Cost of Cebu City flood study: P68M

AN EATERY owner tries to remove floodwater from his place following heavy rain in Cebu City last week. JUNJIE MENDOZA/CEBU DAILY NEWS

CEBU CITY—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Central Visayas will spend P68 million on a study to find solutions to flooding in the city, a move prompted by one of the city’s worst floods last week.

Marie Nillama, DPWH regional information officer, said the money would come from the department’s Preliminary Detailed Engineering Funds (PDEF).

Nillama said a bidding would be conducted for the study “like any government project.”

She said the DPWH agreed to have the study conducted after a request made by the Metro Cebu Development Board (MCDB) for measures to be taken against overflowing rivers and flooding during heavy rain.

Gov. Hilario Davide III, MCDB chair, made the request in April but the DPWH central office agreed to it only in August, according to Nillama.

City suffering

The city was swamped by flood after six hours of rain last week. Half of the city and some parts of Cebu province were submerged in floodwater.

Although El Niño is projected to hit the country in November, the weather bureau based on Mactan Island said there is a possibility that Cebu might experience strong typhoons instead of a dry spell.

“We have experienced that before,” said engineer Oscar Tabada, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) director based in Mactan.

“Remember [Typhoon] ‘Ondoy’?,” he said. “It happened end of the year. These typhoons will be strong. I can’t say it will be like [Supertyphoon] ‘Yolanda’ but it (storm wind) will be more than 150 kph,” Tabada said.

He urged local officials and disaster councils to be prepared for strong typhoons and be able to give their constituents ample warning.

Nillama said the DPWH has funds for flood control and the study being requested by the MCDB can be financed through these funds.

River details

Whoever wins the bidding would have to present findings that would show which among the city’s rivers are considered critical and what measures need to be taken.

“If this particular river needs riprap or needs expansion, these sort of things can help us build a more sustainable structure to

prevent flooding,” said Nillama.

She said higher DPWH officials want the MCDB to give DPWH details about rivers in the city.

Among those to be studied are rivers in the cities of Mandaue, Cebu and Naga and San Fernando town.

A state of calamity has been declared in the city in the wake of the flooding.

The declaration would free up funds for calamity but Vice Mayor Edgar Labella said there was no need for this because no structure had been destroyed and no deaths were reported.

At a special city council session called following the flood, councilors agreed that garbage, river siltation, illegal structures and violation of garbage disposal laws are the factors that led to pollution of waterways which, in turn, is the cause of the flooding.

At the height of the flood, several light vehicles stalled, worsening traffic jams. Hundreds of commuters had been stranded, prompting the city government to send buses and trucks to ferry the people. With a report by Doris C. Bongcac, Inquirer Visayas