What To do? MNHS recent landslide

I cant think of a better title to open this discussion. I still have have hangover from last nights drinking spree lol. However, I felt obliged to start this topic coz time is of the essence.

First, I laud "KAFAGWAY" for initiating this website through my prompting via Sakura hehehe. Thank you so much for squeezing this into your busy schedule. I owe you guys a cup of coffee when I see you.

The recent information I gathered, though it's not official was that an ocular survey to the damage was conducted by the Provincial Government. A report is still pending to the extent of the damage and whether or not it's reparable. We now plea to anybody who can feed us a more thorough update to this.

I think this is essential before the foundation can actually start mobilizing people on how to help.

I hope this website is a good start.

I'll post updates as soon as I gather them and I hope I'll be more organized that time hahaha....

..we rather prefer a glass of wine.. ryt, "Kafagway"..?
we'll b lookng forward when u dcide to visit d country.. (susunduin k nmin dun s hoteL mo..) ahahaha! juz kidding!

anyway, GOOD LUCK to our board site..hope it would b a success! Good luck fellow ALUMNI!

i haven't seen yet any pix of the landslide...... hehehe, where cn i see those??

airwind0821 wrote:

i haven't seen yet any pix of the landslide...... hehehe, where cn i see those??

some were already posted here.. mnhs tragedy i guess.. but if you want to see all try to view the friendster of mankayan.. thanks & God bless..

Benguet village declared danger zone


By Delmar Cariño
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:17:00 06/22/2009

Filed Under: Disasters & Accidents


MANKAYAN, BENGUET—A huge landslide that hit Barangay Poblacion here on June 5 at the height of heavy monsoon rains has forced the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) to declare the area as a danger zone.

No one was reported hurt but the MGB urged local disaster officials to take precautionary measures as the landslide washed out the former site of the Mankayan Central School and eroded major portions of Aurora Street that leads to the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Co. (LCMC) here.

The landslide also left cracks on the grounds of the Mankayan National High School.

“The landslide has affected around 1.5 to 2 hectares. The fear is that … continuous rains might affect the new site of the elementary school and teachers’ cottages, which are just about 150 to 200 meters from the landslide,” said Councilor William Mendoza.

The elementary school has 5,342 pupils while the high school has 722 students, Susan Dawang, Department of Education (DepEd) human resources officer, told the Inquirer.

Gov. Nestor Fongwan, who inspected the site last week, said the area has become very dangerous.

In a report to Mayor Manalo Galuten, the MGB said landslides were likely to occur since the land beneath Barangay Poblacion was found to be slipping as early as 1976.

The MGB said the occurrence of heavy typhoons in the past has contributed to the alteration of soil and rock formations in the area.

The report did not discount the possibility that human activities contributed to the disturbance of the slopes.

Fongwan asked MGB and LCMC officials to sit down and reconcile their reports on the causes of the landslide.

While MGB said the landslide was preceded by a massive ground subsidence (sinking), LCMC engineers said the landslide area was actually sitting on a fault line, he said.

In a meeting with DepEd officials and the town’s disaster coordinating council, Ed Malaca, LCMC chief geologist, said the erosion happened along a fault line called “north shear.”

He said continuous rain, slope steepness, surface run-offs and the unstable bedrock had contributed to the erosion.

Fongwan called MGB’s attention to a 1999 study conducted by the National Institute of Geological Sciences of the University of the Philippines which explained other factors that could have possibly caused the landslide.

The study, which was commissioned by lawyer Ronald Cosalan, then Benguet representative, concluded that aside from weak rock type, soil creep and presence of faults, the land movement could be possibly caused by LCMC’s mining operations.

Fongwan said the MGB recommended the schools’ relocation as a long term solution but he did not rule out the possibility of immediate evacuation.

Fongwan said he has alerted Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., also chair of the National Disaster Coordinating Council, about the situation.

thanks for the information at least now we know what is really happening in our hometown... oh well relocation where? so the road will not be passable going to lepanto... kindly continue to give us updates...
God bless everyone...

Thanks Carlo for that article....

I think what we can do now is to start fueling this site with ideas on how to raise funds in order to help with the potential infrastructure plan for the school whether if its for rehabilitation or relocation... Kindly make yourself available to organize this.

I am thinking maybe we can start setting up persons in charge per country to initiate making their own database i.e getting names and contact info of any alumni within their reach...

I can probably start for alumni residing here in the US.

I am waiting for volunteers

there you go.. we got some updates..

maefourteen wrote:

hehe..we rather prefer a glass of wine.. ryt, kfgwy..?? anyway, we'll b lookng forward when u visit d country by nxt yr.. susunduin k nmin dun s hoteL mo.. ahahaha! juz kidding!

well, Gud luck 2 ds site..hope it wud b a success! gud luck alumni!

some prefer coffe.. and some prefer wine.. but I prefer beer..

anyway.. I really want to know on how to create some sort of organization to handle things.. and I do think it must be based on the country..

methnicity wrote:

some prefer coffe.. and some prefer wine.. but I prefer beer..

hmmm....no comment..

methnicity wrote:

anyway.. I really want to know on how to create some sort of organization to handle things.. and I do think it must be based on the country..

How about inquiring fr some of ur coworkers..? They might know a thing since d country is vry supportive on such organizations..(i'm not so sure for d NGO, though)
Anyway, i'll try to ask my dad coz he ws once in d JOCV org. wherein they used to do volunteer activities in Benguet.

hELLO fellow MNHS alumni!!!
Jovy Sab-it @ Vangie Teliaken-Gomeyac here... It's very heartwarming to read ur concerns about our beloved alma mater... We are on the process of consulting Mankayan based alumni re: MNHS plight... From the meeting this morning with the PTCA, the principal stressed the urgent need of CR that caters to almost 700 students... The old CR was of no use because of the present predicament... If you could please take immediate action on this matter ASAP - this July... as in "FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE" hehe... so the rest of us back here would know what to do next.... marami pa...
.... Any violent reaction to this plea??? Kindly inform us before our meeting on thursday, July 2, 2009...

I think creating a contact information database should really be done by country for overseas alumni.

I pledge myself to start doing this to US residents.
Aimee Payumo already gave her word to me to take care of alumni residing in THailand.

More volunteers please....

Stephani wrote:

.........July 2, 2009...

I think we should consider this particular date to come up with something..

Stephani wrote:

hELLO fellow MNHS alumni!!!
Jovy Sab-it @ Vangie Teliaken-Gomeyac here... It's very heartwarming to read ur concerns about our beloved alma mater... We are on the process of consulting Mankayan based alumni re: MNHS plight... From the meeting this morning with the PTCA, the principal stressed the urgent need of CR that caters to almost 700 students... The old CR was of no use because of the present predicament... If you could please take immediate action on this matter ASAP - this July... as in "FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE" hehe... so the rest of us back here would know what to do next.... marami pa...
.... Any violent reaction to this plea??? Kindly inform us before our meeting on thursday, July 2, 2009...

may i suggest..? what about a "Concert For A Cause"..? u know, i can always ask Francis..

SakuraMae wrote:

..

may i suggest..? what about a "Concert For A Cause"..? u know, i can always ask Francis..

I have sent you a mail...

SakuraMae wrote:

..

may i suggest..? what about a "Concert For A Cause"..? u know, i can always ask Francis..

hmm concert for a cause would be good... then we should contact someone on our hometown., a representative maybe..

Cherry wrote:

hmm concert for a cause would be good... then we should contact someone on our hometown., a representative maybe..

Thanks, dear..

We've got brilliant musicians from our place who are willing to help so why not take the opportunity..? Moreover, if actions are to be taken immediately, then i guess the idea is not bad..is it..? hmm...

As for the performer(s), i already have a contact, actually. Thus, the only thing needed to get things started is for someone to organize the said event....and yes, it shld. b somebody who's currently residing in Mankayan, indeed.
Just an opinion, though..

Anyway, any other options that can b done as of now.....?? ANYONE PLEASE..

That would be a great Saki but ur right somebody back home should coordinate this. I have constant communication with your cousin ate vangie and maybe you could intimate the idea to her.

That would be a challenge we will throw to them but we shd also start coming up with a counterpart from us who reside overseas. I think the easiest way to raise a fund is just to ask for voluntary donations from people. Due to busy schedules I think most of us wouldn't have sufficient time to do otherwise.

I started texting people here in the states and at the same time establishing our database. I didn't receive any response though at this time hehehe but let's stay positive to this.

mikee wrote:

That would be a great Saki but ur right somebody back home should coordinate this. I have constant communication with your cousin ate vangie and maybe you could intimate the idea to her.

That would be a challenge we will throw to them but we shd also start coming up with a counterpart from us who reside overseas. I think the easiest way to raise a fund is just to ask for voluntary donations from people. Due to busy schedules I think most of us wouldn't have sufficient time to do otherwise.

I started texting people here in the states and at the same time establishing our database. I didn't receive any response though at this time hehehe but let's stay positive to this.

thnks po.
with regards to the donations.., as much as i really want to volunteer, time occupied by work, as u've said.. and i find it dffcult to contact our kailians here since i dnt know most of them and we barely communicate with each other...too bad...

though, i myt b askng my japanese friends for some support. i'll let u know anyway..

whoa!! it's already pass 3:00am! GTG na ate Mikee.. c u online again..

I've read some of your post regarding fund raising,..can we set a specific goal on where the money will go(kasi meron nagsabi na it's for the construction of a new CR then i've also read something that it migth be for repairs or relocations?..may i suggest that our alumni project will be the construction of the new CR,.cause i guess it's the closest to reality we can fund tru donations and fund raising.I dont think we can fund a relocation tru fund raising...and may i ask if we have an existing alumni officers and who are they? if we have..specifically the treasurer...cause i have no idea on who will hold the money if ever somebody will donate...i'm thinking that what if i want to donate now, then to whom will i give the money?are they trustworthy and can i be sure that the money i will send will be used for it's intended purpose?..then if we don't have anybody there then it would be better that we start organizing and naming persons to handle the project before this forum gets filled to the rafter.

now that poblacion was declared under the 'state of calamity', do we have a member here residing in mankayan or somebody who knows somebody who is in mankayn to push and put some little pressure on our beloved mayor on what they are doing regarding the tragedy?Preferably someone with dedication, with a will and concern.To see some fruits of our discussions here i guess we need an ass or a group of asses who will do the actions there in mankayan.We may all be goodlooking here with our ideas but if nobody's moving an ass then whats the use?

From the latest pictures of the tragedy i've seen, i guess the remaining grounds of MNHS are not within the reach of the cause of that sinking, whether a fault or a gold diggers work. So further damage beyond that line of action now depends on the rains that weakens the soil.When mankayan central school was sinking i haven't noticed much signs of sinking such as cracks in the buildings and grounds within the area where the first year building,second yr bldg and library area except those areas at the back of the stage.So that means that those areas and most of our grounds can still be spared by this tragedy. And if that soil failures can be stopped then much of our grounds can still be saved.From my judgement the landslide area now looks like a 10 meter ravine or as high as a three story bldg or much more, basing on the picture where the fallen canteen was captured.Well that's telling us that the landslide can still grab a lot of our grounds until it can grab no more and as long as the rain is his friend.So what i'm getting at?I think and i believe that we can stop that landslide.Did anybody of you ever noticed contruction of a building where the constructor has to make deep excavations for undergrounds?Did you also noticed that to prevent the sides of that excavation from caving in especially during rainy seasons they are covering those those sides with thin plastic sheets/cellophanes?If you were still at baguio during the construction of the new BFC or now UC building(maybe year 2004) the constructor have problems during excavation cause the soil keeps on falling and was threatening to grab Governor Pack road, and what he did was to cover all those sides with thin plastic sheets to prevent seeping in of water and it work!,the soil hold itself in place until the retaining wall was constructed.That was one the few intances i've observed that kind of application.Ginawa dn ata un nung naslide ang magsaysay, ung papunta sa P.Burgos na naslide nun.So why i'm telling all of this?so that i may be able to convince someone to take my suggestions seriously and would bring it to the municipal office for actions.Thats why i'm telling that we need a hand in poblacion to do the actions.Funds from goverment is not a problem as of now cause poblacion was declared as under the 'state of calamity', that means they can use their allocated calamity funds without much questions.And besides purchasing those plastic sheets to cover those highchool slide portion will not cost too much..10thou i guess would be to much..And off course this is just a temporary solution to buy us some time until the end of the rainny season or until the goverment can figure out a more permanent solution.I've suggested this before in somebodys friendster profile who named him/herself as 'mankayan high' but i think nobody is listening....if it will not work then at least we have done something to prevent it and we will not feel bad for doing nothing.If you know the feeling of a paralyzed mother watching her child being burned alive, or a father with his hands and feet tied while watching his wife or daughter being raped..?if we'll not be doing something then were as good as the paralyzed mother or a tied father...or might it be better that if we are both those father and mother we'll just close our eyes?instead of shouting for help or doing some effort to untie ourselves...

jobal wrote:

I've read some of your post regarding fund raising,..

Thank u so much Mr. Jobal..
I agree with u. We must b specific on our target and since it's "MONEY" we're talking here, we really need to know where it goes exactly...esp. on who gets to control and monitor d funds..? what's on ur mind, ate Mikee..