CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Department of Public Works and Highway in Region III vowed to divert and re-open the original water-flow in the upper stream – from Gugu River to Pasig Portrero River and dredge the Labuan, Camachile- Ventura and Dalan Pari Rivers in the downstream as an ultimate solution to save the towns of Minalin, Sto Tomas, Bacolor and the City of San Fernando from inundation and destruction especially during the height of calamities.
Regional Director Antonio Molano, Jr of the DPWH also assured the riverside mayors in a briefing held at the Regional Office of the department, that the DPWH is a strong partner of the local government units in saving the people from any danger through the rehabilitation, restoration of the tail dike, re-channelling of water flows and dredging of the silted portions of the riverbed.
“Magkakampi po tayo sa laban na ito, hindi po tayo magkalaban,” Molano told the mayors.
Relative to this, Molano said the Mount Pinatubo Emergency (MPE) will concentrate in the dredging of Labuan,Camachile-Ventura and Dalan Pari creeks starting from Pasac in the Sasmuan side and the diversion of the water flow to Pasig Potrero upstream of the Gugu transverse dike using the P637-million funds.
The Pasig-Potrero River is closed upstream inside the Megadike and water is forced to flow to the left through the Gugu River.
Molano added the DPWH regional office will work on the heightening, widening and concrete armoring of the existing tail dike plus the restoration of the breached and eroded sections of the same dike using the P139-million funds approved by the department.
It was also observed that Gugu creek flows to the Dalan Pari creek, another creek beside the tail dike. The nearness of these creeks to the tail dike is the real caused for the scouring and breaching of the tail dike.
Dalan Pari creek is supposed to flow out to the Sasmuan River through the Labuan River but this body of water is blocked.
It can be noted that there is an existing massive flooding in this city, Minalin, Sto Tomas, Macabebe and Masantol due to tremendous amounts of water coming from the Porac River flowing into the Megadike and downstream.
Floodwaters trapped in the tail dike dam which cannot exit the Sasmuan River via the Labuan River overtopped, scoured and breached the tail dike – the reason for the massive flooding in the said towns and city.
Congressman Juan Pablo Rimpy Bondoc of the 4th district said the solutions to address the flooding caused by floodwaters coming from Porac and Gugu creeks are the dredging of the Third River, maintenance of the Dalan Pari Creek to Labuan River and redirect the flow of water upstream in Porac into the Pasig Potrero River and away from Gugu Creek.
On the part of Mayor Edwin Santiago, he wants the full rehabilitation of the Gugu dike and make a concrete armoring of its both sides.
Mayor Edgardo Flores, for his part, wants the DPWH to assure them that the available funds allocated for the said projects is enough to finish the project before rainy season next year.
“It’s ideal to request for additional funds as early as now to make sure that everything is in place rather than requesting for it in the future when rains and floodwaters are here again. We are expressing this to let you feel that we are serious to save our town. And we don’t want to finger point or blame anyone in the end,” Flores added.
Mayor Jomar Hizon of Bacolor expressed alarm that the heightening of the tail dike will become a life threatening for the people of barangay Cabalantian and the rest of the villages in his town.
“The heightening of the tail dike by two meters will mean ten feet high of floodwaters in Bacolor and it is life threatening. The town of Bacolor and its people had already suffered too much in the past and we do not want it to happen again. I am appealing to DPWH please revisit and make a full study on this before working on it” he said.
Hizon states article 637 of the Civil Code which says “Lower estates are obliged to receive the waters which naturally and without the intervention of man descend from the higher estates, as well as the stones or earth which they carry with them. The owner of the lower estate cannot construct works which will impede this easement; neither can the owner of the higher estate make works which will increase the burden.
BY JOEL P. MAPILES
