Greeks bearing gifts?

No offense to Greeks of the Trojan War but, recently, a representative of one of the Shrine Hill Developers has several times offered its 1,700 meter down hill concrete road and drainage system to the City of Davao as a gift.

Inside this Trojan Horse is the risk transfer of high maintenance cost and man-made landslides costs to Davao City Taxpayers.

In addition, the transfer would likely reduce or eliminate Developer exposure to hillside remediation costs.

Those are costs that could be assessed to Developers for the return of Shrine Hill to its natural state, if the Development Permit is refused. Especially since the road was built without a Development Permit.

A requirement in many countries, the purpose of Remediation assessments is to discourage illegal or irresponsible construction and keep the costs and hazards to life and environment off the backs of Taxpayers.

Our own Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) will sometimes order the posting of Completion or Compliance Bonds to assure accomplishment for reforestation of mining and timber harvesting sites.

So, such a concept appears both legal and enforceable and might be extended in the case of a forested hillside subdivision. Or, the requirement might be extended to a subdivision that would interfere with existing drainage patterns, creeks and rivers because of excessive run-off and siltation or loss of wild life.

Certainly, the potential exposure of Developers to such requirements and costs provides the City with additional bargaining power to obtain compliance with Zoning and other laws as well.

City to fund independent Shrine Hill study

City to fund Ma-a geo-hazard study
January 20, 2010

Davao City will initiate and fund a geo-hazard study at Shrine Hills, Ma-a, said an officer of Barangay Ma-a Federation of Homeowners Associations (BMHOAI).

BMHOAI head Norma Javellana, during their meeting with City Vice Mayor Sara Duterte on January 13, said a P750,000 budget will be allotted from the city's finances for the study.

The budget was made after a recommendation was released by the UP-Diliman National Institute of Geological Sciences geo-hazard specialist and associate professor Sandra Catane, who conducted an ocular inspection on November 11 under the initiative of Councilor Pilar Braga, chairman of Zoning Ordinance-Technical Working Group (ZO-TWG), and Councilor Leonardo Avila, chairman of the environment and natural resources committee.

The ocular inspection made in November stemmed from pending legislation involving land areas on top of Shrine Hills where construction of two subdivisions are currently put on hold.

Javellana said BMHOAI and Duterte agreed that the study will be headed by Catane.

"The components of the team that will do the study, as Dr. Catane has recommended, will be a geohazard expert, a hydro expert, and a geo-engineering expert for mitigating aspect. Catane also wanted local participation from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) so it will really be a unified study," Javellana said in vernacular.

Meanwhile, Javellana said BMHOAI is handing out open letters to the residents of Ma-a urging protection of Shrine Hills.

"These letters will be to inform the residents of Maa that (1) Shrine Hills has to be protected because it shows signs of geo-hazard and (2) to protect our natural resources in the middle of the city," Javellana said in vernacular.

BMFHOAI, since 2007, has been opposing the construction of Camella Homes (formerly Crown Communities subdivision) and Palm Grove West of DMC Urban Property Development Incorporated (DMC-UPDI).

In November, Catane reported the results of her inspection:

* Rocks underlying the Shrine Hill are inherently unstable.

* Evidence of landslides including debris fall, rock fall and creep are apparent in steep slopes bounding the Shrine Hill.

* Groundwater levels in some parts of the hill are elevated as indicated by the presence of several springs.

* Natural drainages of the hill are hazardous areas as floods may inundate the houses during intense precipitation and continuous stream erosion will eventually undermine the foundation of the house structures.

* The newly constructed access road by DMC was built on relatively gently sloping part of the Shrine Hill.

5.3 Earthquake with Intensity 4 felt in Davao City

January 15, 8:07 a.m. Did you feel it? How could you not, children and wives screaming, house shaking, lights and curtains swaying back and forth. It was the strongest intensity quake I have felt since coming to Davao. "Haiti, here we come," I thought at first.

I rushed outside and looked up at Shrine Hill's towering 450 foot height. Still there. What a relief! I pushed back visions of twitching fingers, mud and blood encaked arms desperately reaching out from the roiling soils of a landslide, a vision of collapsed walls, high voltage lines sparking 30,000 volts and ruptured septic tanks draining filth along Ma-a road and everywhere the smell of death.

I asked myself, "What if the epicenter had been just a few miles closer or right along the geologic fault line running though Shrine Hills and, reportedly, under the canceled Artica Sports Dome?" "Even if a perfectly built house were not damaged, would it still be sitting on the same lot or one ten lots below?" I asked myself.

I also asked myself, "What if a nearby 5.3 quake comes during a heavy two hour rain or after several days in a row of heavy rains?"

I wondered if uncleaned hillside drainage channels, choked with weeds, plastic bags and silt would break away, overflow and wash out roads and then hillsides.

I wondered if the new 1,700 meters of Shrine Hill roadbeds that were made up, down and across old landslide bodies would be especially weakened and likely to fall. "Surely, they are much less stable, at least Geologists have stated they are," I thought.

I also wondered about the consequences to Hillside Developers if one of their developments should fall. Of course, there would be lawsuits brought. But a lawsuit brought never brings back to life the buried dead, nor do tears and apologies bring back children to parents who trusted too much.

Probably you have heard wise sayings, based on human experience, from individuals of many different religions to the effect of "Trust in God but always count your change" or "Trust in Allah but always tie your camel" or "God helps those who help themselves."

What those wise and sometimes humorous sayings mean to me is that while we cannot choose what disasters may strike, we can influence their frequency, severity, their harsh and grievous effects.

We also like to think of Government, while far lower than God, as responsible for our protection. "It's their job, let them do it." Do we need to break that habit?

We know Government cannot see or do everything. In self defense, we must ask ourselves not what Government can do for us, but what can we do for ourselves and to help the Government do the best job it can by keeping it well-informed.

Consider this: We ourselves are every bit as responsible for the welfare of our family as we hold Government to be. Therefore we must alert and inform our councilors, our vice-mayor, mayor and other Officials of our personal knowledge and concerns.

Our knowledge is experienced based. We have gained it just by living in an area, day in and day out. We must act to reduce the frequency, likelihood and severity of landslides, flooding disasters, loss of oxygen producing and CO2 reducing forests and ground cover. We can do that by not building on dangerous, steeply sloped and forested hillsides.

We can do that by following the existing laws of the land including Presidential Decree 705 that forbids subdivision development on slopes of 18 percent or more.

Does anyone wish to debate that slopes or anticlines of Shrine Hill are not generally 18 percent or more? Does anyone wish to debate whether there has been is a 1,700 meter concrete subdivision road cut through long settled but now disturbed former landslide areas?

Does anyone wish to debate whether there have been human caused killer landslides in Juario Village, Ma-a or that there is not constant slope movement in Nacilla Village due to relocation or interference with its many bugacs or springs?

It is critical to make sure Officials understand the information, that the threats to our life, property and welfare are the highest issue. That Officials themselves can be made to personally imagine and feel its effects and their responsibilities.

There are many interests competing for an Official's time and attention. They will hear the squeakiest wheel. Make noise now.

Life at the bottom of the hill

Life at the bottom of the hill