THE Philippines is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are frequent.
According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), there are 24 active volcanoes and 27 potentially-active volcanoes in the entire country.
But the question is, where is the Philippines now when it comes to volcanoes and earthquakes monitoring?
“We have 24 active volcanoes in the country. And out of the 24 active volcanoes, we are only monitoring 10 active volcanoes. And out of the 10 active volcanoes, only 2 are equipped with the necessary and the recommended instrumentation,” said Dr. Teresito Bacolcol – Director, DOST-PHIVOLCS.
Cabalian Volcano in Southern Leyte is one of the active volcanoes in the country without adequate monitoring instruments.
According to Bacolcol, if the activity of the said volcano is not monitored, 241,258 individuals and 30 airports will be affected by its eruption.
He said that when it comes to earthquake monitoring, the Philippines lags behind Taiwan in the number of seismic stations that monitor the movement of the earth.
“Then when it comes to earthquakes naman. If we compare our network with that of Taiwan and Taiwan is one/tenth of the size of the Philippines. Taiwan has hundred ninety four seismic stations while Philippines, we are 10 times bigger than Taiwan, we only 117. And the ideal for the Philippines is 300 seismic stations,” added Bacolcol.
He also said that additional personnel are needed in PHIVOLCS as their duties expand.
PHIVOLCS modernization bill to strengthen Philippines’ capacity
So Bacolcol said it would help a lot if the PHIVOLCS Modernization Bill becomes a law.
“We’re hoping to pass this because at the end of the day, it would… the passage of this bill would greatly benefit the Filipino people,” said Bacolcol.
P7 billion pesos will be allocated as funds for the modernization of PHIVOLCS with the aim to increase and upgrade the equipment of the said agency.
But what is the state of the said proposal?
“We already approved it on the committee level. And since there are 12 measures filed in the House of Representatives, we’re consolidating it to have a co-substitute bill because we’re still gonna refer it to the Committee of Ways and Means and Committee of Appropriations for the Tax Provisions and Appropriations Provision,” said Donald Amado M. Caballero, House Committee Secretary on Science and Technology.
On Tuesday morning, PHIVOLCS held a consultation meeting with stakeholders with the aim to approve the PHIVOLCS Modernization Bill.
“So we are maximizing all the avenues to enrich the measure, to have a one substitute bill. So that by May 09, when we will be having our session, I think Members of Congress would like to have it in Plenary. But it’s up to Committee on Ways and Means and Committee on Appropriations. After that they hear these measure, we will be having a committee report. Then fortunately pagka we have this committee report, they will be subject in the plenary,” added Caballero.
