Central Luzon Flood Mitigation Project Gets Support

Central Luzon legislators and local officials on Friday thrown their support to an $1 million flood mitigation project which seeks to curb flooding in Pampanga and Bulacan, reports the Philippine News Agency (PNA).

The meeting was presided by House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, upon receiving information that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is set to bid the feasibility study for the program on October 11, which include the construction of the stalled Pampanga Delta Development Project (PDDP) 2.

The meeting was held in the light of massive destruction to crops and infrastructures brought by flash floods due to Typhoon Ompong that inundated huge areas in the region.

Arroyo said that the subject of the new proposal is actually the Phase 2, the first one called Pampanga Delta Development Project (PDDP) Flood Control Component being already undertaken while the Phase 3 that will cover flood path from Gabaldon and Rizal towns in Nueva Ecija to Arayat, Pampanga would come in 2019.

The DPWH, meanwhile, identified flood-prone areas in Central Luzon as affected by Lingayen Bay, Agno River and Pampanga River Basin as Moncada and Paniqui in Tarlac; Mt. Arayat, Mt. Pinatubo, Angeles City, San Fernando City and Lubao, all in Pampanga; Calumpit and Malolos City, both in Bulacan; and Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija.

The short-term plan includes the dredging of Calisi, San Gabriel and Balara Rivers, and the installation of a floodgate at Mouth of Bebe-Anac Channel.

The long term, on the other hand, include the construction of dike on both banks of Pampanga River;

• implementation of the Pampanga Delta Phase II;
• West Pampanga (six municipalities) Flood Control Project;
• 40-kilometer dike with tidal gates.