anti-flood. Men and machines rush repair of the transverse dike in the FVR Megadike system as part of the anti-flooding measures the Department of Public Works and Highways is currently undertaking in Pampanga.
Photo by Bong Lacson
MALOLOS CITY—The Central Luzon Regional Development Council (RDC) denied reports that the Pampanga River Basin (PRB) flood control project has no funds.
This came as the RDC met in full council at the Heroes Hall in the City of San Fernando on Thursday.
The said meeting is the last presided by RDC Chair Oscar Rodriguez, the outgoing mayor of the said city who was elected congressman last May and is said to be a “friend of the President.”
“It’s not true, the President (Aquino) allocated P5 billion in funds for the various projects related to PRB flood control last year,” said Rodriguez in an interview after the 9th RDC full Council Meeting.
He said that as resident of Central Luzon, the President is also concerned with the development of the region which is threatened by perennial floods.
Rodriguez also said that some of the components of the PRB flood control projects in the region have been started in Bulacan and Pampanga.
The same was echoed by Severino Santos, director of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) in Central Luzon.
As vice-chair of the RDC, Santos explained that the components of the PRB flood control project include rehabilitation of the giant Angat Dam, along with repair of Bustos and Bulo dams also in Bulacan.
He also said that the P2.2-billion Valenzuela-Obando-Meycauayan flood control project is also part of the PRB.
Santos added that proposed dredging at the Labangan Channel floodway which Bulacan Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado said was allocated with P100 million in funds, is also part of the PRB.
He also explained that dredging on Labangan Channel which slices through the towns of Calumpit, Paombong and Hagonoy in Bulacan is part of the larger plan to revive the Phase II of the stalled Pampanga Delta Development Project (PDDP-II) which will be renamed Bulacan Floodway Project.
In Pampanga, Santos said that the proposed Pinatubo Hazard Urgent Mitigation Project (PHUMP) of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), is also part of the PRB flood control project.
Along with PHUMP is the Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation (IDRR-CCDA) which will involve the excavation and dredging of the 23-kilometer stretch of the western branch of the Pampanga Third River,and the 10-kilometer stretch of its eastern branch.
Also included in the IDRR-CCA is the improvement of the flow in the 11-kilometer Caduang Tete and Sapang Maragul Rivers in Pampanga.
As this developed, Alvarado insisted on the revival of the Pampanga Rive Control System, a division of the DPWH.
He said that before the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, the PRCS had managed rivers in Central Luzon through regular dredging.
However, it stopped and its equipment were transferred to the Mount Pinatubo Emergency Project Management Office (MPE-PMO).
The governor also said that revival of the PRCS is important in flood management in the region.
