ILOILO City – Fast-tracking the proposed Panay River Basin Integrated Development Project (PRBIDP) in Capiz province has become more urgent following last month’s onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm “Paeng”.
It is a long-term solution to flooding in Capiz, said Mayor Jerry P. Treñas who chairs the Regional Development Council’s infrastructure committee.
“Paeng” left Capiz with severe damage in agriculture infrastructure. Its floods also killed eight people.
The storm displaced 107,285 families composed of 413,079 persons from 367 barangays in 17 Capiz municipalities, data from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) Region 6 – Emergency Operations Center showed.
During his committee’s meeting yesterday, Treñas learned that the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has yet to renew the Certification of Precondition (CP) applied for by the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) Region 6 for the conduct of a feasibility study for the PRBIDP.
“Nag-expire ang one year, NIA was required again to file another application for the renewal…gabalik-balik, naga-delay…Tani tanan magbinuligay para madasig. Indi ko maintindihan,” said Treñas.
The need to secure a new CP from the NCIP was even raised during their RDRRMC meeting in May of this year.
That time, the regional council passed Resolution No. 9 reendorsing Resolution No. 1 passed in 2018 calling for the fast-tracking of the P19.78-billion Panay River basin development project.
The project aims to address the perennial flooding in Capiz through the construction of a dam or reservoir, a floodway, cut-off channels and the improvement of major and secondary drains, which will benefit about 11,460 hectares highly susceptible to flooding in the Panay basin.
Following Treñas’ scolding, the NCIP issued a CP to the NIA. He also told reporters that in the next meeting of the committee, he would invite the chairman of the NCIP.
“Sa dasun nga meeting sang infrastructure committee, imbitaron namon chairman sang NCIP kay ti kami gani nga mga local government may requirement nga tatlo ka adlaw, release na. Ila ya daw they are only there to make lives difficult for everyone,” he added.
With the CP, the NIA can now proceed with the needed feasibility study.
Aside from the Panay River basin project, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Region 6 has also planned a floodway in Capiz that is bigger than the one in Iloilo City.
RDRRMC-6’s Resolution No. 1 in 2018 cited the negative impacts of climate change evident in the perennial flooding of Capiz and Iloilo, and in the occurrence of rain-induced landslides in Aklan and Negros Occidental.
The PRBDP of NIA-6 aims to ensure that the region is rice self-sufficient; significantly contribute to the attainment of the country’s rice production target based on the updated Food Staples Self-sufficiency Roadmap and further; and reduce flooding or inundation, specifically in the sub-basins of the Panay River.
According to Office of Civil Defense – Western Visayas regional director Jose Roberto Nuñez, from P19 billion in 2018, the project cost increased to P22 billion.
On Nov. 18 they will conduct a separate meeting with local officials of Capiz about the project and possible fund sources./PN
