The hard work begins! Earthquake changes lives, building designs, villages

MAKILALA, North Cotabato  - If moving to a new address seems difficult, imagine what it would be like to uproot one whole village and relocate everything - barangay hall, health center and schools - to an area outside its political territory.

In the case of the town of Makilala, it will not just one community which needs to be relocated but at least half of the number of villages most of which were built in the hills around Mt. Apo.

I was in Makilala yesterday and saw the town's hazard map drawn by the local government unit using data from Phivolcs.

It showed that almost two-thirds of Makilala are in high-risk zones.

Landslides and fissures in the areas prompted Phivolcs to declare many areas as "No Go" or "No Build" zones.

This is the biggest post-earthquake challenge that the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) is working right now.

MinDA workers are gathering data so that after the relief work is done, a plan on how to rebuild the lives of people affected by the earthquake would be ready and submitted to the national government for consideration.

It will not only include building new houses but also providing livelihood for those who were uprooted from their communities and moved to safe areas.

The house designs and livelihood will also take into consideration the fact that even the new relocation areas would still be vulnerable to strong tremors.

This will not be an easy task but in coordination with other agencies, this could be undertaken fast.