Megadike breach fuels lahar fears

MINALIN, Pampanga — Reelected Rep. Juan Pablo Bondoc of this province’s fourth district and newly elected Mayor Edgar Flores expressed fears yesterday for the safety of folk in San Fernando, Sto. Tomas, and this town after they found a 20-meter breach at the anti-lahar "tail dike" at the lower section of the megadike at the dangerous Pasig-Potrero river.

Bondoc and Flores invited engineers of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to inspect the damaged section of the 15-kilometer tail dike in the area of Sta. Rita town.

Engineers said that the breaching must have occurred during the almost daily rains that hit wide areas of this province last week.

"Unless the damaged section is repaired immediately, the next heavy rains would expose wide areas in San Fernando, Minalin, and Sto. Tomas to either lahar flows or strong water currents from the Pasig-Potrero," Bondoc said.

The dike, an appendage to the U-shaped, P1.4-billion megadike at the Pasig-Potrero, is still being completed by the R-II construction firm from foreign and local funds.

Engineer Jo Gabriel of the DPWH’s Mt. Pinatubo Emergency Project Management Office assured Bondoc that he would repair the damage immediately.

Earlier, lahar expert Kelvin Rodolfo, a consultant of the National Institute of Geological Sciences (NIGS), said that the pathway of the Pasig-Potrero has again changed towards the area of San Fernando. — Ding Cervantes