No more flooding in Layac

BALANGA CITY, Bataan – With the advent of the rainy season, one of the perennial problems confronted by the people in many parts of the country is flooding, and the province of Bataan and its neighboring provinces such as Zambales and Pampanga are not spared from the ill-effects brought by this phenomenon especially when Barangay Layac in Dinalupihan gets flooded. Roads become unpassable which isolates Bataan, Zambales and some parts of Pampanga from the rest of Luzon.

Based on a feasibility study conducted by the DPWH, the most effective way to eliminate flooding in the said area is to construct a diversion channel.

Since the Layac river is narrow to accommodate the large volume of water brought about by heavy rains, downstream to the Almacen river and to the Orani river, a new and wider river channel, about 3.18km long was constructed in Barangay Palihan in Hermosa, with dikes 20 meters wide on both sides that will also serve as a road dike.

The project is being undertaken by the Unified Project Management Office – Flood Control Management Cluster (UPMO-FCMC) of the Department of Public Works and Highways Region 3 under Project Director Engr. Patrick Gatan. Undersecretary Emil Sadain is the head of the UPMO-FCMC Operations and Technical Services.

In an interview with Engr. Lita Manalo of UPMO-FCMC Reg. 3, the project was started in 2016 and to be completed this year. To date, the government has allotted 160M pesos for the right of way alone and 400M pesos for the project itself.

Engr. Manalo said that one factor that slows down the completion of the project is the hesitation of land owners to sell their land despite the fact that the government is buying them based on current market value.