Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon on Wednesday ordered the immediate dredging of Talomo River and the elevation of a dike along its riverbanks to prevent the recurrence of a flood of the same scale as what happened here on Friday last week.
Dizon made the rounds in flood-affected communities on Wednesday to assess the extent of damage and impact of the massive flooding that submerged the villages of Los Amigos, Talomo Proper, Bangkal, and Matina as heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon battered the city, the bailiwick of the Duterte family.
During his visit here on Tuesday, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. instructed Dizon to stay behind and see what can be immediately done to address the recurrence of flooding in Davao.
Dizon arrived at Bangkal at past 8 a.m. on Wednesday and inspected the Taal Bailey Bridge. A day earlier, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) personnel worked overtime to clear the bridge of debris.
Massive debris, such as logs, blocked the waterway under the bridge, contributing to the swelling of the river, leading to flooding in Central Park Subdivision, NHA Bangkal, and Teachers Village.
Several homes near the Bailey Bridge were swept away by rampaging waters last July 24.
‘This is really infuriating because I was informed that this already happened in 2019. The last time that the river swelled was in 2019, although what happened last Friday was worse,’ Dizon said.
Unfinished project
Since that incident seven years ago, nothing was done to address the problem, he lamented.
Dizon also noted that the construction of elevated dikes on the banks of the river was not continued; hence, the protection it gave to the communities was haphazard. He cited that the floodwater was not as high in communities covered by elevated dikes.
Talomo and Bangkal experienced up to 2.43 meters (8 feet) of floodwaters, sending families to the roof of their houses while awaiting rescue.
‘I was really angry because the dike was already being raised by two meters, but the project was not finished. So I’m asking, ‘Why?’ They told me they don’t know. You see, the DPWH poured in billions of pesos in this city, and this project, based on my estimate, will not need much funding. This is not difficult to execute,’ Dizon told reporters in Filipino.
When the late Public Works Undersecretary Catalina Cabral appeared before an investigation of the House of Representatives last year, she confirmed that the agency had allocated some P51 billion for Davao City’s first district for three years. The district is represented in Congress by Rep. Paolo Duterte.
The Inquirer obtained documents of the allocations, which were contained in the General Appropriations Act in the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Of the P51 billion, some P11.4 billion was lodged with the district engineering office. At least P3.3 billion of the allocation to the district engineering office was for flood control projects.
The elevated dikes, Dizon said, may have required only P100 million to complete.
Masterplan vs floods
He ordered the DPWH regional officials to plan for dredging along the Talomo River.
He fumed upon knowing that the river had not been dredged in the past 10 years. ‘That means that every time water flowed down from the mountains, the water level in Talomo River kept rising. It becomes shallower,’ Dizon said.
He cited his interactions with residents who shared their experiences during the floods.
‘Can you imagine the trauma – that was 9 p.m. to midnight. You don’t know what to do; you don’t know how fast the floodwaters were rising,’ he said.
‘A grandmother told me that she almost sought refuge in her ceiling. Terrible. This is unacceptable. I mean … I’ve been with the DPWH for only 10 months, but when I hear these stories, I really get pissed and pushed to curse,’ he said.
Dizon said the DPWH would immediately look into a proposed masterplan to address flooding in the city that was formulated with the help of a study funded by the Japanese government. It was completed in 2023
He promised that government resources would be tapped to implement the masterplan