Warning signs in risk prone areas sought

To intensify the implementation of the Environment Code of the City of Baguio, the city council passed an ordinance that sought the installation of warning signs in risk-prone areas in the city.
The ordinance, authored by Councilor Arthur Allad-iw, mandates the City Disaster Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and the Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to coordinate with concerned agencies/offices for the identification of risk-prone areas in the city and installation of warning signs.
“Apart from those prescribed by law, the CDRRMO shall coordinate the installation of early warning systems and devices in all identified high risk areas. Where necessary, it shall design and define area with specific early warning systems and devices for the information of the public,” section 280 the Environment Code stated.
The CDDRMO shall provide for the design of the warning signs, which should be written in English with corresponding Filipino translation.
“There is a need to put signs in identified landslide, flood and sinking-prone areas in the City of Baguio to warn residents and for the prevention and mitigation of the effects of any disaster,” Allad-iw said.
According to the ordinance, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Cordillera has identified areas susceptible to landslide, flood, and sink holes in certain barangays in the city.
These are Loakan Proper, Loakan-Liwanag, Green Water Village, South Drive, Cabinet Hill-Teachers Camp, Upper Dagsian, Scout Barrio, Fort del Pilar (PMA), North Sanitary Camp, West Bayan Park (Leonila Hill), Asin Road, Bakakeng Central, Dominican Mirador, Dontogan, Fairview Village, Irisan, Lourdes Subdivision Extension, Lourdes Subdivision Lower, Middle Quezon Hill Subdivision, Pinget, Pinsao Pilot Project, Pinsao Proper, Quezon Hill Proper, Quezon Hill Upper, Rock Quarry Lower, Rock Quarry Middle, San Luis Village, San Roque Village, Santo Tomas Proper, and Victoria Village. The other barangays are being evaluated.
In 2020, Allad-iw also authored an ordinance requiring the conduct of tree planting in identified landslide-prone areas in the city. – Jordan G. Habbiling