CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro – The Department of Public Works and Highways-Southern Mindoro District Engineering Office assured that its mandate to protect the lives of people thru flood control projects continues amid controversies hounding the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Mimaropa (Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan).

DPWH-SMDEO District Engr. Annielyn E. Padullo said more than 11,000 residents in Roxas town now have better protection from flooding following the completion of a priority river control project in Barangay Madugo I.

The flood control structure in Barangay Dangay near the town center and surrounded by residential houses, agricultural land and livestock farms, serves as a protective barrier safeguarding communities and the environment from the destructive effects of flooding.

Padullo said the project involved the construction of concrete revetment on both banks of the river covering a total length of 1,522 linear meters.

“The extension of the concrete revetment provides an added safety measure in protecting communities in Barangays Dangay and Bagumbayan, their lands and properties, as well as their sources of income from agricultural and livestock farming,” Padullo said.

The structure serves as the first line of defense against harsh weather conditions, minimizing or preventing water overflow in nearby areas extending to the Madugo Bridge located in the central part of the municipality, Padullo added.

The DPWH official also said that when three tropical cyclones hit the country this year, three flood control infrastructures were damaged by the rising and rapid flow of water on the Bongabong River, Bongabong Revetment 25 project in San Rafael Roxas which was completed in 2013, and Bongabong Revetment 21 in Barangay Lisap, which was finished in 2023.

The Bongabong Revetment 11 in Sitio Panluan in Barangay Hagan, Bongabong also sustained damaged walls, a project funded in 2016, 2018, and 2020.

Despite the partial collapse of the flood control structures, the gabions in Sitio Panluan minimized if not prevented the overflow of water that could have brought serious losses in lives and properties in the community, Padullo said.

“Generally, the flood control structures in the second district of Oriental Mindoro mitigated the effects of sudden rise of water level in rivers,” Padullo said.

Padullo said she supports the move to conduct an investigation of all flood control projects announced last Sunday by DPWH-Mimaropa Regional Director Gerald A. Pacanan.

Pacanan visited Oriental Mindoro last Aug. 17 and 18 where he personally conducted an inspection of multi-million road dike and revetment projects in Naujan and Bongabong following the complaints of Gov. Humerlito A. Dolor on the alleged poor quality and design of DPWH-funded projects.