PNoy visits evacuation centers in CL Assures help to flood victims

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga, August 13, 2012-President Benigno S. Aquino III reassured Central Luzon residents affected by massive flooding that the government is working on its best to help and assist them in their needs, even as he ordered for the immediate repairs and rehabilitation of damaged flood control infrastructures in the region. 

This after the President visited various evacuation centers in the provinces of Tarlac, Bataan, Pampanga and Bulacan on Friday (August 10) to distribute relief goods to affected families and personally assess the extent of damages brought by the onslaught of massive flooding, where depth of floodwater reached to as high as eight feet. 

President Aquino first visited two towns in Tarlac - Paniqui and Capas – which were considered the hardest hit by flooding in the province. 

He went at the Apulid Elementary School in Paniqu, where he arrived at 10:05am, before proceeding to Sta. Lucia Elementary School in Capas for relief distribution to evacuees in said schools. 

The local government services 205 families in Apulid Elementary School and 105 families in Sta. Lucia Elementary School. 

In a short message, President Aquino said he recognized that people really hoped for the government to assist them in these difficult times, allaying the apprehensions of victims by saying the government is well-capacitated to help them and that they need not worry as the national government and the local governments, including partner non-government organizations, work closely together to deliver the much needed interventions for flood victims. 

From Tarlac, the President land-travelled to Dinalupihan town in Bataan where he distributed relief packs to evacuees at the Dinapulihan Civic Center. 

Evacuees expressed elation over the President’s visit at the evacuation center despite his busy schedule and grabbed the opportunity to convey the need for the immediate restoration of damaged dikes in the town that led to up to seven feet deep flood. 

The President said the situation in the town will be carefully studied to provide permanent solution to perennial flooding experienced in Dinalupihan and other parts of Bataan, even as he asked for enough time for concrete results as this would entail quite some time to be implemented fully. 

In Pampanga, President Aquino visited 110 evacuees at the Sto. Nino Elementary School in the City of San Fernando and handed them relief packs. He arrived at the area at 3:17pm. 

He assured Kapampangan of efforts to restore damaged dikes which caused massive flooding in almost the entire province, particularly the breached sections of the 9.6-km San Fernando-Sto. Tomas-Minalin tail dike which ruptured during the height of monsoon rains on August 7. 

He also said he is in constant close coordination with local leaders and national government agencies in the province to make sure interventions to the needs in the localities are swiftly delivered. 

In Bulacan, the President ordered for the intensification of the National Greening Program in the province to avert soil erosion from the mountains which causes river siltation. The directive was received positively by environmental groups in the province. 

Dr. Reynaldo Naguit, president of the Buklurang Biak na Bato, Inc., said there are “rainforestation” projects in the mountains of Biak na Bato. “With this directive of the President, it is clear that he is sincere in caring and preserving our environment.” 

Aquino also announced the immediate implementation of the Valenzuela-Obando-Meycauayan (VOM) flood control project this year so it can be finished by 2016. The project is worth P2.2 billion. 

Bulacan Governor Wilhelmino Alvarado considered the implementation of the project as a welcome development as it will aid in the prevention of floodings in the province. 

Aquino went to the Malolos City Integrated School and Paombong municipal hall where he handed over food packs to families who took temporary shelter in said evacuation centers. 

Moreover, President Aquino said he reads and analyzes reports being submitted to him by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and said all agencies concerned do their job round the clock to put interventions and resolve the situation. 

He ensured that the government is well-capacitated to help and assist people in times of disasters and that sufficient funds are available for the implementation of infrastructure projects imperative to completely resolve the problem of massive flooding. 

Monsoon rains the past week rendered 594 barangays in Central Luzon submerged under floodwaters, affecting close to two million population, leaving 37 casualties, and losing the region more than P1.6-billion in infrastructure and agriculture. (William L. Beltran)