Pampanga floods to remain till Dec. unless...

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Unless clogged local waterways are dredged, flooding in 77 barangays in the province’s 10 towns will remain until December, the provincial disaster coordinating council (PDCC) said yesterday.

President Arroyo earlier promised to deploy the Navy’s Seabees engineering corps to dredge the Guagua-Pasac River, the main channel of inland floodwaters into the Manila Bay. Officials, however, said the dredging has not begun.

Alfredo Tolentino, regional director of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), said he has proposed a P278-million funding for the dredging which will start at the mouth of the Guagua-Pasac River.

Mrs. Arroyo said during her recent visit here to distribute relief goods to flood victims that some P100 million of a total P500 million would be released soon for the dredging.

Reliable sources, however, said Malacañang has asked the Natural Resources Development Corp. (NRDC), the corporate arm of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), to raise funds for the dredging.

The NRDC collects a P300 fee for each truckload of lahar sand hauled in Central Luzon, mostly in Pampanga. The agency, however, reportedly has a deficit of about P20 million.

The DPWH though has begun desilting some waterways in San Fernando, Minalin and nearby towns which drain into the Guagua-Pasac River.

Dr. Emmanuel Guanlao, PDCC head, said flooding in Pampanga still affects 47,661 families or 242,429 people in San Fernando, Minalin, Masantol, Sto. Tomas, Apalit, Candaba, Guagua, Sasmuan, San Simon and Mexico.

Meanwhile, provincial board member Rustico Maliwant urged provincial engineers to put up guideposts along a 300-meter flooded section of the highway from Sto. Domingo, Mexico to San Luis town which has remained under three feet of floodwaters.