CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Gov. Lilia “Nanay Baby” Pineda on Tuesday appealed for the immediate clearing of the heavily silted Pampanga Bay to expedite the flow of floodwaters to the sea.
Pineda asked the Department of Public Works and Highways to prioritize the clearing operations at the stretch of Pampanga Bay in the towns of Macabebe and Masantol, which bore the brunt of floodings spawned by tropical storms Pedring and Quiel last week.
In Masantol, all 26 barangays have remained flooded since the onset of the rains of Typhoon Pedring.
Mayor Peter Flores described the floods in his town and nearby Macabebe as “the worst in four decades.”
“I haven’t seen a worst flood like this one in Masantol in my entire lifetime,” Flores quoted a 70-year-old constituent as saying.
Backflow
“The heavy volume of water which is supposed to flow out at the Pampanga Bay flows back to our towns as the bay is heavily silted. We are likely to suffer these floods for weeks and even months if the bay remains silted,” said Pineda.
The governor cited a report of the Pampanga River Basin Flood Forecasting and Warning System of the Department of Science and Technology that “there are 15 rivers along the Pampanga river basin that greatly contribute to the massive flooding on the low-lying areas in Pampanga and Bulacan.”
The floodwaters that ran through the Pampanga River came from the tributaries as well as several other rivers, including those in Aurora and Nueva Ecija.
Pineda said the DPWH and its regional office should “stop all other infrastructure projects in Pampanga and concentrate on the desilting of the clogged portion of the bay.”
“We must save lives, properties and the progressive business industry not just in Pampanga but also in Bulacan,” said Pineda, who has been leading the distribution of relief goods in the worst-hit towns of Masantol, Macabebe, Apalit, Candaba, San Simon, San Luis, Arayat, Apalit and Sto. Tomas since last week.
PamCham
Pampanga Chamber of Commerce Industry Inc. President Jim Jimenez agreed with the statements of Pineda that the DPWH should act immediately.
“But the governor could only do as much. It’s the national government which should really act fast and fund the multi-million projects to save Pampanga and Bulacan from floods,” said Jimenez.
The PamCham president appealed to President Aquino “to explore and tap experts” for the permanent solution to perennial flood problem in Pampanga and nearby provinces.
Pineda said she would seek authority from the sangunniang panlalawigan to allow private firms to desilt the downstream portion of the Gugu, Porac-Gumain, Pasig-Potrero and Abacan river channels.
“(The private firms) will not be levied fees for the filling materials because what’s important is for the river channels to be cleared immediately to complement the desilting of the Pampanga Bay,” said the governor.
She likewise proposed a summit of national government offices such as the DPWH, Department of Agriculture, DOST and Climate Change Commission to help farmers in Pampanga to “properly address the effects of climate change on their production.”
Pineda said at least 18,000 farmers in some 29,000 hectares farmland had been affected by flood.
She also cited the study of the National Water Resource Board that the lack of trees, the degradation of watersheds, increased in sediment load, and damages caused by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo and overuse of ground water that loosens soil contributed to the flooding.
Pineda said the P10-million study sponsored by Manny V. Pangilinan of the Maynilad Water Services to tap rivers as sources of potable water “is most timely and assumes greater urgency” with the current situation in Pampanga.
Some 100,000 families or 450,000 residents have been affected by the floods, the worst affected are the 35,000 families living along the stretch of the Pampanga River from Arayat to Masantol.
Five fatalities are recorded in the province.
