DPWH sets dredging of Pampanga River

MINALIN, PAMPANGA—Public Works Secretary Mark Villar on Thursday said a dredging equipment would be deployed this month to remove the silt at the mouth of the Pampanga River to quickly drain out floodwater to Manila Bay.

Villar said the dredger would be put to work in the coastal towns of Masantol and Macabebe.

The level of silt in those downstream areas is higher than Manila Bay, so river water tends to flow back, according to government engineers and fishermen.

Pampanga River, spanning 265 kilometers from the Caraballo mountains, drains 30 river systems in Central Luzon. At least 245 villages in the region, mostly in Pampanga province, have been experiencing uninterrupted flooding since June.

Students in Masantol and Macabebe have lost two months of classes due to the floods, Macabebe Mayor Annette Balgan said.

Palliative measure

The dredging is a palliative measure, according to Public Works Undersecretary Emil Sadain, operations chief of the united project management office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

The agency’s next step is to widen the mouth of the river by another 100 meters, Sadain said.

Villar was here with  Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to open the two Pasac-Culcul bridges that connect Pampanga’s fourth district to the second district.  —TONETTE OREJAS