BAGUIO CITY — A technical expert here noted that Cordillerans should start having concern about climate change and its impact since his scientific prediction showed landslides in the future will greatly affect at least 143,000 hectares in the different parts of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The study which was completed by Dr. Esteban Celeste Godilllano, global information system technical adviser of the Department of Agriculture (DA), cited the Cordillera has the highest area covered by predicted landslide occurrence in the coming years because of the serious negative effects of climate change.

Based on the findings of the study, Benguet is one of the top five provinces in the country which are susceptible to landslides together with Zambales, Nueva Vizcaya, Samar and Pangasinan.

The study, which was submitted to the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in the Cordillera for inclusion in future local planning, also warned the Filipinos of alleged mass drought that can affect almost 13 million hectares in the entire country in the coming months including Mindanao, which is considered as the food basket of the country.

Godillano explained the drought will have direct impact to Cordillerans because the scenario threatens the country’s food security and poverty alleviation programs of the national government.

At the same time, this city is most likely to suffer most when the country starts to experience the effects of climate change since people will prefer to stay in this mountain resort city because of the presence of economic activities.

However, Juan Ngalob, NEDA-CAR regional director, disagreed with earlier contentions that people in far-flung communities have low level of awareness on climate change and its effects, saying all efforts are now being undertaken by concerned agencies to simplify technical terms on climate change for the masses to easily understand.

He asserted local governments must incorporate in their local development plans climate change adaptation and disaster risk management measures in order to avert whatever serious negative effects of global warming to the people in the countryside.

According to him, addressing climate change is a doable act provided the people will actively participate and cooperate with the different stakeholders in the formulation of plans and programs to prevent worst case scenarios that could happen in the future.