DENR starts updating Hazard Exposure Maps in Central Visayas

CEBU CITY - The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Central Visayas has begun updating the Vulnerability Risk Assessment or the Hazard Exposure Maps for the region in an effort to identify risks in time of natural calamities.

Al Emil Berador, chief geologist of DENR’S Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), said their main goal is to know the risks that the people, including infrastructures, may face in times of natural calamities.

He said the maps which can determine the percentage of the population in a village exposed to a particular type of hazard, for instance a landslide - can help the local governments with their risk reduction management plans because they can already identify the areas which are vulnerable to subsidence hazards, or areas where there are underlying limestone.

“We have already updated the mapping for some LGUS - one in Guihulngan City in Negros Oriental; one in Siquijor, and three other municipalities in Bohol,” Berador said, adding, they are prioritizing local governments with high vulnerabilities but will ultimately update all Hazard Exposure Maps in Central Visayas because they are very useful to local governments.

The DENR will also use the information provided by the newly-launched Metro Cebu Earthquake Model Atlas of the Department of Science and Technology-philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology as reference for mapping, he said. their