commentary Save the Davao Shrine Hills
Save the Davao Shrine Hills
Tuesday, 16 August 2011 00:00
DAVAO City-Last Saturday, my family had a hefty dinner with my wife's aunt Cording who was celebrating her 69th birthday at Green Haus along Legaspi Street. It was still early to go home so we decided to visit the nearby People's Park to see what was new in there with the coming of Kadayawan Festival. A green paneled booth came to my attention which I later knew belonged to the group called Environmental Watch Committee (EWC) of the Ma-a Federation of Homeowner's Association, Inc. They have a campaign called "Save the Davao Shrine Hills".
There I met the amiable Mr. J. Stacey Baird, a Purok Leader of Barangay Ma-a and one of the conveners of the Ewc. I also met his colleague Norma Javellana, a veteran NGO stalwart. Mr. Baird, a Caucasian has been a resident of Ma-a for over a decade and he sounded like a true-blooded Filipino more than most of us in terms of caring the environment.
For those who are not familiar with the geography and terrain of Davao City, Shrine Hills is the nearest higher elevation located at the southwestern part of the city and about seven kilometers from the city proper. The hill crisscrosses two barangays of Matina and Ma-a, which were affected by the recent flashfloods that killed about 30 people. It got its name from the Shrine of the Holy Infant of Prague which is located on top of the hill, one of the city's prime destinations, which is owned by the family of the late secretary Luis and Mrs. Catalina Santos.
It is also called the "radio" or "broadcast mountain" because of different major radio and TV stations and transmitters in the area. No other place in the city with such a number of transmitters and parabola antennas in one location but at Shrine Hills. For years, the area saw a rapid infrastructure and commercial growth and development-from a golf driving range to high-end residential subdivisions. In fact a big local university is planning to build a huge edifice at the top of the hill. At the slope and foot of the hill are myriads of residential homes, commercial establishments, offices, memorial parks and institutions.
Sometime in 2002-03, Chris Ranoa, a friend who has a house at Nacilla Village located at the foot of Shrine Hills called me to see for myself the big crack near her house. Above their village was a huge old reservoir of the Davao City Water District which was leaking and about to collapse because of soil erosion and movements of the hill caused by the heavy downpour in the previous days. Chris and many residents at the village and nearby subdivisions evacuated to Ma-a Elementary School and barangay hall for fear the reservoir and the hill would eventually collapse. This year, the city experienced one of the most destructive flashfloods in its brief history as a city. Six barangays were declared by the City Council including Barangay Ma-a in the state of calamity. Once again the fear of the Shrine Hills collapsing hangs over the head of Ma-a residents like the sword of Damocles. But this time the fear is even more profound and with empirical data to back it up.
According to the leaflets prepared by Mr. Baird's group that "an earthquake fault zone has twice been reported by the Mines and Geo-sciences Bureau (Mgb) to run near the canceled Artica Sports Dome in Ma-a and along western Shrine Hills." Diana Kristina B. Velasco, senior geologist of the Mgb says the top portion of Shrine Hills in Matina in Davao City is stable, but its anticline or flanks are weak. She continues that "We have determined that the entire Shrine Hills, the highest portion at top of the ridge is (currently) stable. It does not have much movement. But the flanks are moving.
They are weak and we know there are a lot of developments on the slopes." It is ironic that despite the dangers posed by the findings of the Mgb the 15th City Council had approved the subdivision development in the said area. Presidential Decree 957 which sets the Minimum Design Standards of subdivisions provides, "Subdivision projects shall be located within suitable sites for housing and outside hazard prone areas (e.g. areas subject to flooding, Landslides and those with unstable soil)." Indeed the City Council and housing developers have a lot of explaining to do to the residents of Ma-a.
I believe the relevance and the urgency of this campaign. We do not want to experience another Cherry Hills disaster that happened in Antipolo, Rizal in 1999 where housing units were swallowed by the rampaging stones and mud from the Landslide of a nearby hill. You can visit the booth of Save Davao Shrine Hills at People's Park to sign the petition letter for our legislators and be counted. For more details you can also visit their website at http://www.savedavaoshrinehills.com.
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