Oriental Mindoro, Quezon rivers need desilting, says OCD exec

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna — The regional head of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) batted yesterday for the desilting of two rivers in Oriental Mindoro and another in Quezon to prevent a repeat of the heavy floodings now hounding many parts of the two provinces.

"These floodings will just happen again and again if we do not fix the main problem, the silted rivers," said OCD-Region 4 director Armando Duque, citing the Bucayao and Mag-asawang Tubig rivers in Naujan and Calapan City, respectively, and the Maapon River in Quezon.

Aside from the rivers’ being heavy silted, there are also obstructions such as illegally constructed houses, he said.

"All these factors, plus the heavy and continued downpour and the flow of rainwater from Mt. Halcon, greatly contributed to this massive flooding in Calapan City and neighboring towns," he added.

Duque noted local authorities have realized the problem and have ordered the immediate dredging of the rivers.

Mindoro residents heaved a sigh of relief yesterday after their electricity was restored.

Duque said floodwaters in Calapan have started to recede and some evacuees have returned to their homes.

He said the only problem they encountered yesterday was the huge number of Calapan-bound commuters who were stranded at the Batangas City port. 

"They cannot cross the nautical highway from Calapan to Naujan because of the deep floodwaters," he said.

The Department of Public Works and Highways has closed two major roads in Oriental Mindoro to vehicular traffic due to heavy flooding. — With Edu Punay and Jaime Laude