DURING the past rainy season, the cities and municipalities in the islands of Samar and Leyte generally suffered from huge floods, devastating whole communities and causing landslides that killed a number of people.
Last January, some 48,000 families in Eastern Samar became victims of rampaging flash floods. Last April, 2022, Leyte firmed up its name as one of the landslide-prone areas in the Philippines as the big landslides in Baybay City resulted in severe impacts like deaths, physical injuries and damaged infrastructure.
In the wake of these disasters, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is undertaking river dredging works in Samar and Leyte to alleviate flooding.
Citing reports from DPWH Region 8 Director Edgar B. Tabacon, DPWH Secretary Manuel M. Bonoan said that 11 units of dredging equipment to desilt major waterways in Eastern Visayas Region are already operational. Region 8 is supervised by Undersecretary Robert Bernardo.
Amphibious excavators have been deployed to Sta. Sofia Canal in Padre Burgos; Hilongos, Leyte; Mangonbangon River in Tacloban City, Leyte; Bangon River, Palo, Leyte; and in Canturing River in Maasin City, Southern Leyte.
Moreover, DPWH Region 8 Equipment Management Division (EMD) have desilted portions of Burayan River in Tacloban City starting from Barangay San Jose to Barangay Marasbaras, all the way to V&G Subdivision.
With the use of an amphibious excavator, an estimated volume of 288 cubic meters of silted materials were removed during the non-stop 6-hour dredging operation.
“These efforts are being done to ensure the safety of residents, mitigate effects of flooding on livelihood, water quality, and vegetation, and to protect roads and bridges from flood-related damage and destruction,” added Secretary Bonoan.
Aside from Burayan River, dredging operations have been ongoing for two years in Bangon River, eventually mitigating floods in the town of Palo, Leyte.
A Watermaster Classic IV has also been deployed to dredge Calbiga River in Calbiga, Samar under corrective maintenance.
Residents in Samar and Leyte are hopeful that these efforts by the DPWH in reviving their rivers will help in large measure in mitigating incidents of flooding.
Nature has provided the two islands with rivers and streams to serve as a natural drainage network but somewhere along the way, residents, businesses and industries made these waterways shallow, negating such function.