Delayed infra projects add to survivors’ woes

HOMELESS A resident of Battalan village in Lasam town loses his family’s house after Typhoon “Ompong” battered Cagayan province on Saturday. —PHOTOS BY RICHARD A. REYES

LASAM, Cagayan — Residents of Nabannagan West here witnessed the worst flooding in their community in decades on Saturday, when Typhoon “Ompong” (international name: Mangkhut) battered northern Luzon, dumping heavy rain in areas along its path.

But the flooding was not much about the typhoon as villagers blamed the unfinished irrigation canal that blocked runoff water from the Zinundungan River, and which overflowed on rice fields and residential areas in the subvillage of Butac.

“We did not get threats of flooding, until they started constructing that irrigation project. It has been two years, yet, it is still not finished,” said rice farmer Edmar Butac, 41.

In 2016, that same project blocked water flow during the onslaught of Supertyphoon “Lawin” (international name: Haima) but residents averted flooding because men in the community were able to remove the soil blocking the waterway.

“This time, since the winds of Ompong were too strong, we cannot risk to go out in the field anymore,” he said.

But Benjamin Rivera, National Irrigation Administration project engineer, said the Zinundungan irrigation project could not be blamed for the flooding in Nabannagan West.

“The waterways were not opened, so the irrigation canal had no water running. It was really the swelling of the Zinundungan River that caused the flooding,” he said.

He admitted, however, that the project had suffered delays because of the rains that often poured in the area in July and August.

Delayed projects

In Baggao, the worst-hit town where Ompong made landfall, delayed road reblocking and bridge projects added to the difficulty of reaching the old town center at Barangay San Jose and other interior villages.

An unfinished flood protection project at Barangay Asassi made travel to and from typhoon-ravaged villages difficult.

Two bridges that were being built had muddy, almost impassable detour roads.

Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials admitted that road and bridge projects in Baggao suffered delays because of the threats of insurgency in the area.

Baggao is an interior upland town, which straddles the Sierra Madre mountain ranges.

“Contractors cannot go full-blast with their work because they constantly get threats from unidentified callers, asking for supposed revolutionary taxes,” said Jose Tobias Jr., DPWH regional construction chief.

TWISTED METAL Power transmission towers at Barangay Baybayog in Alcala town, Cagayan province, are no match for the typhoon’s swirling winds.

Power situation

Some residents wondered what measures government agencies undertook to make power lines more “typhoon-proof” when these were replaced after Lawin hit the province in 2016.

“We keep getting beaten up by typhoons, and agencies keep replacing them. But people suffer weeks in darkness while lines are being restored, putting us in some sort of a vicious cycle,” said Tuguegarao resident Patricia Gumabay of Barangay Caritan Norte.

According to officials of the Cagayan Electric Cooperative, it will take four weeks before power is restored in all of the typhoon-hit areas in the province.

National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) spokesperson Lilibeth Gaydowen said it could take repair crews until Sept. 24 to bring back power to all of its lines, with their Tuguegarao to Santa Ana line suffering the heaviest damage.

She said the NGCP towers that were toppled in Alcala town were inactive lines, and did not have an immediate impact on Cagayan’s power situation.