Camarines Sur 2nd district Rep. LRay Villafuerte has asked the Department of Public Works and Highways (DWPH) to start releasing funds for flood mitigation works under the updated Bicol River Basin (BRB) Master Plan.
This, after the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) recently announced the early start of the rainy season.
Villafuerte, the province’s governor-elect, reminded DPWH officials that no less than President Marcos ordered the agency at the start of summer to implement the BRB Master Plan as a way to mitigate the recurring flooding woes in Camarines Sur and the other provinces in the region.
The President issued this order during the meeting of the Regional Development Council (RDC) for Region V that was held last March at the province’s capital of Pili.
“With the public works ban during the election period over and the rainy season in the offing, we are appealing to the DPWH to start releasing public funds for flood mitigation projects that are part of the updated BRB Master Plan that the President himself had [green-lit] during one of his recent official trips to our province,” Villafuerte said.
Villafuerte noted that DPWH Secretary Manuel Bonoan himself recently called on his department’s district engineers and other local public works officials to speed up the implementation of projects under the President’s infrastructure modernization program dubbed “Build Better More".
"This is not the time to slow down—this is the time to double down on our mission. We are at a pivotal moment—not just for DPWH, but for the entire government and the Filipino people," said Bonoan in a speech during the mid-year national convention of the District Engineers League of the Philippines (DELP).
The rainy season usually happens from June to November, as the country faces an average of 20 tropical cyclones every year.
“We hope the DPWH can start putting in motion this revitalized plan to, among others, put an end to our perennial flooding woes," Villafuerte, the National Unity Party (NUP) president, said.
The BRBDP was implemented by President Marcos' late father, former president Ferdinand Marcos Sr., in the 1970s, he said.
Villafuerte had proposed the revival of the BRBDP during the previous two Congresses, but this plan never got off the ground.
Fortunately, Villafuerte’s proposal drew the support this time of the incumbent President. The current 19th Congress will adjourn sine die on June 11.