangan ilipat (we need to relocate, and we will surely not build there). That is a given,” he added.
Villar also said they will not rebuild the MPSEDO in the same area. “Hindi na (never again). Maraming talagang landslide sa area na yan so naghahanap pa kami ng area na pwedeng tayuan ng DE office, definitely hindi namin ilalagay sa hazard area (we are still looking for another area where we will build the district engineering office but definitely not in a hazard area).”
He assured that all projects will undergo soil testing and that the budget for new infrastructures which will be discovered in hazard areas will be adjusted. **PNA
