At least 10 hectares of land within Poblacion, Mankayan have been declared a danger zone or “critical area” and all structures therein must be relocated immediately due to ground subsidence and in wake of a huge landslide last June 5.
 
This was the latest recommendation of the regional Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources following the conduct of a survey in areas previously delineated as geo-hazard sites in the mineral-rich town. 

A portion of the 10-hectare critical area is where a church and seven buildings of the Mankayan National High School are currently situated while a portion occupied by three more school buildings are covered by the critical area.

The site of the Mankayan Elementary School has been labeled as a “high hazard” area, which means that a new structure should be built there. 

MGB director Engr. Samuel Paragas said that his office highly recommends to the local government of Mankayan to cause the immediate relocation of all structures in the area labeled as a critical site and have the area utilized as an open space or tree park.

But Paragas acknowledged that the recommendation for an immediate relocation of public and private structures to safer ground would entail huge resources, which will require intervention from the national government like the National Disaster Coordinating Council. 

He said that the call or request for the municipal government of Mankayan to relocate public and private structures from Poblacion to Barangay Bulalacao can be traced back to the ’50s but such call never materialized up to now. 

MGB experts like Engrs. Benjie Espejo and Felizardo Gacad also said that based on the latest geo-hazard survey and assessment within Poblacion, Mankayan, there are a number of households and business establishments in the areas delineated as “high hazard” sites. 

The agency recommended that the relocation of residents within the “high hazard” area should be considered as a long-term solution and no construction of new public and private structures should be allowed by the local government. 

A number of studies and surveys were conducted by different groups including the MGB over the geo-hazard area since the ’70s but there is no definite conclusion that Lepanto Mines’ underground tunnel aggravated the ground subsidence that caused a huge landslide. 

To dispel the supposed bias in the results of the previous studies, President Gloria Arroyo has been requested to order a conduct of an independent geological study over the ground subsidence and huge landslide in Mankayan.