Lacson: New high-resolution maps are ‘for the future generations’, not just for Yolanda areas

Rehabilitation Czar Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

MANILA — The Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR) Secretary Panfilo Lacson has seen a promising opportunity in the acquisition of high-resolution maps as he noted that these maps do not only cover Yolanda-stricken areas but also “for the future generations” to come.

During the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) signing held Tuesday in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, OPARR has signed a deal with the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) represented by Undersecretary Peter Tiangco for their provision of high resolution maps in support of government development planning particularly in post-Yolanda rehabilitation.

Under the said agreement, NAMRIA will be providing updated digital and cartographically enhanced large scale topographic base maps with 1:10,000 scale as part of the agency’s function in multi-hazard mapping.

Lacson said that previous maps which have 1:50,000 scale are “not accurate” as compared with the newly-acquired high-resolution maps with 1:10,000 scale that enables planners to clearly see what is on the ground, thus fast-tracking the government development planning.

As of now, there are two geo-hazard maps provided by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) which identifies safe and unsafe zones during storm surge and floods, Lacson shared.

High-resoultion maps are said to be the essential instruments for proper and effective land-use planning and policies especially in post-Yolanda wherein vast hectares of land must be identified as safe or unsafe for the rebuilding of homes and establishment of infrastructures.