PROTECTED AREAS DECLARATION ACT: Sen. Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, presides over a public hearing Tuesday, July 8, on the proposed Protected Areas Declaration Act of 2013 (Senate Bill No. 1901) aimed at designating parcels of land as protected areas and buffer zones pursuant to the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act. Legarda reiterated her call to local government units (LGUs) to use geohazard maps to reduce disaster risks and to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to ensure that local officials understand the details in these maps. "In many instances in the past, natural hazards turned into major disasters because of the lack of understanding of the geohazard maps. Communities were built on landslide prone areas and other danger zones because they were not aware of the risks," Legarda said. (PRIB Photo by Albert Calvelo/08 July 2014)