TABUK CITY, Kalinga – The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) will spend P5.5B in the next five years to stop once and for all the flooding from the Chico River which have been threatening lives and destroying agricultural lands and government infrastructure in 16 barangays of this city and five barangays in Pinukpuk, this province, through the years.
During typhoon Lawin in 2016 alone, flood from the river destroyed some 87.5 hectares of prime rice lands which were either eroded or silted, the Tabuk City agricultural office had reported.
Congressman Allen Jesse Mangaoang who initiated the project said that a lot of money has been spent on stop gap measures to control the flooding through the years to no avail and it is high time that a permanent solution be put in place.
“If the problem is not addressed now, the affected residents will continue to suffer,” the solon said.
Mangaoang said the project proposal he presented to Secretary Mark Villar sometime last November was backed up by drone footages taken before and after typhoon Lawin last year which showed the devastating effect of the typhoon.
Mangaoang said that during the presentation to Villar, the estimated cost was P3.5B-P4B but after the plans were completed, the final cost reached P5.5B, the amount eventually approved by Villar. The funding will be released on a multi-year basis.
Mangaoang said that the main component of the project is a 300 meter-wide channel from barangay Calanan, this city, all the way to barangay Camalog of Pinukpuk, Kalinga 18 kilometers away.
Mangaoang said that apart from stopping the flooding, the project will reclaim previously eroded lands between the channel and the titled property line and that this will be used for tourism, ecotourism and as sites for government facilities including an airstrip.
He said that the road network component of the project will provide the public with alternative arteries from one end of the channel to the other as well as enable the barangays to control and earn their fair share from quarrying activities in their respective areas.
Mangaoang said that with the release of an initial funding of P130M, the project was already started last August
Mangaoang declared a “substantial amount” will be released for the project in 2018 and that by 2022, the project will have been completed.
Engr. Eugene Michael Espita, assistant chief for Planning Section of the Lower Kalinga District Engineering Office, informed that the feasibility study and design of the project were jointly prepared by the district and the Unified Project Management Office-Flood Control Management Cluster of the DPWH central office.
He said that as designed, the easement megadike will be 300 meter-wide at the bottom and will be seven meters in height.
He added that an eight-inch thick concrete revetment protected by steel sheet piles will form the walls of the channel. Three meters of the steel sheet piles will be driven into the earth.
He said that as planned, silt in the channel will form the embankment.
Meanwhile, farmers in the low lying barangays along the river who have felt most the wrath of the Chico River are elated by the approval of the multi-billion project calling it the an answer to their prayers.
They, however, expressed the wish that the project will be properly implemented.
Antonio Paguel, Jr., president of the Cabaruan-Sucbot Irrigator’s Association, whose family had lost a total of five hectares to the floods through the years said that Tabuk people should make the most of this chance to control the river because if they do not, the national government may no longer give them another opportunity.
Barangay Captain Antonio Bonilla, vice president of the Janfar Mantar IA which manages the irrigation system serving some portions of the farmlands in Appas, Magsaysay, Dagupan Weste, Laya West and Cabaruan said that the project is a very positive development “if it will be constructed properly.”
“The plan is good. Let’s hope that the funds will all be used for the project,” Bonilla said in Ilocano.
He said that some 20 hectares of ricelands in the barangay have been ruined by the river in the last 10 years adding that he is looking forward to the reclamation of this area.**Estanislao Albano, Jr.
