Senator Juan Edgardo “Sonny Angara expressed his support to the proposal of his colleagues to push for a measure that would provide an integrated master plan to address the flooding in Central Luzon and other parts of the country.
Angara, Senate Committee on Finance chief, is referring to Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva who earlier broached the plan saying this would help address the country’s woes on perennial flooding during rainy season.
“Dapat magkaroon tayo ng pangmatagalan at permanenteng solusyon sa pagbabaha lalo na sa mga lugar na malapit sa mga ilog, dike at dam (We need to have a long-lasting and permanent solution for flooding especially in places that are near rivers, dikes and dams),” Angara said.
“Malaki ang pinsalang hatid ng mga baha na ito sa agrikultura, hanapbuhay, negosyo, sa ating ekonomiya at lalo na sa mga apektadong pamilya na kadalasan at hindi lang ang bahay at kagamitan ang nawawala kundi pati na ang mga mahal sa buhay (Floods heavily damage our agriculture, livelihood, busienss and especially our economy and more so for affected families who could not only lose their houses and possessions but also likely to lose their loved ones),” he pointed out.
Both the offices of Villanueva and Angara has joined forces to provide food and relief goods to thousands of families who were affected by the heavy flooding in Bulacan.
They went to six municipalities in Bulacan namely, Hagonoy, Calumpit, Malolos, Bocaue, Balagtas and Guiguinto, giving away relief goods to families in need of intervention.
The Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council of Bulacan pegged the number of affected families from 17 barangays to 228,000 all of whom were affected by the floods that occurred following typhoons Egay and Falcon in the past two weeks.
The government declared the whole province of Bulacan under a state of calamity. The amount of infrastructure and agricultural damage was estimated to reach more than P600-million.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros had also visited and distributed relief goods to residents affected by the flooding in Bulacan and Pampanga.
Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, and other senators, also joined in the flood relief efforts for Central Luzon.