Landscapes, old and new (2)

A. Paulita Roa .

THERE is an interesting study made by a team of geologists coming from the National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS) – University of the Philippines that came out in 1998, a good 20 years ago. After studying the sedimentation patterns and its dispersal along the coast of Macajalar Bay, the team came out with their findings  about the city’s landscape that is quite startling.

The findings show that the present coastal area of the city is not the same as it was centuries ago due to the rapid sedimentation towards the coast brought by our rivers that it formed a new stretch of land (Siringan, et al., 1998).

At the City Museum, there is a big map of the city on the second floor that was taken by a Russian satellite. It shows portions of the land on both sides of Cagayan River. Several old timers said that decades ago, the river was wide and looked forbidding but in that photo, the river has narrowed considerably. The dark areas along the banks indicate that the land were once a part of the river but are now covered with land.

In 2011, when typhoon “Sendong” struck the city, these dark areas notably in Macasandig, Balulang and other places along the river were engulfed with waters with such force that people and houses were swept away. It was as if the waters came to reclaim the areas that are very much a part of the river.

And are you ready for this?

According to the study, the present site of the St. Agustine Cathedral is located five kilometers from the bay. However, this was not so in the 16th to 17th century C.E. because the shoreline was only a hundred meters from the church (Siringan, et al., 1998).

The findings suggest that a good portion of the city may have been underwater for a very long time. So, the volcanoes of yore and the rivers that regularly brought in the loose soil and stones or sediments to our land as it wind its way to the bay – both sculpted our present landscape and its environs.

So, is it a good idea to allow multi-story buildings to sprout around the city that was once under the sea? Just asking!

Another interesting observation is that long before the Spanish conquistadores came to our shores in 1521, the banks or lapyahan of the Cagayan River was in the level of Capistrano St. so with the lapyahan in the Macasandig area it could be found in Tomas Saco St. This explains why the streets that transect Capistrano St. slope down to Burgos St. which is near the river. And we heard from the survivors of the 2011 Sendong who lived in Macasandig that they ran for their lives to Tomas Saco St. as the floodwaters covered the roofs of their houses. It could be that a good part of this barangay is part of the old river bed.

Although it is very important that we must take good care of our environment, it is equally important that we must be  knowledgeable on how our landscapes were formed and how it evolved to its present state because it can help solve the problem of flooding in the city as well as help to avert any disaster that  may struck the city that is brought about by typhoons.