By Leonardo Micua

 

THE habagat season has just ended and the amihan season has begun blowing in.

Yet strangely, the floodwaters in some parts of Calasiao town and Dagupan City have not eased a bit. The sight of submerged streets and stranded residents has become disheartening — a routine which should have ended with the rains, but didn’t.

Two weeks ago, a flood control dike along the Marusay River in Barangay San Vicente, Calasiao was washed out by rampaging waters. Since then, people have had no choice but to wade through murky floods that have practically wrecked their lives and livelihoods.

The flood has spread beyond San Vicente and Banaoang in Calasiao, spilling over to Dagupan City through the old De Venecia Highway, affecting barangays Malued, Tapuac, Lucao, Lasip Grande, Pogo Grande, and Bacayao Sur.

These two neighboring localities have once again been suffering, and sadly, it’s their residents who are paying the price for an old and neglected piece of infrastructure that collapsed.

Calasiao Mayor Patrick Caramat, who has been in office for only a hundred days, has reason to be deeply concerned. He candidly admitted that the dike that collapsed was built nine to ten years ago — only as a temporary solution — and was never replaced with a permanent structure. Now the temporary has turned tragic.

Mayor Caramat has already reported the matter to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which, by this time, should have sent inspectors to assess the damage and implemented at least a stopgap measure.

To his credit, the youthful mayor is showing that he is no ordinary town executive. He appears determined to spell the difference in Calasiao by demanding accountability and real action. In fact, he has also asked the DPWH to report on the flood control projects it supposedly implemented in Calasiao through the years — a call that resonates with the frustrations of many residents who have seen much paperwork but little actual progress.

The situation in Calasiao also weighs heavily on Dagupan City. Mayor Belen Fernandez has joined Caramat in urging the DPWH to act swiftly and decisively.

Surely, the DPWH must have a contingency fund precisely for emergencies like this — to immediately repair or at least plug a breached dike to prevent further damage to lives and property. Or don’t they?

We’ll wait and see.

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 Pangasinan and Dagupan City must not wait until a bridge also collapses like what happened to an old bridge span in Alcala, Cagayan when two overweight cargo trucks exceeding the 18-ton limit of the bridge crossed at the same time.

 In Dagupan, we know that a truck ban is in effect during the day but we don’t know if big trucks pass through the city at night, taking both the newly-built Dawel Bridge and the new Pantal Bridge along the Jose de Venecia Expressway.

 It will be a big letdown to our people and a big disruption to our economy if any of these bridges also collapse. 

 Ditto to the Don Teofilo Sison Bridge, which was rebuilt after it collapsed as a result of the  July 16, 1990 temblors, now on bumper-to-bumper traffic 24/7 because most motorists, especially owners of big trucks, want to be spared from paying high toll fees along the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway.

 Recall that not long ago, the Wawa Bridge in Bayambang also collapsed because it was not able to withstand the heavy weight of a passing cargo truck loaded with cement and aggregates, resulting in untold sufferings of the people commuting to Manila and back.

 We therefore call upon Gov. Ramon Guico III and Mayor Belen Fernandez to order law and traffic enforcers to monitor closely all our bridges 

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Who says that the Calmay Bridge, which will link Jose De Venecia Expressway Extension to Barangays Calmay and Carael, will be left hanging and will not be completed on or before the term of President Ferdinand  Marcos Jr. ends in 2028?

It will be completed because it is not one of the flood control projects being investigated by the Senate and by the Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) and is just waiting for additional funding before work resumes.

Only wags opposed to development and progress think that the Calmay Bridge will always be a dream and will eventually be abandoned soon. They are dead wrong.

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