Landslide early warning system in Balamban

PB authorizes gov to sign pact 

CEBU, Philippines - A monitoring system that can detect various signs of an impending landslide is set to be established in a landslide-prone mountain barangay in Balamban town.

The Cebu Provincial Board yesterday authorized Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), University of the Philippines, and the local governments of Balamban and Barangay Gaas for the testing of the landslide early warning system.

The project will provide “highly accurate and timely” landslide warning and information, develop “cost effective” landslide monitoring and early warning system, and empower partner institutions to lead in reducing risks from landslide.

“Gaas community will benefit from the project by means of having a landslide early warning system that may help save lives,” read part of the PB resolution sponsored by Board Member Celestino Martinez III.

The development came amid ongoing preparations for the predicted La Niña phenomenon during the second half of the year.

Under the MOU, UP holds the Intellectual Property Rights over the landslide sensors which will be installed in identified sites. The province, municipality of Balamban and Barangay Gaas, on the other hand, are tasked to provide logistical and operations support for the local community.

The project is part of the government’s Development and Deployment of Early Warning System for Deep-Sealed Catastrophic Landslides and Slope Failures (DEWS-L) Program. Cebu was among the provinces in the country selected as sites for the landslide early warning system, which Phivolcs funded.

According to Up Wireless website, the landslide monitoring system was initially deployed on a slope in La Trinidad, Benguet in October 2010, the same year that the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-7 identified Gaas as “highly susceptible” to landslides.

A rating of “high” is given when there is a presence of active and/or recent landslides, presence of numerous and large tension cracks that would directly affect the community, areas with drainages that are prone to landslides damming, and steep slopes.

In 2014, hundreds of Gaas residents had to evacuate due to several tension cracks brought about by a non-stop rain for two weeks.  (FREEMAN)