THE NEWS DATELINER

Albay planners on 5-day REDAS training vs. tsunamis, etc
By Rey M. Nasol

LEGAZPI CITY – The local planning and development officers in Albay are undergoing rigid training on preparedness and disaster mitigation efforts with the use of a computer simulated scenarios software called the Rapid Earthquake Damage Assessment (REDAS) system.

This will further empower the planning aspect of where and what kinds of buildings to construct in the provice of Albay in order to fully prepare the people and maintain the zero casualty plan of Gov. Joey Salceda from any types of calamity.

“This is actually climate change-proofing and a very important element to the disaster risk reduction and mitigation of impacts of calamities to maintain our zero casualty efforts,” Governor Joey Salceda said.

“We are having training to save lives and minimize injuries as well as loss of properties before, during and after earthquakes and other calamities in Albay,” Director Manuel Rangasa of the Center for Research on Climate Change Adaptation (CIRCA) told the DATELINER Tuesday.

This is a follow-up training after new and updated versions of the software have been created to make the software more user-friendly and complete.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato U. Solidum, who is here for two days, said the REDAS software is one of the technologies featured in the “One-Stop Information Shop of Technologies (OSIST)” of the Philippines.

“Albay is one of the more hazard-prone provinces in the country, being exposed to volcanic, earthquake including tsunami as well as hydrometeorological hazards such as landslides and floods,” Solidum who stayed from Monday till tuesday told the participants.

Historically, the province has been affected by the 1814 Mayon Volcano eruption, the 1840 earthquake and lately, the 2006 Typhoon Reming floods and landslides.

The training was supported by PHIVOLCS, the Provincial Government of Albay and the Center for Initiatives and Research on Climate Adaptation (CIRCA).

A total of 70 participants from the cities of Legaspi, Ligao and Tabaco, the municipalities of Polangui, Libon, Oas, Guinobatan, Camalig, Daraga, Manito, Sto. Domingo, Bacacay, Malilipot, Malinao, Jovellar, Pioduran Rapu-Rapu and Tiwi

The other participants were CIRCA, Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) staffs, the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO), the resident volcanologist and staff of the Liñgon Hill Observatory, the Office of Civil Defense ad the Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO)

“ Although the REDAS software was designed for rapid seismic hazard evaluation after the occurrence of a potentially-damaging earthquake, various hazard maps such as pyroclastic flow, lava flow, lahars, ashfall and tsunami were built in in the REDAS database,” Maria Leonila P. Bautista, Bartolome C. Bautista, REDAS coordinator and DOST- Phivolcs Associate Scientist told the DATELINER Tuesday.

“The REDAS started with version 1.0 and then updated to 1.7 and now that we have the version 2.0, it already includes the hydrometeorological hazards prepared by the MGB into the software. As we continue to upgrade the software, the future plan, which we are working on now are the equations and calculations for possible casualties and injuries and damages to properties with or without disaster preparedness or response mechanisms,” Bautista explained.


The software

According to Solidum, REDAS is a simple and user-friendly simulation tool or software that can give rapid estimate of the possible seismic hazards which can be used for inferring the severity of impacts to population, buildings, lifelines and other elements at risk.

The inputs needed to produce the hazard maps are location of earthquake epicenter, magnitude and fault data.

The software was developed by PHIVOLCS through a Grant-in-Aide (GIA) from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

“The development of the software stemmed from two objectives that PHIVOLCS would like to achieve. The first objective is to provide quick simulated hazard information to disaster managers which will help them in assessing the distribution and extent of impact of a strong earthquake so as to guide them in deciding and prioritizing timely rescue and relief operations. This is very important specially when communication lines are cut off and access roads are blocked and information about the affected areas could not be immediately known.” Bautista said.

The second objective, according to Bautista, is for the software to serve as tool in convincing land use planners, policy makers, city and town development planners and local government executives to consider hazards in their planning and development efforts so as to ensure long term mitigation of seismic risks.

Phivolcs believe that if this sector is given a hand in producing their own hazard maps through the use of this software, they will have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the seismic hazards their constituencies are exposed to and they will be more motivated to do serious planning and intensive formulation of effective disaster prevention policies such as serious land use regulation, strict implementation of the building code and issuance of timely ordinance for the evaluation and retrofitting of critical structures.

The hazards that could be computed using this tool are ground shaking, landslides, liquefaction and tsunami. The risk database that are continuously being built by PHIVOLCS in REDAS include population centers, roads and communication networks, lifelines, high rise buildings, hospitals, schools, fire stations, power plants, dams and other critical facilities, said Bautista. (RMN)



P86-Billion relief package a greenlight for flood victims
By Rey M. Nasol

LEGAZPI CITY – The proposed P86 Billion relief package has been given the green light for implementation to offset sufferings among the struggling victims of typhoons ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng,’ President Gloria Arroyo’s top economic adviser said Monday.

Albay gov. Joey Salceda said that during the Cabinet meeting at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), Arroyo ordered concerned agencies to implement a comprehensive package of relief measures for families impacted by Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng with a 4-point demand-side liquidity strategy that he earlier proposed.

“A global one-year installment deferral of salary and housing loans of members of SSS and GSIS would result in higher take-home pay for 700,000 GSIS and 4.8 million SSS members,” Salceda said.

This would amount to P32billion additional cashflow for ordinary households, P4 billion for GSIS and P28 billion for SSS.

According to Salceda, this, effectively overrides original plans of GSIS and SSS for incremental loans for members who need to apply while this plan would require less effort from members and less paperwork for the two pension agencies.

The second major item of the plan is a P35 billion for small businesses through 5-year special rediscounting window at 91-day Tbill + 2 percent that would enable banks to restructure their exposure to affected enterprises given the disruption in their recurring incomes and permanent damage to their earning asset base.

The third component is a P15 billion home improvement loan program by Pag-ibig for its eligble members at P150,000 payable in 10 years on top of their outstanding loans.

The fourth item is the provision by Philhealth of 3 months of the average monthly reimbursements to its accredited outlets which would reach P4 billion.

Salceda presented the proposal to Pres. Arroyo during her visit to Polangui (Salceda's hometown) for the inauguration of a local water system.

He argued that a similar package was approved for Albay in 2006 by PGMA to counter the adverse impact of Mayon Eruption, Typhoon Milenyo and Reming.

According to Salceda, the demand-side measures (as opposed to supply-side interventions like relief goods) combined with the Bicol Calamity Assistance for Rehabilitation Efforts (BCARE) rehabilitation were instrumental in lifting the province to a stronger platform for recovery.

"Once supply chains have been restored and survival needs provided, cash is the best form of social and economic relief after a catastrophic event since victims know better their needs, beneficiaries would be more judicious in their procurement and the benefit is direct and immediate," Salceda said.

He added that demand side interventions are fast emerging as a critical item of a menu of tools for disaster response to mitigate the widespread social damage and overturn the potential economic drag of major calamities like Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) and Pepeng (Parma).



Never trust Mayon's lull – Phivolcs
By Rey M. Nasol

LEGAZPI CITY – The volcanic quakes, sustained inflation of the edifice, gas emission and crater glows are very important signs of a coming eruption of Mayon Volcano and people at its foot should never trust its lull sometimes, this was the warning from Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) director Renato Solidum said Monday.

The Phivolcs had already installed two units of digital tilt meters along Mayon Volcano, particularly at Barangay Anoling in Camalig and at the Mayon Resthouse in Tabaco City, all within the 6-kilometer Permanent Danger Zone, according to Solidum.

“As much as the scientists are keeping eyes and ears on Mayon, no one should trust it on a daily basis of its manifestation but instead be very careful because the sustained threats is still there although we also refer to its 2006 eruption event (a protracted one),” Solidum said.

He explained that if Magma is fast moving upwards towards the crater, it would explode violently like what happened in 1814, when the old Cagsawa town was buried in mud rendering the area in whole ruin and another 1897 eruption recorded with several thousands killed.

“Now, the rise and fall in the gas and earthquakes rate indicated that Mayon is degassing and has time to relese pressure and would wait for another fresh batch of magma push upwards that is why there are changes in rates of the monitored parameters,” Solidum explained.

Solidum, however, warned that “we can’t say when or what kind of eruption (violent or not) but disaster authorities must maintain the warning against venturing at the 6-kilometer permanent danger zones and the 7-km extended danger zones especially at the southeast quadrant facing Daraga, Santo Domingo twons and this city. “There is a need for a strong collaboration among local disaster councils to maintain the safety of the people and consistently attain a zero casualty rate even in the event of its eruption.”

Mayon’s trend of volcanic quakes shows a descending order for the past few days: Five volcanic earthquakes were detected by the seismic network on Sunday, 23 volcanic earthquakes were detected by the seismic network on Saturday, but 35 volcanic earthquakes were detected by the seismic network on Friday.

As earlier warned by resident volcanologist Eduardo Laguerta, the continuous, presence of ‘tremors’ might already indicate a coming eruption.

In fact, Friday’s bulletin (October 2) revealed that Recording of harmonic tremors were continuously observed from 8:36 am Thursday, Oct. 1) until Friday. “However, it was not consistently observed during the following observation period,” Laguerta said.

Laguerta said that once Mayon showed ‘tremors’ it already indicates a coming eruption “If the tremor episodes will become frequent, and of higher magnitude then, eruption is possible within several days period,” Laguerta said, explaining that the tremors should be of low frequency types indicating continuous magmatic ascent. (RMN)