Climate change adaptation study starts in Pampanga’s coastal town

(From left) Dr. Nathaniel Alibuyog, CCC-National Panel of Technical Experts; Masantol, Pampanga Mayor Dan Guintu; Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez; Climate Change Commission Secretary Robert E. A. Borje; and Dr. Patricia Sanchez, CCC-National Panel of Technical Experts during a dialogue on March 29 with residents and leaders of Barangay Sapang Kawayan in Masantol town, Pampanga province. (Contributed photo)

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez on Tuesday began a series of community dialogues in Masantol, Pampanga province to kick off a study on climate change adaptation in the coastal town located downstream of the Pampanga River.

Dominguez, chair of the Climate Change Commission (CCC), met with residents and leaders in Barangay Sapang Kawayan and heard their observations on how the floods have worsened and how their livelihood from fishing has declined, CCC head Sec. Robert Borje said in a phone interview.

Borje said a panel of experts would “regularly work every two weeks” in Masantol for three months to get a “scientific viewpoint” of the situation and pilot a program there.

Former Rep. Anna York Bondoc of Pampanga’s fourth district said newly built roads in Masantol subside or are damaged after five months.

She also said that fish kills would often occur in ponds.

The national government had reduced flooding in the 1930s by diking, and in the 1990s, widening the delta by 750 meters through a Japanese loan. The Korean government has funded flood-control work since 2018.

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