Inform the people...

Rainy season has come and typhoons find their way to hit our country. It was only this month when typhoon Florita hit Baguio and left damages to life and property. One of its way of destruction is inducing landslides.

Baguio city, as we all know, is vulnerable to landslides because of its geological structure. However, one must know what the safe or dangerous places are in the city.

In this week's issue of Baguio Midland Courier, one of its stories entitled "More Landslides Forecasted" has mentioned about the geo-hazard areas in Baguio. The writer repeatedly stated about the "identified" geo-hazard areas in the city. However, I noticed that he didn't even named at least one or two of these geo-hazard areas. I, then, ask what are these geo-hazard areas the writer talked about?

I tried to answer my own question as I do a requirement in one of my journ classes-- to report on environmental news. I wrote a report on the geo-hazard areas in Baguio city. I went to the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the DENR and asked for a list of landslide-prone areas in Baguio city. They provided the list together with a map which determines how an area is susceptible to landslides.

Here is some of the landslide-prone areas provided by the MGB: Dominican, Mirador Area, Kennon Rd, San Luis Extension, Mines View, Quezon Hill, Fairview, Magsaysay Avenue, Pacdal and Cabinet Hill. In the MGB's preliminary geologic hazard map, it was identified that areas along Trancoville, Aurora Hill, Holy Ghost Extension, Military Cut-off, Cabinet Hill-Teachers camp, SLU-SVP housing, Dagsian, Camp 7 and Club John hay are identified as highly susceptible to landslides.

My purpose for naming these geo-hazard areas in Baguio city is to make the people living in these areas aware and prepare especially when typhoons occur. This will inform them and help ensure their safety. In my report, I also included some preventive measures suggested by the MGB and the City Disaster Coordination Council such as building retaining walls, recrop and maintaining a proper drainage system. And as much as possible, avoid building structures in steep slopes.

I hope what I wrote will contribute a great help in the journalistic world. As a journalism student, I'm trying to fill what is lacking in the different news being reported such as this.