Delay in Tarlac River dike repair bewailed

GERONA, Tarlac — Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane saw for himself last Friday the threat posed by the ruined portions of the Tarlac River dike to Tarlac’s northern towns.

Local officials warned of the "horrible disaster" that may befall Tarlac during the rainy season due to the failure of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to repair washed-out portions of the Tarlac River’s concrete embankments, particularly in Barangay Colibangbang in Paniqui town.

Ebdane visited the region to inspect major government infrastructure projects in Pampanga, Tarlac and Pangasinan.

In August last year, portions of the Tarlac River dike in Barangay Malayep here and in Barangay Colibangbang in neighboring Paniqui collapsed as the waterway swelled due to heavy rains.

This caused massive flooding not only in Paniqui, but also in adjoining Ramos and Moncada towns and in some parts of San Manuel.

Hundreds of villagers in Paniqui and Moncada were rendered homeless and thousands of hectares of palay crops were destroyed. At least 10 people died.

While the repair of the ruined portion of the river’s dike in Malayep is nearing completion, there has been no significant action on the nearly one-kilometer long washed-out portion in Colibangbang, Paniqui Mayor Elpidio Ibarra lamented.

Ibarra complained that the contractor tapped by the DPWH’s Agno River Flood Control Project (ARFCP) to repair the Colibangbang portion merely excavated lahar deposits from the riverbed and piled them on the embankment.

Should the Tarlac River swell anew during heavy rainfall, Ibarra said the mounds of lahar would just be washed out to the farmlands, even reaching Paniqui’s downtown area.

Ebdane admitted that there is a need to further reinforce the Tarlac River’s embankments than just merely "patching" the damaged portions.

He said this can only be addressed when the ARFCP’s second package, specifically its second phase funded by a P1.256-billion loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), is implemented.

The project, however, is stalled by legal questions over its contract which the Supreme Court has yet to resolve.

Ebdane said the DPWH’s ARFCP has been tasked "to solve the inundation problems" along the entire stretch of the Agno River from the slopes of the Cordillera mountains to the plains of Pangasinan and the Tarlac River, which serves as a catchbasin of floodwaters cascading from the western mountains of Central Luzon.

The Agno and Tarlac rivers are linked by the Poponto swamp in Bayambang, Pangasinan. Water from the two rivers finds its way to the Lingayen Gulf through the Wawa River.

Ebdane said the contested contract involves flood control work in the Tarlac River in the towns of Paniqui, Moncada and Gerona, and in the Poponto swamp.

The completed first phase involved improvements in parts of the Agno River in Pangasinan, according to engineer Philip Meñez, ARFCP director.

Ebdane said he has sent a letter to Chief Justice Hilario Davide requesting an early ruling on the case because the JBIC has threatened to withdraw the P1.256-billion loan for the contested project due to the delay in its implementation.