A Closer Examination: Why the Deaths in Itogon?

Screengrab from Rappler.

CHEERS TO Rappler for its two-part story examining the Itogon community’s vulnerability and for exposing the weak law enforcement which were among the factors that led to the many casualties from the landslide as Ompong lashed the provinces of northern Luzon.

In the first part, “Itogon Tragedy: Disaster Response Gone Wrong,”Itogon Mayor Victorio Palangdan said that some residents did not heed the authorities who made the rounds urging them to evacuate.

Mahar Lagmay, Executive Director of the UP Resilience Institute which houses UP NOAH (Nationwide Operational Assessment of Hazards), emphasized that the landslide site had been marked unsafe in their hazard map. “We had knowledge of Ompong. We knew its track, we knew the rainfall, we expected hazards and consequences, and they did happen. The warning was good, but the response was not appropriate,” he was quoted as saying.

In “Itogon Tragedy: When the land of promise buried its people,” Rappler reported that unregulated mining operations have persisted in the area and that “as far as law enforcement is concerned, the government has effectively been paralyzed.” The police have been deputized to prevent illegal logging, but not illegal mining, the report noted.

Itogon also has no zoning regulations which could have strictly specified and limited land use. In most mountainous areas, hazard maps will indicate what areas are safe for residence, farming or industry.

The media’s post-disaster attention is important, since their reporting can call attention to the failure of both local and national authorities in regulating  land use. Where there are inherent vulnerabilities, risk reduction and mitigation efforts can prevent worst outcomes. Public information helps, but governments are ultimately responsible for mapping out appropriate land use.

News reports that included these issues exposed the lack of a land use policy, the implementation of which requires coordinated and sustained government attention.  Appropriate land use requires both time and attention. The case of Itogon illustrates how little of either has been given the communities of Itogon and  the rest of the Cordilleras.