ANGELES CITY – The city government blamed the poor drainage system near Bayanihan Park in Barangay Balibago here which causes floods during heavy downpour.
The portion along McArthur Highway is connected to the road going to the main gate of the Clark Freeport.
City Administrator Atty. Dennis Albert Pamintuan on Tuesday lamented the lack of storm inlets and poorly designed drainage system along McArthur Highway. This has caused flash floods in most areas in the city on Sunday evening during a one-hour heavy rain.
It affected the business and residential areas here, including the posh Diamond subdivision where several entertainment establishments operate.
Pamintuan assailed the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) for failing to ask the SM City Clark to add inlets in the area.
For his part, Engr. Teresito Tiotuyco, assistant vice president for operations and technical services, blamed clogged inlets and canals for the flash floods that also affected villages near the Angeles University Foundation on Sunday at about 8:00 p.m. The AUF is about a kilometer away from the Bayanihan Park.
He said the pipe culverts measuring 1.8 meters or 6th feet made by the contractors of the SM Clark “are big enough.” The pipe culverts drain the water up to the Balibago Creek which is connected to the Abacan River.
Tiotuyco said the CDC under its new president and CEO, Atty. Felipe Antonio Remollo, is willing to sit down and come out with a solution to the problem beneficial to all parties concerned.
He cited projects in the past here and nearby Mabalacat when the CDC funded road and flood mitigation system.
In a statement, Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan said he had directed City Engineer Donato Dizon to link the city’s drainage system to the main pipes of the CDC/SM Clark so that water will not stay long on the streets, Diamond and Severina subdivisions.
“Flash floods per se abnormally dumps tons and tons of rainwater, and so knee deep of water in Angeles and elsewhere,” added the mayor.
He disclosed that the height difference between the main gate and area near Bayanihan Park is about eight feet.
Remollo has yet to issue a statement but told Punto that the CDC and SM Clark officials met on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the issue on drainage system in the area.
