PHIVOLCS asked to inspect fault lines at Sibulan’s Twin Lakes
By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 28 (PIA) -- Negros Oriental Gov. Roel Degamo has requested the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) to inspect the fault lines at the Twin Lakes of Sibulan town, a popular tourist attraction in the province.
The governor made the request a week after the magnitude 6.9 quake that hit the northern part of the province on Feb. 6, leaving behind a still increasing number of affected families, currently at 63,000, and a death toll of 24 as of this writing.
Fears are rife that the Twin Lakes’ walls will give way following the Feb. 6 earthquake.
A geological report received by the Governor’s Office noted that “movements along the fault lines near and within the Twin Lakes during strong earthquakes may trigger rupture on the lakes’ walls.”
Said report indicate that if this happens, water will burst from the collapsed walls of the lakes resulting to flash floods and landslides.
The Twin Lakes are reportedly sitting over a line fault and an old volcano crater.
The lakes Balinsasayao and Danao are popular tourist drawers in Sibulan town. Rising 300 meters above sea level, the two lakes are small but deep-cratered, and separated by a narrow mountain range that sits on a caldera between four mountains.
To date, the governor’s office is still waiting for PHIVOLC’s response to the governor’s request. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental with reports from Elgie Magallano)
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Negros Oriental holds earthquake drillUnsafe response of employees during Feb. 6 quake noted
By Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 28 (PIA) -- The provincial government held today an earthquake drill today to correct the mostly unsafe response of state employees here during the magnitude 6.9 quake that jolted Negros Oriental on Feb. 6, 2012.
Joy Gongob, provincial planning and development officer and executive officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) here, said that the council has noted how most of the government workers panicked and ignored the basic earthquake safety measures at the height of the quake.
“Most ran out of their offices without seeing to it that all electrical connections are switched off or unplugged to prevent fire. They were unmindful of the dangers that could have been waiting for them outside, too, like uprooted trees or fallen electrical posts,” said Gongob in an interview with Philippine Information Agency.
Some employees who were already outside the buildings, some of which are four-storey high, ran back inside to fetch belongings that they left behind, a reaction deemed dangerous and not recommended by earthquake experts.
“We saw how the employees lost their presence of mind during that earthquake and we don’t want that to happen again,” she said.
Around 200 state employees in the province are now gathered at the Negros Oriental Convention Center for the safety lectures given by local representatives from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Philippine Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
In the afternoon, the employees will troop to the perimeter of the Capitol building where the mock-earthquake response drill will take place.
Gov. Roel Degamo earlier issued a circular for all provincial government offices requiring at least 10 personnel from each office to attend the quake drill.
Gongob said the PDRRMC is eyeing to hold a fire safety drill in the following week.
Although the provincial government offices are equipped with fire extinguishers, she admits that most employees don’t know how to use them.
The February 6 earthquake that shook the province collapsed buildings and houses trapping people underneath, destroyed roads and bridges, and triggered a landslide in Guihulngan City. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)
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IPs children in Mabinay experience city educational tour
By Jennifer C. Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Feb. 28 (PIA) -- Some 60 school children from Indigenous People of Canggohob Elementary School in Mabinay, a hinterland town in Negros Oriental, had an educational tour to the urban-city of Dumaguete.
The Philippine Army’s 302nd Infantry Brigade and 79th Infantry Battalion in coordination with the Oriental Negros Children’s Advocacy Network (ONCAN) and Negros Oriental Provincial Police Office brought the children to Dumaguete City over the weekend to show them how a city look like and what is city life, in an education tour dubbed “Bayanihan para sa Kabataan Lakbay Aral.”
Grades 5 and 6 pupils with their teachers and some parents were ferried by a service military vehicle to the city to exposing them to an environment outside their communities.
The activity also promotes education to the Indigenous People as key to a brighter future and strengthens the AFP’s partnership with the various stakeholders in the province, said Captain Anacito Naz, 302 Brigade Civil Military Operations Officer.
The group visited the Cathedral Church and bell tower in Dumaguete City, Sidlakang Negros Village area, Silliman University, St. Paul University and Rizal Boulevard.
The kids were able to observe the demonstration of the eco-kalan at the Felipa Beach Resort where they took their lunch with Panda ice cream mascot to give them another kind of entertainment.
In the afternoon, the pupils and the chaperones toured the Freedom Park, Sports Complex, Convention and Aqua Center, Oval and Capitol Area.
They also had a tour at Robinson’s Place where they had the chance to experience ‘malling’ and the beauty of city life. They were given tokens for games at the Robinsons World of Fun.
The children were caught by surprise when the 302 Brigade and ONCAN headed by its President Marietta Jambora gave gifts and distributed snacks at Jollibee.
At the end of the day, the participants were safely brought back to Barangay Canggohob, Mabinay, Negros Oriental. (mbcn/JCT/PIA-NegOr)