Kristine destroys 17 roads, bridges

MANILA, Philippines — Up to 17 major roads and bridges nationwide remain closed to traffic due to heavy damage they sustained from Severe Tropical Storm Kristine last week, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The DPWH said the roads and bridges are impassable to all types of vehicles due to rocks and mudslides, floods, toppled power posts, silt and collapsed pavements.

These infrastructure are located in the Cordilleras, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Western Visayas.

As of 6 a.m. yesterday, Ilocos, Calabarzon and Bicol have one major bridge each that remained closed to motorists.

The DPWH said access to 13 major road sections remained limited – one in the Cordilleras, two in Calabarzon and 10 in Bicol – due to road slips, flooding, damaged reinforced concrete pipe culverts and washed-out surface materials.

Other roads and bridges in the typhoon-affected regions are passable to all types of vehicles, the DPWH said.

As this developed, DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said that engineering solutions alone could not solve the massive flooding that the country has been experiencing.

Bonoan said a wholistic approach is needed to solve the problem caused by super typhoons entering the Philippine area of responsibility every year.

He said solving flood problems similar to what occurred recently in Camarines Sur and Batangas should be a responsibility not only of the DPWH, but also of agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as well as local government units.

He said aside from applying engineering solutions, other sectors should help manage flood control efforts.

Meanwhile, President Marcos ordered the DPWH to revisit and possibly revive the shelved Bicol River Basin Development Program (BRBDP) that his late father initiated in 1973.

The BRBDP covers 963 barangays in 50 municipalities and cities in Albay, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.

During a visit to Bicol, Marcos assured local officials that the government would address the perennial flooding in the region by possibly reviving the shelved flood mitigation program.

The late president Ferdinand Marcos launched the BRBDP in 1973, but the program was discontinued when Corazon Aquino became president in 1986. — Delon Porcalla