LINGAYEN – Some places in western Pangasinan are possible risk areas for landslides in case La Niña strikes this year, according to an official of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Celso Salazar, community environment and natural resources officer (CENRO) in the western part of the province, said these risk areas are located in the mountains of Sual, Alaminos, Mabini, Bolinao, Dasol and Infanta that are prone to collapse in case of prolonged heavy rains.

“So long as the places are high, they are risk areas and prone to landslides,” he said, pointing out that the danger is greater in western Pangasinan than in other places of the provinces because of the presence of many highlands owned by private individuals.

The government, he said, is doing its share in reforesting government lands but private individuals were slow in the aspect of reforestation.

Admitting that the incident in barangay Guinsaugon, St. Bernard Leyte, can also happen in western Pangasinan, Salazar said his office can only call on residents living in foothills of mountains to move out to safer places in order to avoid being buried by landslides.

Being titled private properties, it is the owners who should be responsible for reforesting their own properties and not the government, he said..

Salazar singled out the vicinity of the Sual Coal-Fired Power Plant, a 1,200 megawatt power plant owned by Mirant Philippines located in barangay Pangascasan, Sual, all of which are titled private properties, to be needing immediate reforestation.

On the other hand, he said that mountains could collapse, even if it is loamy, clayish-clayish and of other soil types, if they are already saturated with water even if they are fully vegetated.

He cited the case of St. Bernard as well as Real, Quezon where the soil was already beyond saturation point after extremely heavy rains.

Salazar questioned why many highlands in western Pangasinan became private properties when in fact they are sloping areas which makes them fall under the classification of inalienable and indisposable lands.

Saying titling of inalienable and indisposable lands in these areas happened way back, Salazar asked why his predecessors in the office may have allowed this to happen.

“As of now, we can only tell people to avoid staying at the foot of mountains in order to save themselves,” Salazar said. (PNA)