BAGUIO CITY — Baguio City Planning, Development and Sustainability Office head Architect Donna R. Tabangin stressed the need to give more focus to disaster prevention and mitigation to build long-term urban resilience.

During a policy presentation addressing the city's Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP), Tabangin observed that allocations and efforts remain heavily skewed toward disaster response and relief, pointing out that investing more proactively in mitigation is essential for community safety.

Tabangin introduced a systems view of urban development, explaining that all five sectors must function as an integrated whole to manage future risks effectively. These five interconnected components comprise physical and environmental systems covering green areas, watersheds, forests and ecological corridors; social systems dealing with housing, education, social protection and public spaces; economic systems focused on innovation, tourism and enterprises; infrastructure encompassing transportation, water, sanitation, energy and digital networks; and governance systems that remain participatory, transparent and evidence-based. She noted that disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation are embedded across all these sectors, requiring different municipal offices to collaborate on project portfolios rather than operate in silos.

To prioritize local safety measures accurately, the city consulted engineers, geologists and academicians to weigh the five primary hazards confronting Baguio. While many residents assume seismic activity poses the highest threat, professional assessments place landslides as the city's primary risk, followed by earthquakes, floods, sinkholes and forest fires. Tabangin stressed that structural and spatial planning must directly account for landslide vulnerabilities, while building designs must integrate strict seismic considerations.

Addressing specific infrastructure gaps, Tabangin highlighted the absence of a comprehensive drainage master plan, which leaves the city vulnerable to flooding worsened by urban developments built over natural drainage pathways. She also called for thorough geologic and geotechnical studies in areas sitting atop sinkholes to determine whether residents can safely mitigate the risks or require relocation. Regarding forest fires, she warned that residential zones directly abut forested areas without adequate buffer zones, heightening the potential for fires to spread into communities.

A multi-hazard risk profile presented during the discussion revealed that 42 percent of Baguio's land falls under high multi-hazard risk, while 34 percent faces moderate risk, leaving minimal territory categorized as low or very low risk.

Tabangin said that prioritizing preventive structural measures, comprehensive mapping and cross-departmental coordination is an absolute necessity to protect residents and guide the city's sustainable growth toward 2043.