KIDAPAWAN CITY, North Cotabato -- Evacuees ejected from areas not considered as high risk following the earthquakes can now return to their respective homes, Gov. Nancy Catamco said Saturday.
Catamco said this was based on the pronouncement of Melvin Sebua, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB)-12 chief, in an inter-agency and sectoral consultation on Friday.
The meeting initiated by Catamco was aimed at unifying all efforts of affected local government units (LGUs) and other concerned agencies in helping the victims of the recent earthquakes.
Catamco had been running a series of consultation since she reassumed office on November 21 and had visited to families and local officials in the evacuation sites.
The series of consultations were also attended by provincial officials and from the towns of M’lang, Tulunan, Magpet, Makilala and this city as well as representatives of Metro Kidapawan Water District, Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco), Department of Agriculture, Department of Public Works and Highways and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs).
Catamco said among the most frequently asked question by residents is the official advisory of returning home and identification of safe relocation sites.
In her consultations in Barangay Perez and Ilomavis, Catamco was asked by tribal leaders about the safety of relocation sites and have expressed concern over the displacement and dislocation from their ancestral domain due to earlier pronouncement by LGUs that the areas have been declared “no-build zones.”
Catamco, herself a member of the Indigenous People (IP), said she wanted to be clarified on the issuance of “no build zones”, saying the rights of the IPs should be respected.
The issue has also prompted local legislative offices of Makilala and this city to inquire about the issued MGB and Phivolcs.
Representatives of both agencies denied issuing or declaring "no build zones" but claimed to have merely reported and identified landslide-prone areas.
Mayor Joseph Evangelista clarified they had not issued a "no-build zone” order and that they are ready to implement a rehabilitation plan.
Evangelista said it was more practical to spend government resources building houses and undertaking livelihood than feeding them in the evacuation centers.
Meanwhile, the Phivolcs has presented reports on the decline in number of aftershocks these past few days based on official record from its reference station in the town of Pikit. (PNA)
