ALAMINOS – The Community Environment and Natural Resources Office in Western Pangasinan warned residents living near and within mountain areas to be alert if the La Niña phenomenon strikes sometime this year.

CENRO Officer Celso Salazar said the disaster that happened in Guisaugon, St. Bernard in Southern Leyte could very well happen in western Pangasinan where the mountains are now mostly denuded.

He said many of the mountains in western Pangasinan are titled, owned by private individuals who did not reforest them.

A syndicate was tagged by Salazar to be responsible for the massive titling of public lands in the past, insinuating that his predecessors in the DENR failed to act to oppose the titling in order to prevent the denudation of the mountains.

The kaingin system or the slash-burn method of farming and the gathering of wood for charcoal purposes compounded the problem of many sloping areas in western Pangasinan.

“In the face of the coming La Niña, we can only advise residents to  be prepared to evacuate to safer areas when ever there is prolonged heavy  rains that may cause mountain sides to collapse and slide down,” Salazar  said. – APE

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