Manila: The national government is preparing for the construction of three dams in the upper portion of the Upper Wawa Dam in Rodriguez town to help mitigate flooding in Rizal province, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) said Friday.

In a situation briefing presided over by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan said the Japanese-funded project would soon undergo a feasibility study.

‘The site of the original flood control dam was already under the Wawa Dam so we have to relocate the three dams now in the upper portion,’ Bonoan said.

Marcos said this initiative would partly contribute to efficient water management in the area.

‘Ang iniisip namin ‘yung impounding sa upstream. Huwag nang pababain ‘yung tubig, kunin na habang malayo pa, habang nasa taas pa, then gamitin mo ‘yan kapag tag-araw (What we are thinking is impounding in the upstream. Don’t let the water reach the bottom and we can even use the water for during dry season),’ he said.

‘That’s what we are try
ing to do now, to try and control the water that goes into the city and that will help us in the water management in general — water for household use, irrigation, agriculture, industrial use and all of the other possibilities even for energy,’ Marcos added.

In the same briefing, the President repeated his order to study the possibility of incorporating weirs or barriers that are used to regulate the flow of river water in the national flood control program.

He instructed relevant agencies to look into the technologies being used by other countries, including the Netherlands.

‘The Europeans, for the last millennium, they’ve been using weirs already, alam na nila iyan. Maybe the Dutch would know dahil sila ang pinaka-magaling sa water management (They are experts in it already. Maybe the Dutch would know because they are the best when it comes to water management),’ he said.

‘I’ve seen it in every country in Europe, I’ve seen it in Germany, England, in France, everywhere and it seems to calm the waters do
wn,’ he added.

This week’s onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Enteng dumped a month’s worth of rain on Rizal, triggering massive landslides and inundating areas that do not often experience floods such as the towns of Jala-jala and Teresa.

The calamity resulted in 12 fatalities, five injuries and three missing persons.

At present, some 32,000 individuals are also housed in evacuation centers.

On relief efforts, Department of Social Welfare and Development Secretary Rex Gatchalian said a total of 265,104 family food packs were distributed across the country, about 41,000 of which were delivered to Calabarzon.

The agency is also processing another 200,000 to sustain families in areas still flooded.

In his report, Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos Jr. said ‘all of the local chief executives” responded during the typhoon.

“One hundred percent were all present in their area of responsibility in Rizal and they were there during the typhoon,’ he said.

Source: Philippine
s News Agency